Samara Joy, Snarky Puppy, Astrid S, Dave Holland with new band among program news!

Over the years, some artists have been "discovered" by the Norwegian audience at Moldejazz. Those who were present at Teateret Vårt in 2014, the night Snarky Puppy filled the room to the brim with both people and the joy of playing, know a lot about how a relatively unknown 10-man band managed to establish itself in people's consciousness with mine and timeless precision. Suddenly "everyone" was talking about the band.

After almost 10 years, they're finally back in town, and with 4 Grammys under their belt, you'd do well to buy a ticket to an experience you'll probably never regret having.

Snarky Puppy was started in 2004 by bassist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Micheal League. Since then, the band has quickly established itself as one of the most popular names in the international jazz scene. Described by League themselves as a pop band that improvises a lot, with wind instruments, without vocalists. At the center of it, all is the groove, the precision – magical synth solos and fierce winds. The music draws a lot of inspiration from the entire world's treasure trove of folk music, as well as having solid roots in the American gospel tradition.

Snarky Puppy brings something to the music form of jazz that differs from most others. This evening they visit Alexandra Park.

Despite her young age, Samara Joy has already managed to collaborate with a number of high-profile musicians, toured extensively, and won several competitions, including the title of "best vocalist" in JALC's Essentially Ellington competition and the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition.

Samara Joy McLendon (b. 1999) grew up in the Bronx in Manhattan, New York, in a very musical family. In her late teens, she became a regular lead singer in her local church and discovered jazz while in high school. While studying at SUNY Purchase, she came into contact with teacher Pasquale Grasso, with whom she has since collaborated on tours and on record.

She has been a hot name in June for quite some time, and in Molde, she is doing her very first Norwegian concert ever.

Recently, she received two out of two possible Grammy's for "Best New Artist" and "Best Jazz Vocal Album" for the record Linger Awhile (2022). Previously, she released the eponymous Samara Joy (2021) and has a huge following on social media.

The curious can take a look here to get an impression of this jazz comet coming to Moldejazz 2023.

Dave Holland is one of jazz's great personalities -- bassist, bandleader and composer -- who, since the late 1960s, has made a number of key contributions to the music's development

Raised in England, he left school at the age of fifteen to become a pop musician, but discovered jazz and switched electric bass to double bass. When he played at Ronnie Scott's in London, Miles Davis heard him. It resulted in Holland moving to the USA and, aged 22, joining Miles' groundbreaking band in the late sixties. The rest is jazz history.

In addition to collaborating with a number of jazz's biggest stars, Dave Holland has for more than fifty years led his own bands from big bands to chamber ensembles. His career is documented through an extensive discography, with both his own classics such as Conference of the Birds, Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way and others.

There are therefore great expectations when Dave Holland has assembled a new quartet for the first time in a long time. Particularly exciting is perhaps the collaboration with the brilliant pianist Kris Davis. She did a bunch of duo concerts with Holland which were so successful that they decided to further develop the company. Davis is a pianist who manages to make initially challenging music both accessible and engaging.

With the addition of the brilliant Nasheet Waits on drums and Jaleel Shaw on alto and soprano sax, everything is set for an exciting Norwegian premiere with Dave Holland's new band in a playful acoustic expression.

Dave Holland - bass, Jaleel Shaw - alto and soprano sax, Kris Davis - piano, Nasheet Waits - drums

We are looking forward to experiencing another side of Mollestad in the company of the deeply rooted bopcore gang in Cortex

In his lifetime, Cortex has released the records Resection (2011), Gothenburg (20xx), Avant-Garde Party Music (2017), and Legal Tender (2020), as well as a number of live records. As the name (and previous record releases) suggests, they have a flair for structural exploration and the interaction of the senses with the function of the brain, which is evident in several of the record releases' thematic structures. Thus, they are just as skilled at creating journeys in images as they are in sound.

Previously, Cortex visited Moldejazz in 2011, so the time is getting ripe for a reunion. When Cortex played at the Blow Out festival in Oslo in 2022 and Hedvig Mollestad performed as a guest, the road to proposing a collaboration was short. The concert received good reviews from, among others, Arild R Andersen.

Hedvig Mollestad - guitar

Cortex: Thomas Johansson - trumpet, Kristoffer Berre Alberts - tenor and baritone saxophone, Ola Høyer - bass, and Dag Erik Knedal Andersen - drums.