[1] Molvær was born and raised on the island of Sula, Møre og Romsdal, Norway, and left at age nineteen to study on the Jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium (1980–82).

[3] Molvær's muted trumpet sound, sometimes electronically processed, had an obvious debt to Miles Davis's work of the 1970s and 1980s, but without being a slavish copy.

For the first time, ECM released singles: "Song of Sand", backed with three remixes, and "Ligotage".

In 2000, a second album followed, Solid Ether, after which Molvær left ECM.

He has also played with Tabla Beat Science, created by Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell.