Bugge Wesseltoft’s classic 1996 nu-jazz masterpiece ‘New Conception of Jazz’ issued on 180g vinyl. Featuring trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær and guitarist Eivind Aarset.

The album is appearing for the first time ever on vinyl.

When Bugge Wesseltoft’s New Conception of Jazz was released in 1996, no-one predicted what a hugely influential album it would turn out to be. Although it received the Norwegian Grammy award for “Jazz Album of the Year” it’s real significance would emerge later.

Other musicians in other countries, excited by Wessoltoft’s new jazz sound, began offering their take on his music. Suddenly Bugge Wesseltoft’s New Conception of Jazz was at the forefront of what was quickly becoming a hip new trend. The press began calling it Nu-Jazz and among the the first wave of bands that broke in the wake of the New Conception of Jazz were Nils Petter Molvær, Wibutee, and Jaga Jazzist, who suggested this new trend had much to offer.

There are two versions of “New Conception of Jazz,” the first still sounding startling with its use of club culture sounds and a four-on-the-floor (sometimes called four-to-the-floor) rhythmic pattern associated with Techno and House and played here by the bass drum. It’s used in conjunction with an ostinato bass riff and a snare drum pattern that quickly became a sound signature of the New Conception of Jazz. It seemed to demand a physical response in return – tapping your foot, snapping your fingers or getting up to dance and was soon reverberating across Europe, picked up by other bands, such as Italian DJ Nicola Conte’s salute to Nu-Jazz on “Other Directions.”

The second version of “New Conception of Jazz” has a fine Fender Rhodes piano solo by Wesseltoft that provides effective contrast to the snare drum interludes. Here, then, were two different compositions with the same title that seemed to suggest “It’s the conception that matters and not song titles.”