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Kjetil Mulelid: Agoja

By Chris May
April 11, 2024
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Over the course of three albums with his trio between 2019 and 2022, and the exquisitely pretty solo set Piano (Rune Grammofon, 2021), keyboardist Kjetil Mulelid has emerged as a bright new star in Norwegian jazz. His playing is vivacious, his composing melodic and his overall sound consonant but full of unexpected twists and turns. Mulelid has been mentioned in the same breath as

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans,

Keith Jarrett

piano
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Keith Jarrett and

Brad Mehldau

piano
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Brad Mehldau, and the comparisons, though excitable, have some merit.

Agoja (the word is the first one Mulelid heard his infant son say) confirms the early promise. This time Mulelid leads a trio augmented on six of the eight tracks by one, two or three guest musicians. The cast list is

Signe Emmeluth

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Signe Emmeluth on alto saxophone,

Trygve Seim

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Trygve Seim on tenor saxophone,

Martin Myhre Olsen

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Martin Myhre Olsen on tenor or soprano saxophone,

Sasha Berliner

vibraphone

" data-original-title="" title="">Sasha Berliner on vibraphone, Selma French on violin, Lyder Roed on trumpet,

Mathias Eick

trumpet
b.1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Mathias Eick on trumpet and

Arve Henriksen

trumpet
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Arve Henriksen on trumpet and effects.

Mulelid dazzles on an array of keyboards—acoustic piano, Wurlitzer, Rhodes and synths. But most of the dazzling is done while in an ensemble role. The guests take much of the solo space and Mulelid concentrates instead on composing and arranging. When he does occupy centre stage, on the trio tracks "Alone" and "Thousands Of Lost Stories" with bassist Barbour Reinert Poulsen and drummer

Andreas Winther

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Andreas Winther, his overdubbed multi-keyboards are a baroque delight. Favourite trio-plus tracks on a rewarding album are the heartfelt "A Prayer For Peace" (check the YouTube below), featuring saxophonists Emmeluth and Seim, and the trippy "Waiting Song," featuring Berliner's vibraphone.

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Track Listing

Alone; Song For Elijah; Heroes; Thousands Of Lost Stories; A Prayer For Peace; Waiting Song; Chapter ?; Kingdom Slowly Disappearing.

Personnel

Kjetil Mulelid

piano

B��r?ur Reinert Poulsen

bass

Andreas Winther

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Kjetil Mulelid: piano, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, synths; Barbour Reinert Poulsen: electric and acoustic bass; Signe Emmeluth: alto saxophone (5); Trygve Seim: tenor saxophone (2, 5); Martin Myhre Olsen: tenor saxophone (1), soprano saxophone (3); Sasha Berliner: vibraphone (6); Selma French: violin (1); Lyder Roed: trumpet (7); Mathias Eick: trumpet (2); Arve Henriksen: trumpet and effects (1).

Album information

Title: Agoja | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Odin Records

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