Visions of future jazz

Bugge (pronounced "boogie") Wesseltoft makes his Prague debut next week, and it's about time. This is a long-overdue visit from one of the most innovative European musicians working in contemporary jazz.

A Norwegian pianist, producer and composer, Wesseltoft (born 1964) has been a visionary on the European jazz scene since he founded his label Jazzland Records in 1995, releasing a series of recordings by his group New Conception of Jazz.

Before embarking on more progressive trends integrating hip-hop, ambient and house music as well as Scandinavian folk, Wesseltoft had prior experience as a proper jazz musician. He recorded for ECM with the Arild Andersen band, and also played and recorded with Jan Garbarek at festivals and on the album I Took Up the Runes (ECM, 1990).

The pioneering concept that Wesseltoft developed in the mid-'90s was dubbed "future jazz," a fusion of jazz, house, and electronic music - techno, ambient and noise, combined with free improvisation. On the first recording of this music, New Conception of Jazz (1997), he played a grand piano, Fender Rhodes and other keyboards, along with percussion instruments, and was at the control boards of samplers, programming devices and vocal effects. Joining him were noted Norwegian trumpet player Nils Petter Molvaer, along with many of the best young Norwegian jazz musicians on bass, drums, reeds and guitar.

For his second release on Jazzland, Sharing (1998), most of the same musicians were joined by DJs, guest vocalists, the free jazz drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and, once again, trumpeter Molvaer.

In 2001, Wesseltoft hit full stride with the release of Moving, one of his most critically acclaimed works to date. For this one, he brought his live band (including DJs, programmers and acoustic jazz musicians) into the studio for a one-shot recording session, without any overdubs. The result was a sophisticated blend of techno, house, ambient electronica and modern jazz, influenced as much by Mingus as by Underworld.

Moving is noteworthy for its reliance on live improvisation, and sampling and looping, with lesser emphasis on dance-floor beats. Bugge's melancholic piano compositions also recalled both an older and vaster spectrum of jazz tradition - a bold concept for jazz at the time.

The critics praising Bugge's efforts were not standard jazz reviewers. While electronics (including techno and house) have found a place in contemporary jazz, that was not the case in 2001, when their use was considered blasphemy by jazz traditionalists.

Meanwhile, the times and sounds have changed once again for Wesseltoft, who has started touring as a one-man band. "My concept stopped evolving, and I needed some new challenges," he tells The Prague Post. "Going on stage totally alone trying to create good music for the moment is risky and a little scary. At the same time, it gives enormous possibilities for creating good music and energy."

For his concert in Prague, Wesseltoft will be giving a solo performance of his latest release, Playing (2009, on Jazzland). "It's my second album in a solo piano/electronics series," he says. "However, though the sound is very different, my concept remains the same: It is a mix of acoustic and electronic music."

Among the most surprising tracks on Playing is a meandering then ultimately four-to-the-floor version of the vintage jazz tune "Take Five," by Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck, which Wesseltoft promises he'll be playing here.

"The music I'm performing at the moment is fresh music, but based on the same concept as always," he says. "I mostly improvise, using elements of my compositions. This is because I find jazz a unique art form in the sense that it's almost the only one creating art in front of the audience. I'm using a piano, Fender Rhodes, analog synthesizer, voice and percussion together with my laptop, doing live sampling and looping."

For fans of progressive European jazz, Wesseltoft's show will be an event. The same is true for the artist.

"I've never performed in Prague before - not even been there, except for the airport," he admits. "So I'm looking forward to playing there." 

Tony Ozuna can be reached at
features@praguepost.com