Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns - Bitches Blues LP

“Weejuns is all about interplay,” explains guitarist Mollestad. “Bitches Blues consists of six instrumental pieces or musical sections with an extreme range of dynamics. Some are based on powerful beats, while others are far more lyrical and rubato. The range spans from riff-based rock pieces to loud chaos, melancholic ballads, and even completely free improvisations.” With a sophisticated yet refreshingly instinctive approach to weaving together instruments and influences, Bitches Blues (an ironic reference to Miles Davis’s album Bitches Brew) shifts unpredictably between slow and gentle, clearly structured songs with disciplined chord progressions and explosive bursts of cathartic and complex structures. Weejuns (a slang abbreviation for “Norwegians”) debuted in 2023 with a self-titled double live album. Originally assembled by Mollestad for the Kongsberg Jazz Festival, where they won the prestigious Musicians Prize, the chemistry within Weejuns has proven enduring and compelling, even as a counterpoint to the Hedvig Mollestad Trio's heaviest album to date, 2025's Bees in the Bonnet. Mollestad has released eight acclaimed albums with her eponymous trio. The hallmark of her 15-year career is the fusion of serious skill with an evident focus on finding joy in sound. The daughter of a jazz musician, she immersed herself in his record collection and studied classical works by Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Joe Pass, and Jim Hall before discovering riff-heavy titans like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra in her twenties. This led to the formation of the Hedvig Mollestad Trio, whose tireless recording and touring schedule since the early 2010s has earned the guitarist a number of awards, including two Norwegian Grammys (Spellemannprisen) and her selection by DownBeat magazine as one of the 25 artists who could "shape jazz for decades to come." Ståle Storlokken (bass, synths) is the founder and longtime member of Supersilent and Elephant9, Terje Rypdal's "right hand" since the mid-1990s, and has collaborated with Motorpsycho on record and on stage, as well as with countless others. Ole Mofjell (drums) is the youngest member and plays with Krokofant, Signe Emmeluth's Amoeba, and his own free jazz trio, 3 Days of Maceration.