Kjetil Mulelid's various projects have received international acclaim, ranging from his duo with Siril Malmedal Hauge, his trio, and the quartet Wako. His first solo album, "Piano" (Rune Grammofon, 2021) received plaudits that placed him in the same company as pianists like Keith Jarret, Brad Mehldau, and Bill Evans. With "Agoja" Mulelid demonstrates what a musician and composer worthy of such acclaim can do with an ensemble cast of musicians of the highest calibre.
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Kjetil Mulelid's various projects have received international acclaim, ranging from his duo with Siril Malmedal Hauge, his trio, and the quartet Wako. His first solo album, "Piano" (Rune Grammofon, 2021) received plaudits that placed him in the same company as pianists like Keith Jarret, Brad Mehldau, and Bill Evans. With "Agoja" Mulelid demonstrates what a musician and composer worthy of such acclaim can do with an ensemble cast of musicians of the highest calibre.
"For a while, I've had a wish to step into the studio and create an album under my own name, where I can do exactly what I want without worrying about the end result and the musical expression the music should convey, "says Kjetil. "In 2022, I had the plan as ready as it gets and asked many of my good friends and favourite musicians if they wanted to be part of this unfiltered journey. I booked the studio not knowing all the details, but in the subsequent days, a musical world took shape, becoming clearer with each recorded stanza. The result was on its way to becoming a melancholic reflection of life, mixed with a playful tribute to my upcoming next generation - parallel to the album process, I became a father for the first time. "Agoja" was the first approximate word I heard my son say, and I have therefore chosen to name the album just that."
On "Agoja" three features are immediately apparent. First, that Mulelid's compositions are melodic, yet frequently surprising in their path from their beginning to end; second, that he is a generous band leader, allowing the musicians both to be themselves and to express themselves, often while he merges almost completely into the background; finally, that each composition has its own unique identity, yet bears Mulelid's hallmark clearly and distinctly.
From the album's opening with its insistent bass arpeggios through to the closing tintinnabulations of keyboards and stuttering percussive bass, the carefully mapped explorations take the listener on a journey that traverses many moods and textures. Melodies are stated in unison, but each musician is allowed to break formation to add their own flourishes or accents. Melodic structures that are both emotive and wistful, perhaps nostalgic, and melancholic, inform improvisational monologues, dialogues and trialogues; there are breakdowns towards atmospherics and silence, like moonlight on moving water.
The dramaturgy of each track creates musical events and incidents with an abundance of detail. Some pieces have hymn-like qualities, others a baroque feeling set within a loose shuffling groove, while some have elegiac qualities. Throughout are demonstrations of the power of musical pauses, ascents and cascades of notes, and unexpected syncopations. The music might be intimate and appear close to the listener one moment, then soaring through what feels like a vast contained space the next, before breaking free into a panoramic soundscape. The music is resonant and evocative, filled with a richness of sound, never excessive, always carefully measured; there is always the feeling of unfolding drama, philosophy, emotion. "Agoja" is tone poetry in its truest sense.
credits
released March 23, 2024
1. Alone (feat. Arve Henriksen and Selma French)
2. Song for Eliah // (feat. Trygve Seim and Mathias Eick)
3. Heroes (feat. Bárður Reinert Poulsen, Martin Myhre Olsen and Andreas Winther)
4. Slightly Closer, Soon
5. A Prayer for Peace (feat. Signe Emmeluth and Trygve Seim)
6. Waiting Song (feat. Sasha Berliner)
7. Chapter, Ø (feat. Lyder Øvreås Røed)
8. Kingdom, Slowly Disappearing (feat Lars Horntveth)
All compositions by Kjetil Mulelid
Andreas Winther – drums
Lars Horntveth - pedal steel
Bárður Reinert Poulsen – electric- and double bass
Signe Emmeluth - alto sax on A Prayer for Peace
Trygve Seim - tenor sax on A Prayer for Peace and Song for Eliah
Martin Myhre Olsen - tenor sax on Alone, soprano sax on Heroes
Sasha Berliner - vibraphone on Waiting Song
Selma French - violin on Alone
Lyder Røed - trumpet on Chapter, Ø
Mathias Eick - trumpet on Song for Eliah
Arve Henriksen - trumpet and effects on Alone
Kjetil Mulelid – piano, wurlitzer, rhodes and synths
Recorded December 6th-8th 2022 by Mike Hartung in Propeller Music Division, Oslo
Mixed by Bård Ingebrigtsen, Nesodden. Mastered by Karl Klaseie in Øra Mastering, Trondheim
Produced by Kjetil Mulelid, co-produced by Lars Horntveth in Pooka Studio
Cover art by Andreas Gravdal
Cover design by Nick Alexander
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