HEDVIG MOLLESTAD: EKHIDNA

This is quite a brillant mixed bag of progressive jazz fusion and heavy rock. Not a mass product that can be found on every corner, you bet. Sounds partially close to the likes of Elephant9, and yes, their drummer Torstein Lofthus is involved in the recordings too. Coming out of Norway Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen is a prolific jazz guitarist and music composer, no doubt. And then she has Marte Eberson and Erlend Slettevoll on her side, both keyboards and synths, as well as substituting the bass guitar to be expected. Furthermore Ole Mofjell is dealing with some percussion instruments. And finally the talent of Susan Santos Silva, imported from Portugal, who has an impressive contribution with her trumpet moreover.

It is said Hedvig is putting some mind games into practice here, which originally came up at the Norwegian Vossajazz Festival. That must have been a great inspiration. Roundabout fourty minutes of the recordings, which took place at the beginning of 2020, have got on 'Ekhidna'. The Terje Rypdal reminiscent deep toned trumpet strikes on the short opener No Friends But The Mountains. A remarkable heavy blues rock riff is leading into the next multi-varied song A Stone's Throw. A tour de force, switching to a jazzy ambiance again and again, due to fine electric piano input, yeah, on both channels. And Lofthus of course, who is serving a lively drum performance.

Partially gliding into some freestyled jamming the more extended Antilone shows a wonderful percussion drive. My favourite so far, powerful, provided with great dynamic. And then, due to Slightly Lighter, corresponding to the song title, the flow needs a switch to a charming relaxed experience after that. The diversified title track afterwards lives from the excellent interaction between the musicians. Not solely Susan Santos Silva has taken the opportunity to freak out a bit in between. One more left, One Leaf Left finally sees them on a beautiful patient and melodic direction, though ending with a strong and heavy expression nevertheless. What a superb album, close to a masterpiece, 4.5 stars.

A healthy splash of heavy rock in-between fusion exploration in an excellent album that combines guitar-driven compositions with the avant-garde touch of refined jazz rock, this is 2020's 'Ekhidna' by Norwegian guitar player Hedvig Mollestad, released by her 'Trio'; The album, in fact, features a sextet of players, but the core of the collective is usually Mollestad alongside a bass player and a drummer. This mighty six-track release, however, does not feature a bassist, but a second Fender player, since this is Mollestad's preferred instrument, too, plus a fabulous percussionist, two keyboardists and a trumpet player, all delivering a tremendous performance on this album named after the mother of some of the most horrendous monsters in Greek mythology, and composed as a commission for the 2019 Vossajazz festival.

Not a concept album, this very tight 40-minute near-perfect record blends in effortlessly impressive guitar acrobatics, not some mindless shred-fest, with the complexity and challenging nature of progressive jazz - the end results are more than indicative that this is a very great album from the near-ambient beginnings of the short opener 'No Friends But the Mountains' to the first big introduction to the sound of 'Ekhidna', which is the heavy powerhouse 'A Stone's Throw', followed by the 10-minute frenzy of 'Antilone', full of energy and power, this composition displays the immense talents of each band member in a glorious fashion. The title track is another highlight of the album, very obscure, very unnerving and masterful, it is an enigmatic instrumental that will leave the listener in awe. The tranquil album closer 'One Leaf Left' surprises with the beautiful but bombastic final two minutes - Mollestad is uncompromisingly well-phrased, delivering a grandiose finale to this excellent album.

4.5 stars. "Ekhidna" is under Hedvig Mollestad not the Hedvig Mollestad Trio. This is a six piece and her drummer and bass player from the Trio are not here. This is something different. Two keyboardists and one plays in GRAND GENERAL an awesome band from Sweden. The drummer is from ELEPHANT9 and we also get a percussionist. And the key might be the trumpet player who is from FIRE! ORCHESTRA and she is prominent on this record. But this is about guitarist extraordinaire Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen. This girl can play! She produced the record and composed it.

A little different flavour then what we got from her Trio with jazz being more the focus here. Still we get some heavy rock guitar sections that sound really good. She would be a pleasure to see live. The opening track "No Friends But The Mountains" and "Slightly Lighter" are the two songs that don't do a lot for me and the latter is very pastoral with guitar only for 3 minutes. They are the two shortest tracks at least but man the rest is gravy as they say. Four killer tunes ranging from 7 to 10 minutes.

"A Stone's Throw" is all about the guitar and drums early on and man this sounds amazing. Trumpet kicks in as well and there's lots going on at this point. We get a couple of calms then it ends like it began. "Antilone" along with the title track are my favourites. Love the guitar intro, so fast paced. The trumpet arrives when the music settles back each time. Again the drumming is so impressive. Check out the dissonant trumpet and she gets really innovative at times on here. I've never quite heard the things she does with that instrument. Drums and percussion then it kicks back in before 6 minutes. Man this is good! Check out the light show from Hedvig 8 minutes in to the end.

The title track opens with me just shaking my head at how good the guitar is. Drums join in then trumpet which trades off with the guitar for a while. Percussion galore before 3 minutes as the trumpet solos. Check out that trumpet sound after 3 1/2 minutes. It turns fuller before 5 minutes then it gets experimental. Electric piano, guitar, drums and trumpet all come and go. So interesting then we get synths. "One Leaf Left" is the excellent closer. A more relaxed tune but they turn up the heat later as Hedvig does here John McLaughlin impression. So good! The trumpet again sounds so inventive and we get electric piano too.

This is the best thing I've heard from Hedvig and as far as the Trio goes I recommend "Smells Funny". I know the cover art is all done by the same visual artist and he has a vision when it comes to them but I am not a fan at all. There's one I like from "Smells Funny" coincidently enough.