After seven albums spearheading Hedvig Mollestad Trio (still very much active!) and three solo albums, the guitarist is here introducing a brand new, exciting trio while breaking some new ground in the process. Ståle Storløkken (keys) is known from Supersilent and Elephant9, while Ole Mofjell (drums) is part of a young generation making waves on the European improscenes. Weejuns is a solid step into shimmering, hardcore improvisation and breathtaking instrumental interplay, echoing The Tony Williams Lifetime, Henry Cow, Soft Machine, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Supersilent and 73-74 period King Crimson.

With Maternity Beat, Hedvig Mollestad has surpassed herself, most significantly as a composer and arranger, and delivered her most ambitious work to date. And that´s not a proclamation to be taken lightly. Mollestad, after all, has been one of Norway’s most adventurous and hardest-working musicians since the Molde International Jazz Festival named her the Young Jazz Talent of the Year in 2009. Recorded with the 12-piece Trondheim Jazz Orchestra (who have previously worked with legends like Chick Corea and Joshua Redman), Maternity Beat is a sprawling double album and true career milestone. The sheer sonic and emotional scope of this album required Mollestad wear multiple hats: guitar explorer, composer, arranger, improviser, collaborator, and, as the striking title implies, mother.

Widely praised from Rolling Stone to Downbeat, Mojo to Wire and Jazzwise; electrifying guitarist Hedvig Mollestad hits us with a multifaceted and dynamic progressive jazzrock monster high on fierce riffs, rich textures, vibrant solos and strong melody lines.

Hedvig Mollestad must surely be one of the hardest working musicians on the Norwegian music scene at the moment, with "Tempest Revisited" being her third album in a mere 18 months, all at a consistently high artistic level.

"Double-tracked with a ghostly haze of background fuzz, Hedvig’s lightning-rod guitar blazes a trail that comes in the wake of the heaviest guitar giants – there’s Hendrix, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Led Zep’s Jimmy Page swirling around the cauldron, but also the exploratory, disciplined freeplay of Pete Cosey, John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana buzzing out of her fingertips. Born in the Norwegian town of Ålesund in the early 80s, Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen has been steeped in the guitar since fooling around with her mother’s nylon-strung acoustic at the age of ten."

"Although there is enough riffing here to satisfy the headbangers, with "Black Stabat Mater" the trio are venturing into more free and open landscapes with Mollestad truly coming into her own as a solo guitarist as well as a riffmeister previously compared to the likes of Tony Iommi and Jimmy Page. It´s also notable that extensive touring has given them a confidence boost, and once again the tracks have been laid down live in the studio with only minor overdubs.The last few years have seen a thrilling new progessive wave of Norwegian avant jazz´n´rock or free metal energy combos like labelmates Elephant9, Grand General, Bushman´s Revenge and Krokofant, and not to forget the mighty Scorch Trio - led by Finnish guitarist Raoul Björkenheim - who can be said to have started it all some 15 years ago."