Molde Festival Offers Free-Improv Sets & Feel-Good Fare

Live, Wadada Leo Smith, Donny McCaslin, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Ron Carter

By Josef Woodard I Aug. 23, 2016

Joss Stone performs at the Molde Jazz Festival in Molde, Norway, on July 23.
(Photo: Courtesy Molde Jazz Festival)

With a touch of historic full-circling, the building’s intimate top floor venue is called Storyville, in honor of the Molde club that spawned the festival back in 1961.

Molde is one of those towns in western Norway sadly ravaged by Nazi bombing in the early 1940s, its historic architecture and civic personality having been altered and rebuilt post-World War II. That forced reboot of the cityscape lends extra importance to the Romsdalmuseet museum up in the hills, where older style houses, some with thatched roofs, are reminders of the city’s pastoral setting.

Each year, the museum becomes a critical outdoor venue for the festival, hosting some of its more commercial bookings. This year, one bill outdoors courageously paired the friendly Brit pop-soul-reggae artistry of singer Joss Stone with the dazzling opening act of Esperanza Spalding’s current project, “Emily’s D+Evolution.” Spalding’s assured presence as bassist, singer and spotlight magnet seemed to grab a crowd not necessarily stocked with jazz heads. Mission accomplished.

One of the festival highlights was one of the simplest occasions—a one-on-one meeting of masters on the subject of mostly standards. Metheny’s duo with Carter, channeling and updating the old Jim Hall dialogues with Carter, seemed at times tentative, but it was an ultimate triumph. This was a too-rare chance to hear the guitarist weighing in with a swinging eloquence of his own devising. He played gracefully on “All The Things You Are,” “I Fall In Love Too Easily,” “Black Orpheus” and his own gem “Always And Forever” in a clean-toned way, minus bells, whistles and sonic additives.

Meanwhile, Carter played the well-dressed stoic with easy instrumental command and a deep legacy on his side. Plus, he spun out mischievous variations on the theme of “You Are My Sunshine,” with Bach and “All Blues” in the blender.

Another more specific festival epiphany came near the very end of the festival, during an ambient, art-poppy meeting of violinist Kvernberg, radiant singer Kirsti Huke and Kvernberg’s right-hand drummer, Erik Nylander, in the glorious sacred space of the Molde Domkirke (built in 1957 in stark contrast to Norway’s many medieval churches). After the players had mesmerized with unique arrangements of hits by ABBA (“The Day Before You Came”) and Kenny Rogers (“Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town”), they launched into a version of Brian Wilson’s masterpiece “God Only Knows” and a sudden sonic gush of warmth snuck into the mix, courtesy of Norwegian keyboardist Morten Qvenild making a surprise cameo on the church’s majestic organ.

The fascinatingly experimental yet emotionally dialed-in keyboardist Qvenild was one of the festival’s secret weapons. He was a quiet powerhouse in another church-based performance, by his group In The Country, with blues guitarist Kurt Reiersrud and singer Solveig Slettahjell as guests (a keys/vocal duet on a re-harmonized “Motherless Child” was a thing of profundity).

On the final day, he was also the virtuoso mystery man at the command of his own piano-voice project, in which Eno-esque art-rock met sonic debris, free-jazz excursions and lyrical piano eddies. It was one of many Molde moments certain to stick in the memory, and lure us back fjordside to Norway’s finest fest.