# Nils Petter Molvær

Nils Petter Molvær (Norwegian pronunciation:), also known as NPM (born 18 September 1960), is a Norwegian jazz trumpeter, composer, and record producer. He is considered a pioneer of future jazz, a genre that fuses jazz and electronic music, best showcased on his most commercially successful album, Khmer.

## Biography

Molvær was born and raised on the island of Sula, Møre og Romsdal, Norway, and left at age nineteen to study on the Jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium (1980–82). He joined the bands Jazzpunkensemblet with Jon Eberson and Masqualero, alongside Arild Andersen, Jon Christensen and Tore Brunborg. Masqualero (named after a Wayne Shorter composition originally recorded by Miles Davis) recorded several albums for ECM Records, and Molvær recorded with other ECM artists before his 1997 debut solo album, Khmer. The record was a fusion of jazz, rock, electronic soundscapes, and hip-hop beats – and quite unlike the delicate "chamber jazz" typically associated with ECM. Molvær's muted trumpet sound, sometimes electronically processed, had an obvious debt to Miles Davis's work of the 1970s and 1980s, but without being a slavish copy. For the first time, ECM released singles: "Song of Sand", backed with three remixes, and "Ligotage". In 2000, a second album followed, Solid Ether, after which Molvær left ECM. He has recorded several albums since, and has also produced film and theater music.
He often works with guitarist Eivind Aarset. He has also played with Tabla Beat Science, created by Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell.

## Honors

* 1996: Kongsberg Jazz Award
* 1997: Spellemannprisen in the Open class
* 1998: Gammleng-prisen in the class Jazz
* 1996: Kongsberg Jazz Award
* 2000: Spellemannprisen in the Open class
* 2003: Buddyprisen
* 2005: Spellemannprisen in the Open class

## Discography
### In Masqualero

* 1983: Masqualero
* 1985: Bande À Part
* 1987: Aero
* 1990: Re-Enter

### Solo

* 1997: Khmer
* 1998: Khmer: The Remixes (promo only)
* 1998: Ligotage (EP)
* 2000: Solid Ether (feat. Sidsel Endresen and others)
* 2001: Recoloured (remixes)
* 2002: NP3
* 2004: Streamer (2002, live)
* 2005: Er
* 2005: Edy (soundtrack to the film by Guérin-Tillié)
* 2005: Remakes (remixes)
* 2005: An American Compilation (compilation)
* 2008: Re-Vision (OST outtakes merged into an album)
* 2009: Hamada
* 2011: Baboon Moon
* 2014: Switch
* 2016: Buoyancy
* 2021: Stitches

### Collaborations

* 1990: So I Write, with Sidsel Endresen, Django Bates, Jon Christensen
* 1995: Hastening Westward, with Robyn Schulkowsky
* 1997: Small Labyrinths (recorded 1994), in Marilyn Mazur's Future Song
* 2005: Electra, in Arild Andersen Group
* 2008: Corps Electriques, with Hector Zazou/KatieJane Garside, Bill Rieflin, Lone Kent
* 2013: 1/1, with Moritz von Oswald
* 2015: Infolding, in Spin Marvel (Martin France - drums, Tim Harries - bass, Terje Evensen - live electronics, Nils Petter Molvaer - trumpet, Emre Ramazanoglu - production and further drums)
* 2015: Høst: Autumn Fall (OST), with Mapping Oceans
* 2018: Nordub, with Sly & Robbie
* 2019: Music for Paintings, with Terje Evensen, Leo Abrahams, Anna Stereopoulou, Anthony Cox, Manongo Mujica
* 2023: The Harmony Codex with Steven Wilson
* 2024: Liminal Animals with Ulver

### As featured artist

* 1990: Nonsentration - Jon Balke
* 1992: Night Caller - Rita Marcotulli
* 1993: Exile - Sidsel Endresen
* 1997: Brytningstid - Kenneth Sivertsen
* 1998: Électronique Noire - Eivind Aarset
* 2001: Radioaxiom: A Dub Transmission - Bill Laswell & Jah Wobble
* 2003: Digital Prophecy - Dhafer Youssef
* 2004: Seafarer's Song - Ketil Bjørnstad
* 2006: Mélange Bleu - Lars Danielsson
* 2007: A Pure Land - Sienná
* 2007: Ataraxis - Deeyah
* 2007: 23 Wheels of Dharma - Somma
* 2008: Dome - Johannes Enders
* 2008: Lodge - Fanu & Bill Laswell
* 2012: Manu Katché - Manu Katché
* 2015: Deeper Green - Christof May
* 2017: Hypersomniac - Lef
* 2019: Hyperuranion - Chat Noir
* 2021: Roses of Neurosis - Sivert Høyem

## Also appears on

* Beginner's Guide to Scandinavia (3CD, Nascente 2011)