My review of Nils Petter Molvær & Moritz von Oswald's 1/1, today at All About Jazz.

With the breakup of his trio responsible for the superb Baboon Moon (Sula, 2011), it's been a fair question to wonder: what's next for Nils Petter Molvær? One possible answer is certainly 1/1, the Norwegian trumpeter's debut with German multi- instrumentalist and influential techno producer Moritz von Oswald and his nephew, Laurens. The trio's debut performance at Kristiansand, Norway's 2013 Punkt Festival, while strong, was largely misleading; the show certainly occupied some of 1/1's more ethereal territory, but Molvær and his partners also traveled to far more beat-driven, danceable terrain.

Better, perhaps, for live performance, but being a studio concoction, 1/1 is considerably darker, and all the better for it. Molvær has been playing a lot more unprocessed horn lately, though here it's often drenched in reverb to expand its place in the soundscape. On the opening "Noise 1," a dark synth undercurrent provides the spare context over which Molvær improvises, leading to a final repetitive motif imbued of both the trumpeter's intrinsic lyricism and beautifully pure tone. "Step By Step," on the other hand, is more pulse-driven, initially predicated on a simple synth bass line and some spare electronic percussion. More hypnotic than dance-inducing, as the von Moritzs gradually build the track with nearly imperceptible additional layers, Molvær patiently builds a thematic overlay, providing a clear focus all the more compelling for the long spaces he leaves, creating a terrific sense of tension released only when he reenters.

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