Superlatives are notorious in jazz criticism, but Molde really is a very special event in the jazz calendar. What musicians and fans alike appreciate about Molde is that it has always stayed faithful to the central jazz values: a personal, human touch and a fruitful give-and-take between structure and improvisation.
Of course, white nights and the sublime setting of Norway’s fjord-river west coast add much to the experience, as do the various series of free, high-quality jazz films, related art exhibitions and theatre and poetry sessions. More central to the magic however is the fact that no matter how large the venue (and most are of club or small cinema size) the organisers always manage to provide the sort of relaxed, intimate atmosphere which best serves the music.
And this year as always, what music! The emotional range ran from the blistering hard-bop of Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson in the Festival All Stars Quintet to the cultured elegance of the Stephane Grappelli Trio. The intriguing Vocal Summit quintet served further, polyphonic notice of the current state of the jazz vocal, with Ursula Dudziak’s coolly outrageous scatting particularly impressive on Bob Stoloff’s lazily grooved Oh Yeah. And yet more vocal invention played a large part in the appeal of the hugely popular Afro-orientated Norwegian quintet Tamma, who had Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell as their guests.
To make the week a trumpet fancier’s dream. Miles Davis wound up his European tour with a 1am, two-hour set of intense, heavily blues-based drama which deserved all the headline treatment it received. Bob Berg is the strongest saxophonist Miles has had since Wayne Shorter, but it was John Scofield’s subtly etched guitar lines which most consistently matched Davis’s truly inspired playing, whether on tough funk and blues items or the tender recasting of Cyndi Lauper’s pop tune Time After Time, where Davis’s extended solo attained the ultimate in bitter-sweet. conversationally phrased intimacy.
Scofield’s dynamic range made a welcome contrast to the relentless harmolodics of guitarist James Blood Ulmer, featured for two nights with violinist Charles Burnham, electric bassist Amin Ali and drummer Warren Benbow. Ulmer had a commanding, slightly menacing stage presence in the best tradition of the old blues masters but unfortunately no voice to match. Burnham’s attacking, looping phrasing had plenty of variety and a strong hoe-down flavour to it, but regrettably the rhythm section mostly chose to eschew the sort of mellow power so magnificently manifested by Ray Bryant, Eddie Jones and Gus Johnson in the Texas Tenors quintet.
Molde has always struck a good balance between international and home grown talent, and this year was no exception. Apart from the aforementioned Tamma, and the Knut Riisnaes Quartet, where Audun Kleive’s Sunny Murray-inspired drumming impressed as much as the leader’s strong soloing on tenor and soprano, the Masqualero quintet and Per Husby’s Dedication Orchestra with Karin Krog were the outstanding exemplars of current Scandinavian activity.
Next year sees Molde’s 25th anniversary. If the bill is half as rewarding as this year’s, it will be one hell of a festival.