Bees in the Bonnet
marks the first outing by the original
Hedvig Mollestad Trio
since 2021's
Ding Dong. You're Dead
. Double bassist
Ellen Brekken
and drummer
Ivar Loe Bjørnstad
played alternating roles on the guitarist's albums in 2022:
Maternity Beat
with the
Trondheim Jazz Orchestra
featured
Elephant9
's
Torstein Lofthus
on the drum kit, and their recording of the score of composer
Arne Nordheim
The Tempest Revisited
added a slew of musicians with
Trond Frønes
on bass.
is a return to basics for the trio. That said, they take those basics to extremes. Check opener "See See Bop." Its opening vamp insistently reflects the influence of
Deep Purple
Ritchie Blackmore
; the vamp bears undisguised ghost traces of "My Woman from Tokyo." That riff persists and is played in rounds where first guitar, then bass, then drums, alternate in the foreground as it chugs until the halfway mark, when the beat syncopates for a bit before the crunch resumes in a higher key. By contrast, "Golden Griffin" nods at the influence of
Jeff Beck
with
Jan Hammer
in angular prog. Scalar runs drift into expansive harmonic terrain as the rhythm section pushes an ever-evolving vamp that ever so slightly shifts in time and texture throughout. "Itta" offers undisguised homages to guitarists
Terje Rypdal
and the young
John McLaughlin
. It opens with a bracing staccato rhythm before slowly transforming into a hypnotic fusion vamp at once knotty and forceful. "Bob's Your Giddy Aunt" is metallic vanguard prog, though the tune's central vamp is accessible. In the final third, the band engages in harmonic and rhythmic counterpoint, adding mystery and power to the proceeding. "Lamament" is a haunting ballad composed for Mollestad's father. It's atmospheric and spare, hovering in front of the listener like a specter. Her melody is bittersweet and exquisite, showcasing an entirely different dimension of the trio. It provides an excellent introduction to the labyrinthine jazz-rock closer "Apocalypse Slow." Here more than anywhere else, the trio's experience lends itself to adventure. The tune eventually grinds into a transcendent, overdriven vamp,
Brekken
and
Bjørnstad
increase the tension;
's bass throbs directly into
Mollestad
's sophisticated yet unhinged solo: it screams, grinds, and bleeds before the rhythm section gathers
up, and together they play a faster, complex, interlocking groove that moves through several more speedy transitions.
The members of the original
Mollestad Trio
have remained part of her orbit, no matter who played on what. Their
reunion delivers a musically adventurous approach to heavy, riff-laden, wildly progressive jazz-rock filtered directly through '70s metal. These seemingly extreme elements are stitched together to deliver what is easily her most accessible recording yet. ~ Thom Jurek