Informazioni
Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen is a groundbreaking and influential Norwegian guitarist, working in a wide range of scenes and genres, being an artist with a take-no-prisoners-attitude no matter the task given.
She was born in Ålesund February 4th 1982, her mother played guitar and piano. Her father played trumpet and flügelhorn, appearing at several recordings from the 70-ies and 80-ies, among them Østerdalsmusikk with Jan Garbarek.
Her work with Hedvig Mollestad Trio, also referred to as HM3, consists of Hedvig Mollestad (guitar, vocals), Ellen Brekken (bass) and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad (drums), including 7 albums in 10 years, has led to broad international attention and interest. She received the award for This Year’s Jazz Talent during Moldejazz in 2009, and on that occasion she founded Hedvig Mollestad Trio. Since 2010, the trio has played hundreds of concerts all over the world. in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, US and Canada. In 2020 she released her first solo record Ekhidna, and received a Norwegian Grammy. Her 2nd solo release, Tempest Revisited, achieved the same award, and her 2021 release with her trio was nominated in the Rock category.
Her release Maternity Beat with Trondheim Jazz Orchestra from 2022 was her most ambitious work at that point, composed for 12 musicians during the pandemic.
Their eighth album Bee in the Bonnet has been released in 2025.
HEDVIG MOLLESTAD TRIO – BEES IN THE BONNET
With their eighth album Bees in the Bonnet, the Hedvig Mollestad Trio continues to blur the boundaries between free jazz, progressive rock, and shimmering psychedelia, driven by their signature telepathic chemistry, nuanced sonority, and uplifting spirit. Released on April 25, the album’s six adventurous tracks range from celebratory riffage to cerebral balladry, carried by an infectious and inclusive energy.
“A ‘bee in your bonnet’ is something you just can’t stop thinking about,” explains acclaimed guitarist and composer Hedvig Mollestad from her coastal home near Oslo. “I wanted a title that would describe the musical idea of the trio — that’s what we’ve been doing for eight records now.”
As a child, Mollestad was often moved to tears by seemingly opposite sounds — Sonny Rollins and Pearl Jam, often on the same day. This genre juxtaposition, once dubbed “jazz Sabbath,” has become her hallmark as a revered composer and award-winning solo artist. Since 2009, she has led her beloved trio (known as HM3), formed after receiving the “Jazz Talent of the Year” award at Moldejazz. Fourteen years later, she returned to that storied festival as Artist in Residence, following the likes of Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, and John Zorn. In 2019, she was also honored with the prestigious Musicians Prize at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival.
Her father, a professional flugelhorn and trumpet player, recorded the seminal folk-jazz work Østerdalsmusikk with Jan Garbarek. Yet Mollestad didn’t begin developing her own voice seriously until her twenties. A graduate of the Norwegian Academy of Music, she found her artistic identity not in the classroom but in clubs, performing with a wide range of rock and jazz acts.
“All genres exploded a long time ago,” she reflects. “The main reason we play music is because it’s incredibly fun, it makes us happy, and it spreads joy — even when it stirs strong emotions.”
HM3’s Smells Funny was listed in Rolling Stone’s “11 Great Albums You Probably Didn’t Hear in 2018,” with senior editor David Fricke praising “the quality and ferocity of Mollestad’s guitar playing and improvisation, and the rhythmic bond of the group.” Their live shows, vibrant and spontaneous, avoid any stiffness often associated with virtuosity, focusing instead on connection, raw energy, and pure joie de vivre.
After seven acclaimed albums and more than a decade of rapturously received tours across Europe and North America, nearly four years have passed since their previous release Ding Dong. You’re Dead. The excitement of reconnecting and recording Bees in the Bonnet with Ellen Brekken (bass) and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad (drums) infuses the record’s thirty-seven dynamic, magnetic minutes. Self-produced and released through their long-time label Rune Grammofon, the trio has built a singular sound universe blending freedom, ferocity, and elegance — earning them a devoted global following.
“This is the longest stretch of time we’ve had between albums,” Mollestad says, having spent the interim on commissioned works for festivals and solo projects. “It was very important for me that we got together again with the trio — it’s like the pounding heart of all our musical lives.”
With HM3 performing as often in rock clubs as in jazz venues, Bees in the Bonnet represents Mollestad’s most balanced exploration of both worlds to date. The record draws equally from the influence of Norwegian jazz guitarist Terje Rypdal, Texas boogie rockers ZZ Top, Canadian prog icons Rush, and her labelmates, the psych-rock outfit Motorpsycho. “There are open sections, but also long, complex structures that are fully written out like scores,” says Mollestad, who has also collaborated with Nels Cline, Trevor Dunn, Colin Stetson, Ingrid Laubrock, and Shahzad Ismaily.
Released on February 11, the first single Golden Griffin is an up-tempo cascade of Rush-like major key riffs, glowing with positive energy, fluttering drums, psych-tinged guitar motifs, and tapped bass. The delicately dreamy follow-up Lament, released on March 18, continues HM3’s tradition of including one ballad per album — this time as a tribute to Mollestad’s father, the spark behind her musical journey. Playful third single Bob’s Your Giddy Aunt, dropped right before the album release, merges two old British idioms — “Bob’s your uncle” and “My giddy aunt” — reflecting Mollestad’s fascination with language and literature, and the band’s refusal to take itself too seriously.
Bees in the Bonnet will be accompanied by at least one music video and an extensive European tour through summer and fall 2025, followed by a long-awaited return to America in 2026 — continuing to captivate and intrigue fans of both hard rock and open-hearted jazz with rare dynamism and seductive flair.
2025 – Bees in the Bonnet
2021 – Ding Dong. You’re Dead
2018 – Smells Funny
2016 – Evil in Oslo
2016 – Black Start Mater
2014 – Enfant Terrible
2013 – All Of Them Whitches
2011 – Shoot!
