HEDVIG MOLLESTAD Trio

HEDVIG MOLLESTAD guitar
ELLEN BREKKEN electric bass
IVAR LOE BJØRNSTAD drums

She is grew up listening to Jim Hall, Sonny Rollins, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Nirvana. And if you put all these sounds in a blender, the result is Hedvig Mollestad, a new guitar star at the crossroads between the improvisational flair of jazz and the energy of more experimental rock. A guitar that is as electric as you can imagine, and not immune to the influences of Terje Rypdal, his illustrious compatriot, and Jeff Beck. 
Hedvig Mollestad was born in Ålesund, a small town on the Atlantic coast of Norway: although her father was a professional trumpeter and flugelhorn player, who took part in the folk-jazz project Østerdalsmusikk with Jan Garbarek, she did not begin to seriously cultivate her talent until her early twenties. She è graduated from the Norwegian Academy of Music, but found her own voice almost despite her academic training, playing in clubs with a wide range of rock and jazz artists. «All genres exploded a long time ago and the main reason why we play music è because ité è extremely fun to do so, it makes us happy and spreads joy, even if it arouses strong emotions», notes the guitarist today.
Her tried-and-tested trio with Ellen Brekken on electric bass and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad on drums has eight albums under its belt, the latest of which, released in April 2025, is entitled Bees in the Bonnet, recorded after a period when the leader was busy with various other projects: «It was very important for me to reunite the trio again, because it is like the beating heart of all our musical lives». Together with his two partners, Hedvig Mollestad constitutes an authentic power trio, powerful but at the same time open to moments of lyricism in which one can find that melodic vein that has always distinguished Scandinavian jazz.