If you haven’t heard or seen Hedvig Mollestad Trio before, do it as soon as you get the opportunity! She combines guitar playing in the tradition of Jimi Hendrix and other rock heroes with advanced jazz rhythms and phrasings. Saturday night she played Byscenen in Trondheim, and I saw part of her show.

The two other members of Hedvig Mollestad Trio are Ellen Brekken on upright and electric bass, and Ivar Loe Bjornstad on drums. When you listen to the band, they sometime transcend to one organism where it is difficult to pinpoint each musicians. To play music like they do, you have to be technically brilliant. No problem here for all three of them!

But to make a musical happening and offer more than a whole lot of notes, you have to be more than brilliant, you have to be a real musician. I have listened to Hedvig Mollstad Trio several times the last few years, and my feeling is that they are becoming more and more of the organism I mentioned above for every time I hear them.

The concert at Byscenen was in support of Shining, and I didn’t see the first part of their set. Therefore this isn’t a review, just a reminder of what can happen when jazz musicians play rock, or the opposite, and also when they know what they are doing. I observed Hedvig smiling many times during their songs, which to me is a good sign. I’m looking forward to seeing them again already, if not before, at least at the Steinkjer festival the last weekend in June.

All pictures are © Per Ole Hagen and must not be used without written permission.