Bjørn Marius Hegge Trio

Bandleader and composer Bjørn Marius Hegge is a bassist and key part of the new brood of Norwegian jazz musicians. Apart from leading his quintet Hegge, he is part of the Kjetil Mulelid Trio (Rune Grammofon) and has released a number of albums on the Particular Recordings Collective label (including solo, trio and group projects). He won the Norwegian Grammy (Spellemannsprisen) for his band Hegge's debut recording "Vi Är Ledsna Men Du Får Inte Längre Vara Barn" in 2017. He has a bachelor degree in performing arts from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Bjørn Marius was born 11.09.1987 and raised in a small town outside of Trondheim, Norway called Elvran. Exposed to music from an early age, he began playing the guitar at age seven.

Only 28 years old, Kjetil Mulelid comes across as an exceptionally mature pianist and composer. His trio´s debut ”Not Nearly Enough To Buy A House” (2017) received wide international acclaim, with writers most typically mentioning Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans. All About Jazz noted their conversational style and sometime gospel feel, Textura made a point out of their melodic sense and folk-like character while The Wire noted the grooves, rich harmonies and lyrical melodies and concluded about "just how magical this album is".

Following in the footsteps of In The Country and Espen Eriksen Trio, Kjetil Mulelid Trio is the third piano trio to appear on Rune Grammofon. Although they can be placed in the same musical landscape, it´s also fair to say there are certain obvious differences. There is a solid dose of youthful playfulness and curiosity at work here, at the same time they show an assured maturity that belies their age (26, 26 and 29). The music is based on compositions by pianist Mulelid - inspired by everything from psalms to free jazz - but there is also room for collective improvisation. It can be energetic, rhythmically complex and harmonically rich, but also intimate and with a beautiful melody. They work purely with acoustic sounds and timbres and are constantly reaching for new ways to express themselves within these frames.