I's been four years since Norwegian trumpeter/Nu Jazz progenitor Nils Petter Molvaer released a studio album. Hamada sounds unlike anything Molvaer has done before, though it would be impossible for him to have achieved it without traveling the path he has since the groundbreaking Khmer (ECM, 1997). Stunning growth and unexpected directional shifts make Hamada one of Molvaer's most moving and challenging records to date.