Cortex

BLUESTEM JAZZ | Cortex is coming back to the US, after a mandatory pandemic break. They have been busy though, and one of the projects the last two years has been a collaboration with the Norwegian guitar extraordinare Hedvig Mollestad!
For this first US-tour after the break, they are bringing Hedvig along with them, as well as some new records and new music! 

Hedvig Mollestad brings additional fuel to an already lit ensemble, and you can expect the whole works from aching ballads to full throttle blasts! 

Cortex is an energetic quartet founded by Thomas Johansson in 2007, with original compositions, emphasis on dynamics, groove, interaction and genre mix. The band plays rock-hard jazz with free frameworks, but with solid melodic and rhythmic elements, and the musicians share a common musical platform in American avant-garde jazz from the 60s and 70s - Don Cherry is a point of reference, but these are musicians who also listen to Dave Douglas and John Zorn. Cortex is an ardent collective with extraordinary soloists who either play at a crazy pace or take the dynamics right down to the nitty-gritty.

They have with them the modern national treasure Hedvig Mollestad - the jazz guitarist somewhere between Terje Rypdal and Iron Maiden - who both contributes with fierce riffs and long lines. Mollestad himself was a pupil of Jon Eberson and often appears in Bernhoft's band, and occasionally with Jon Balke, the Trondheim Jazorkester and Hilde Kjersem. Along the way, she has created pieces for Vossa Jazz and Parken in Ålesund, as well as being Artist in Resident at Moldejazz. She has won Young Jazz Talent of the Year, the Music Award for Kongsbergjazz and Spellemann for the album Ekhidna. Together with Cortex, she creates energy music that makes the body shake with joy.

Host or Publisher Al Rasho