Greit. For noen år siden gjorde jeg noe dumt her på C. Jeg skrev en kort liste over konserter det kunne være greit å få med seg på det aktuelle årets Moldejazz. Egentlig begynte det vel med muntlige tips til Tor rett før festivaluka, men uansett ... etter det har jeg blitt spurt hvert år av Tor om å gjenta fadesen. I år har jeg somlet mye, og er strengt tatt lovlig seint ut med anbefalingene. Jeg har som regel prøvd å ha de på plass før Romsdals Budstikke kommer med sine jazzløyper, og så har jeg pleid å måle min tips opp mot den røde og den sorte løypa. Det jeg har merket i år er at det er vanskelig å fremskaffe ekte engasjement for noe jeg er viss på at jeg ikke får oppleve, og vi et alle hvor lite givende det er å forsøke å skrive noe vi ikke Som bilselger Zimmerman sier til Ernie, i det Ernie kakker borti karosseriet, og hele kjerra kollapser i en sky av støv og lort: «Du herpa'n, du kjøpt'n.». Det er på tide å gyve løs. Ja, og det glemte jeg, på engelsk skal det visst være i år. Nynorsk, som vi vestlendinger kaller det. Google translate ga meg dette da jeg prøveoversatte deler av artikkelen, så det gir jeg beng i. Da får det bli med mitt eget begrensede ordforråd i stedet. Da tror jeg vi setter i gang.

«Science teachers and the mentally ill, that's all jazz is for.»
Vince Noir

I'm no science teacher, but I do like jazz. Maybe that's the main reason Tor usually asks me for concert recommendations for Molde jazz festival. For the past 50 years, in the small speck of norwegian civilization that is Molde city, there have been held a week-long jazz festival in mid-July, every year. Allthough the jazz have become less of a selling factor, and in spite of the fact that a greater portion of the visitors and local inhabitants just come out for a bit of intimacy, a lot of liquoring up and the odd sword fight, it still is a jazz festival. The easiest way to remain sane, is to stay away from Storgata, at all times, at all costs. Here I would like to paraphrase Thomas Pynchon and note that if Molde was a person, and it decided to sit down, Storgata would very quickly become very dark.

Today, around noon I guess, it all kicked off with some parading in the aforementioned street and with some guy in a suit and an old man from New Orleans making out the avant garden. Not quite as lively as down in the Treme, but surely one of the few times during the festival when it's OK to risk venturing down to Storgata. And as far as I'm concerned, after that, you would do best just waiting for the hours to pass untill it's 20:30, when you should make sure you're inside Kulturhuset, waiting for Stian Westerhus and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra to start playing. With people like Maja Ratkje, Kjetil Møster, Ola Kvernberg, Michael Duch, Kenneth Kappstad, Hilde Sofie Tafjord and on and on the list goes, it's hard to imagine that this will be anything but smashing. It will set you back some small fortune though, or a pittance if you're norwegian, as the concert cost 230 kroner. But to be fair, it's a lot of music for the money (a good thing if you're from Sunnmøre or Scotland, I'd imagine), and one of the more interesting concert for days. At least in my opinion.

So, Thursday promises a couple of interesting performances, at least if you read what the festival management writes in their brochures, but I don't go by what they say. The only really interesting one takes place at Reknes, 14:00. This is a duo concert with Kjetil Møster, on sax, and Michael Duch on double bass. Duch has a doctorate from NTNU, where he did research on Free Improvisation and the use of Improvisation in Experimental Music. I believe this can be quite an interesting listen, and it isn't that pricey at 150 kroner. Just what you'd expect to pay for a hearty lunch here in Norway. I've heard these guys play a ton of times earlier, and it has always been a great experience. After this sonic picnic at Reknes, feel free to enjoy the rain (most likely, anyway), see some sights, or just muck about for the rest of the day. Anyway, that is what I'd do as I think most of the other concerts probably will be a bit too easy listening, and I'm not ready to flesh out 250 kroner to listen to 'hip' New York jazz. But I imagine this would be right up Camilla's alley, though. Nudge nudge, Tor.