The oeuvre of the Norwegian trumpet player Nils Petter Molvaer is characterized by the urge to experiment. The early albums he made for ECM Records were in line with the prevailing now jazz in which pianist Bugge Wesseltoft also pioneered. But Molvaer always sounded darker and moved more towards ambient, with his trumpet drawn through many effects becoming an unlimited sound source. On Buoyancy
… (cheerfulness) he exchanges the ethereal soundscapes for a more solid band sound. A simple quartet, with a rhythm section, guitarist and pedal steel player Geir Sundstøl. The latter was also successfully heard on Switch (2014). His rock-oriented guitar sound plays an important role on Buoyancy, against which Molvaer in turn lashes out remarkably fiercely. Buoyancy is sometimes reminiscent of the dark and abstract music Miles Davis made in the early 1970s on albums like Dark Magus and Agharta. The cheerfulness lies mainly in the passionate interplay of Molvaer and his band on this brooding jazz rock album. (MR)more
