Jazz pianist and composer Kjetil Mulelid presents "A Prayer for Peace".

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«For a while, I've had a wish to step into the studio and create an album under my own name, where I can do exactly what I want without worrying about the end result and the musical expression the music should convey. In 2022, I had the plan as ready as it gets and asked many of my good friends and favorite musicians if they wanted to be part of this unfiltered journey. I booked the studio not knowing all the details, but in the subsequent days, a musical world took shape, becoming clearer with each recorded stanza. The result was on its way to becoming a melancholic reflection of life, mixed with a playful tribute to my upcoming next generation - parallel to the album process, I became a father for the first time. "Agoja" was the first approximate word I heard my son say, and I have therefore chosen to name the album just that.

The first taste of the album is the song "A Prayer for Peace". It was written in the early morning of February 24, 2022, just after Russia invaded Ukraine. It was never my intention to release this song as a single, as I feel it stands out a bit from the rest of the record, but today it feels more relevant than ever and giving it extra space felt like the only right contribution I could make amidst the world's hopeless disagreements.

With me on this song I've got some incredible musicians. I first got to know Signe Emmeluth when we both studied at the somewhat legendary “jazzlinja” in Trondheim, and later through several musical projects. She has a completely raw energy and presence in the music, and an inspiring musical personality that is not afraid to take up space and push the boundaries. At the same time, I really wanted Trygve Seim's big and melancholic sound to influence this song - a musician I have looked up to for several years. I concluded that a combination of these two very different players would result in a very interesting melodic interplay. Andreas Winther on drums and Bárður Reinert Poulsen on double bass make up the rest of the band on this song. They are two of my closest musical collaborators, with whom I have collaborated for several years, for example in Kjetil Mulelid Trio (Andreas) and Wako (Bárður).

As a band, we had never played the song together before, but a brief introduction to my thoughts and wishes for the song, led to the first run-through bringing a tear to my eye - this is the version you are about to hear." 

- Kjetil Mulelid

Kjetil Mulelid (b.1991) has distinguished himself as an inventive artist, blending jazz, psalms, and improvised music in both his own playing and compositions. After graduating from the famous "Jazzlinja" in Trondheim back in 2014, he has been heavily touring the world's nooks and crannies with his own music and projects. He has played concerts in large parts of Europe and Japan, and released several well-received albums as a solo artists, as well as with his own Kjetil Mulelid Trio, the jazz quartet Wako, with singer Emilie Storaas as the duo Kjemilie, and with singer Siril Malmedal Hauge - both as a band and as a piano / vocal duo.