Kjetil Mulelid pf Bjørn Marius Hegge bass Andreas Winther drums

Rune Grammofon

Kjetil Mulelid is often compared with Keith Jarrett. Indeed, they share a comparable stylistic range, cantabile touch, improvisatory freedom and compositional achievement. But there is no question of Mulelid being derivative. His improvisations are lyrical; his compositions display a rare excellence.

The Mulelid Trio’s third album features ten evocative, intriguing original compositions, plus an insightful cover of Judee Sill’s ’The Archetypal Man’. Mulelid’s spontaneity is shown by comparing the latter track with a live version by the same trio (y2u.be/MSAk3bv_YIE). The album opens with a plangent slow piece, ‘Paul’, a dedication – it turns out – to master percussionist Paul Motian. There are more uptempo numbers, but nothing really fast.

Kjetil Mulelid – pronounced ‘Che-til’ with a short ‘e’ – was born in 1991. He grew up in the same small village, Hurdal north of Oslo, as ECM pianist Tord Gustavsen. Norway is a wealthy country with an excellent arts infrastructure from which Mulelid has benefited – he studied jazz at Trondheim Conservatory, where his trio formed. But he has an immense native talent.

Mulelid told me: ‘Before high school, I didn’t know it was possible to improvise. A teacher showed me different kinds of genres – gospel, blues – and chords. Then I started trying to make melodies. That’s what I do when I improvise.’ Mulelid doesn’t just run the changes. Like Jarrett, Brad Mehldau and Bill Evans, he has a wholly melodic approach in which every note is made to count. A beautiful and refreshing release.