Label: Runne Grammofon, 2025

Personnel - Hedvig Mollestad: guitar; Ellen Brekken: electric bass; Ivar Loe Bjørnstad: drums.

Supported by her faithful trio, Norwegian guitarist Hedvig Mollestad continues to amaze with her explosive blend of instrumental hard rock and progressive jazz. The six-track album Bees in the Bonnet arrives four years after Ding Dong. You’re Dead and features Ellen Brekken on electric bass and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad on drums. The trio has been playing together for 15 years now.

“See See Bop” is a hauntingly pretty track—its title and sound nodding to ZZ Top—driven by a vigorous rhythm and defined by the full-throated abandon of power chords, sturdy bass lines, and intrepid drumming. A strong sense of structure anchors the piece, with nuanced tempo shifts and a bluesy tonal detour for the guitar solo.

“Golden Griffin” mixes folk-metal riffage à-la Steve Vai with spiky, chromatic soloing. It’s not the only track co-written by Mollestad and Brekken. There's also “Bob’s Your Giddy Aunt”, which opens with psychedelic textures and loose drumming before evolving into stylish funk rock, then prog-rock fury, and finally a Rage Against the Machine-esque burst powered by odd meter; and “Apocalypse Slow”, which amps up the distortion in an alternative metal that mutates and shapes each time with a different mood and intensity.

The jewel of the record is indisputably “Lamament”, a balladic tribute to Mollestad’s father. Rooted more in jazz, it unfolds over a slow 10-beat bass groove, with delicately brushed drums and volume-swelled guitar tremolo, offering a poignant, mindful atmosphere rich in emotion. Also noteworthy is “Itta”, named after Doctors without Borders’ project coordinator Itta Helland-Hansen, which pairs staccato guitar and bass with a swaggering drum flow before shifting into a melodic passage guided by an additive septuple meter.

With tightly locked rhythms and strapping guitar work, Bees in the Bonnet generates that kind of energy that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - Itta ► 04 - Bob’s your Giddy Aunt ► 05 - Lamament

Label: Nonesuch Records, 2022

Personnel includes - Brad Mehldau: grand piano, keyboards, synth, Rhodes, mellotron, harmonium, xylophone, vocals, and more; Joel Frahm: tenor and soprano saxophone; Pedro Martins: acoustic and electric guitar, vocals; Becca Stevens: vocals; Luca van den Bossche: treble voice, vocals; Cécile McLorin Salvant: wordless vocals; Chris Thile: mandolin, vocals; Lavinia Meijer: harp; Mark Guiliana: drums; and more.

The inventive pianist and composer Brad Mehldau is unpredictable on each record released. His new oeuvre, Jacob’s Ladder, reflects on the Scripture and the search for God, taking us into a stylistically wide-ranging path where his avant-garde side is on display. The varied musical concepts are peppered with elements of jazz, prog-rock, pop/rock and classical, and top-notch guest artists contribute to enrich originals and covers with different configurations and sounds.

The hyper-lyricism of the opening piece, “Maybe as His Skies are Wide”, is achieved by appropriately spotlighting the treble vocals of Luca van Den Bossche, which hover ethereally atop luminous piano/synth accompaniment and the exquisite drumming of Mark Guiliana. The latter is on fire during the shape-shifting “Herr Und Knecht”, an obscure prog-rock number infused with raging Hegel vocals by Tobias Bader, synth blazes, and expedite interpolations by Joel Frahm on soprano. The saxophonist opts for blending tenor and soprano sounds on Rush’s “Tom Sawyer”, another embrace of the progressive rock style that marked Mehldau’s childhood. This song, fronted by mandolinist/singer Chris Thile, is assertively propelled by the energy and odd-meter drive of Guiliana behind the drum kit. The finale nearly reaches the world fusion territory as Thile brings the mandolin sounds to a positive vibration.

A totally different kind of vitality erupts from the laid-back “Vou Correndo te Encontrar/Racear”, a feature for Brazilian guitarist/vocalist Pedro Martins, whose musical credits include associate acts with master guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. The song is a much gentler rework in 3/4 time of “Racear” by the prog-metal band Periphery.

Both “Cogs in Cogs” and “Jacob’s Ladder” are excellently balanced and presented as three-part suites. The former, borrowed from the British progressive band Gentle Giant, goes from jazzatronica to a waltz-paced cut sung by Becca Stevens to a solo piano effort that draws from sacred classical music. In turn, the title track starts with liturgical spoken word, passes through patterned glitchy electronica turned pure jazz glow with just a bit of funk underneath (there’s a fantastically evocative piano solo by the bandleader here), and ends with a haunting vocal dronescape that sometimes gets mystical, other times guttural.

The sacred and the spiritual surface once again on “Heaven”, whose four consecutive movements interweave threads with wordless vocals by Cécile McLorin Salvant, piano/synth synergy, beautiful acoustic guitar playing by Martins, and elegant harp plucks by Lavinia Meijer. It all ends with expressive solo piano by Mehldau, who should guarantee untiring devotion from eclectic jazz worshipers with this one.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Herr Und Knecht ► 07 - Tom Sawyer ► 12 - Heaven