Consumer Guide Album

Nils Petter Molvaer: An American Compilation [Thirsty Ear, 2006]
Molvaer is a Norwegian trumpeter formerly on ECM who during the past decade has proven himself a sonic hipster as unflappable as Miles Davis himself. Peter Gordon's electronica-friendly nu-jazz label, Thirsty Ear, introduces its new prize to his natural audience by bearing down on Molvaer's Europe-only 2002 NP3 and front-loading the title tune of ECM's 2001 release Solid Ether. This overplays Molvaer's interest in power funk and pretty solos, but what the hell--he's always shifting tactics anyway, and there's still atmospheric ambience aplenty. A-