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Never one to rest on her laurels and always eager to break new ground, it’s full steam ahead for guitarist Hedvig Mollestad when teaming up with sublime keyboard player Ståle Storløkken (Elephant9, Supersilent) and young drummer ace Ole Mofjell in a new trio bearing her name. Beautifully subtle and fiercely burning, Weejuns is a solid step into shimmering, hardcore improvisation and breathtaking instrumental interplay, a temporary move away from the composed music of her regular trio and the ensemble projects. It was not the intention, but with this in mind and great recordings of a handful of concerts, it made perfect sense to make the trio’s debut a double live album. We don’t like to put tags on music, but it’s possible to place the trio in the same musical landscape as Bitches Brew-era Miles, Supersilent, Henry Cow and King Crimson 73-74.

The music was recorded live in concert during 2022 at venues in Oslo and Stavanger. Four of the six tracks are from their very first concert – at the new Munch Museum – a fact that says it all about the telepathic communication at play in this trio.

Hedvig received Molde International Jazz Festival’s “Young Jazz Talent of The Year” award back in 2009 and now the circle is closed with her being appointed Artist in Residence, following in the steps of Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Terje Rypdal, Mats Gustafsson, Maria Schneider, John Zorn and many other greats since it was introduced 23 years ago. At this year’s festival she is performing in various constellations with eight concerts in six days and guests including Colin Stetson, Nels Cline, Cortex, Gard Nilssen, Jon Balke as well as Trevor Dunn sitting in with the Weejuns trio.

For years, Mollestad obsessed over music and little else. The daughter of a jazz musician, she lost herself in his record collection, studying classic works by Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Joe Pass and Jim Hall before discovering riff-raging titans like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Mahavishnu Orchestra in her 20s. This led to the formation of Hedvig Mollestad Trio, whose relentless recording and touring schedule since the early ’10s have earned the guitarist a stream of accolades, including DownBeat magazine naming her one of the 25 artists who “could shape jazz for decades” in November of 2020.

TRACK LISTING

1. Go At Your Peril
2. Come Monday
3. Hug That Tree!
4. I'll Give You Twentyone
5. Stay At Your Peril
6. Pity The City