Day 2 at Romsdalsmuseet + 5 other goodies

With a new formidable band with 16 of Europe's most brilliant musicians. For many, the triple concert at Romsdalsmuseet is a great happening too, with Highasakite, Dagny and Lil Halima.

The British soul/funk legends, Incognito, do their first concert in Norway when they take over the Sparebank1 SMN stage in the Alexandra Park 16 July. Ole Børud and the Spellemann nominees GB Blues Express are presented at the same stage. The young aspiring band Master Oogway takes over Plassen on 16 July with their energetic jazz-rock.

World premiere for the curated work of Gard Nilssen.

The commissioned piece, «If you listen carefully, the music is yours» is thoughtfully made with Moldejazz and this concert in mind. It world premieres Friday 19 July, and we hear rumours of keywords such as improvisation, energy freedom, groove, carelessness, spite, dynamics and the sheer joy of playing.

Nilssen is not keen to be defined, but if one's to mention the jazz-heroes of the 60s, like Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Wayne Shorter and Pharoah Sanders – they all mean a lot to him. He's also both immensely fascinated and inspired by the bigger ensembles of Alexander Von Schlippenbach, Chris McGregor, Duke Ellington, Fela Kuti and Art Ensemble of Chicago, which one could only speculate are hinting to the direction this might take.

In a crew with no chord-instruments, we find an impressing three drummers, three double bass-players and 10 wind- and brass instruments. Check out this string of strong, international names that's sure to take the breath away for anyone paying attention to today's jazz scene.

Only one thing's for certain – when Gard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra's taking the stage Friday night at this year's Moldejazz, it's sure to be a thrill and one of the greatest musical events of the year.

Håkon Mjåset Johansen - drums (NO) / Hans Hulbækmo - drums (NO) / Gard Nilssen - drums (NO) / Petter Eldh - double bass (SE) / Ole Morten Vågan - double bass (NO) / Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - double bass (NO) / Eirik Hegdal - saxophones (NO) / Per «Texas» Johansson - saxophones (SE) / Kjetil Møster - saxophones (NO) / Hanna Paulsberg - saxophones (NO) / Mette Rasmussen - saxophone (DK) / Maciej Obara - saxophone (PL) / Thomas Johansson - trumpet (NO) / Goran Kajfes - trumpet (SE) / Erik Johannessen - trombone (NO).

Ingrid Skanke Høsøien - lighting design / Tor Breivik - sound design.

Back to Moldejazz as supergroup!

Highasakite's been away for a while and took their time in making their new album Uranium Heart and the album showed a band taking a more organic direction than they had on Camp Echo (2016). Now it might be natural to draw lines back to their breakthrough album from 2014, Silent Treatment, that was on the best-selling list in Norway for over 100 weeks! This was also the same year they played Moldejazz for the first time, at a sold-out and totally jammed club night at Plassen.

Their newly completed tour testifies to their status as one of Norway's best-selling live-bands. The tour ended with yet another sold-out concert in Oslo Spektrum – an arena not many Norwegian bands can boast to have filled several times in their career. Highasakite's is one one of Norwegian music's greatest success-stories this decade, with sky-high streaming numbers and touring all over the globe. The seed to their success is an unusually strong collection of songs, an addictive atmospheric sound and an ability to move a large audience.

In recent years, Highasakite has played the biggest stages and festivals in Norway. They've been headlining festivals like Bergenfest, Øya and UKA as well as international festivals like Roskilde (DK), Field Day (AUS) and Glastonbury (UK). They're coming back to Molde with a spectacular live-production and a new band full of energy. Get ready to enjoy!

Incognito's a 40-year-old sound-adventure from the UK, that still tours intensely with their marvellous live-band! They've worked with artists like Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Marcus Miller, Chaka Khan, George Duke, Al Jarreau, just to name a few.

We're proud to finally be able to present Incognito in Molde, at the band's first visit to Norway! An energetic, funky, soulful and jazzy evening awaits in Alexandraparken.

Both the band and their music has proved to have enormous durability. The reason must be that the music and its meanings run so deeply and that it's so real and meaningful to the musicians performing it.

Incognito was founded by Paul «Tubbs» Williams and Jean-Paul «Bluey» Maunick in 1979, as a side-project to the band Light of the World. They've had solid placings on the British single chart several times and they're perhaps most known for their hit «Always there». The band, with their legendary status, is more vital now than ever and are mentioned as favourites by popular young, remixers like Jazzanova and Masters at Work.

The band celebrates their 40 year anniversary this year – 40 years of positive vibes, soulful acid-jazz and pure jazz-funk – we cannot wait to take part in the celebration at this year's festival.

Pure pop wizardry!

In 2016, Dagny released her critically acclaimed EP, Ultraviolet, containing the two singles «Backbeat» and «Fool’s Gold». Both set both hit-lists and dance-floors on fire! Luckily that wasn't the end of it – her career has only continued to follow the same course – directly upwards.

The single «Wearing Nothing» was nominated for best song of the year in 2017 and «Love you like that» was on Billboards list of best songs the same year. Billboard also named her as an artist to follow in 2018. The singles «That feeling when», «Used to you» and the megahit «Drink about», made together with Norwegian EDM record production duo, Seeb, has been a wildfire on most radio stations and has been streamed an incredible 60 million times on Spotify.

She's undoubtedly for real. And as a very popular live-artist, with sold-out tours in Europe and the US behind her, Norwegian newspaper, VG, described her as «the life of the party». Musikknyheter.no wrote, «She has a stage presence that is hard to match, and her good mood infects the rest of the room». Dagny is quite simply one of this country's biggest pop-artists and on stage, she is totally in charge!

Don't miss out on her concert at our beautiful venue, Romsdalsmuseet, Friday 19 July.

The new, Norwegian ambassador of west coast pop!

We're living in a renaissance of the soulful, funky side of west coast pop of decades past – Think Steely Dan, Michael McDonald and Doobie Brothers. They've all been rediscovered by hipsters and other trend-conscious music-fans, slightly ironically named «yacht-rock». However, all too few of them has noticed that one of the worlds best artists of the genre is Norwegian!

Moldejazz has been very much aware of this and Ole Børud had great success doing two night-concerts at our venue, Alexandraparken, back in 2015. His two latest albums Stepping up and Keep Movin are packed with songs that are textbook examples of seamless songwriting in the Becker/Fagan tradition.

The sky-high level of the music is easier to grasp when one considers Børud's background. As a second generation member of the Børud family, he's been a professional musician since he was 16, but in reality, he's been on stage full-time since he first was able to stand. Firstly in the family-band, Arnold B Family, then – among other things – as a metal musician in the group, Extol. As a guitarist and arranger, he belongs to the elite of both live- and session musicians in the country.

After a strong appearance in last years Stjernekamp, a Norwegian song talent TV-show, it about time to take Børud back to what will surely be an exhilarating concert on the SpareBank1 SMN-stage in Alexandraparken.

An urban shooting star!

Multi-talent, Lillian Halima Anderssen, both sings, writes songs, plays the piano and the violin, while also making her own album covers. The girl from Bardu in Northern Norway, has a multi-cultural background – her father's from Kenya and it was he who introduced her to both Kenyan music and American hip-hop.

Inspired by artists as ranging from Stevie Wonder, 2Pac, SZA, Noname, Erykah Badu and FKA Twigs, Lil Halima has developed her own musical style that is both original and innovative. That's astounding for an artist who's only 20 years old!

Make sure to be early for at the Romsdalsmuseet Friday 19 July and catch Lil Halima on stage. We promise you won't regret it!

Spellemann-nominee with both drummer and producer from Molde!

Their latest album Southside, released in September last year, was nominated for Spellemann (Norwegian Grammy Awards) in the blues category in 2018. The band's front figure is blues-legend. Geir «Milkman» Bertheussen, from Senja, while Kåre «Lefty» Amundsen from Molde play the drums.

The title, Southside, relates to the south side of Senja, where Bertheussen comes from, and the part of Chicago where his heroes are from. The record's Bertheussen's sixth album and got brilliant reviews from the press – this including the Norwegian blues magazine, Blues News. It's recorded in Molde with producer, Bjørn Ove Hagset and the track «Steppin’ Stone» has local heroes, Red Hot, contributing in the brass crew. In addition to Bertheussen and Amundsen, GB Blues express also includes Kai «Sugar K» Fjellberg on guitar and vocals, Trond «Boogieman» Hansen on bass and Rune Karlsen on keys.

This crew, with the wind instruments included, will be the perfect opening band for Blood Sweat & Tears, and together they'll make a great night for blues, soul and R'n'B enthusiasts at our venue, Alexandraparken.

Jazzintro-finalist from 2018 with a new album!

The band's a very energetic quartet with a punch and really bubbling with temperament and energy. The music's a combination of heavy riffs, powerful melodies and open landscapes with large spaces for spontaneity.

Their debut album, the concert koān was released on the label, Clean Feed Records, last autumn and the compositions are powerful, surprising and melodious at the same time. The musicians are completely on the same wavelength and any concert with Master Oogway is an energetic meaningful recess.

Make sure to be there!

Håvard Nordberg Funderud – guitar / Lauritz Lyster Skeidsvoll – saxophones / Karl Erik Horndalsveen – bass / Martin Heggli Mellem – drums.