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| 4.953 Ft
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| 1. | Tears Transforming
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| 2. | Being There
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| 3. | Twins
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| 4. | Curtains Aside
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| 5. | Colours of Mercy
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| 6. | Sentiment
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| 7. | Kneeling Down
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| 8. | Reach Out and Touch It
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| 9. | Edges of Happiness
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| 10. | Interlude
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| 11. | Token of Tango
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| 12. | The Ground
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Jazz
Recorded January 2004
Tord Gustavsen - Piano
Harald Johnsen - Double Bass
Jarle Vespestad - Drums
Of the Norwegian artists that ECM has introduced over the years, pianist Tord Gustavsen must count as one of the least "Nordic" in musical temperament. If the contemplative component of his music and its quietude still reflect Scandinavian priorities, the manner in which he has sought and located connections to early jazz - especially the blues, gospel music, and the nexus of Caribbean music and New Orleans jazz - is entirely his own.
"The Ground" reveals a stronger sense of purpose and a greater conceptual rigour than "Changing Places" , the trio's debut album. Without sacrificing the clear-edged melodic sensibility that can already be considered one of the hallmarks of Gustavsen's writing, the musicians are better able to do improvise within the structure of the pieces. An immediate popular success, "The Ground" topped Norway's pop charts in its second week of release.
* Chris Tribble - Photography
* Jan Erik Kongshaug - Engineer
* Manfred Eicher - Producer
* Sascha Kleis - Cover Design
In the two years that have elapsed since the recording of a debut album that proved both a popular and a critical success, the Tord Gustavsen Trio have toured extensively, many miles of roadwork serving to emphasise and underline the uniqueness of Gustavsen's concept. Of the very many Norwegian artists that ECM has introduced over the years, Tord Gustavsen must count as one of the least "Nordic" in musical temperament. If the contemplative component of his music and its quietude still reflect Scandinavian priorities, the manner in which he has sought and located connections to early jazz - especially the blues, gospel music, and the nexus of Caribbean music and New Orleans jazz - is entirely his own. Tord Gustavsen is looking out at the tradition from a highly personal perspective, making sense of both his background as a Norwegian, and his enthusiasms as a jazz scholar and player.
"The Ground" reveals a stronger sense of purpose and a greater conceptual rigour than its predecessor: without sacrificing the clear-edged melodic sensibility that can already be considered one of the hallmarks of Gustavsen's writing, the musicians are better able to do improvise within the structure of the pieces.
"In the course of touring", says Tord Gustavsen, "we've come to a deeper understanding of our strengths. We're both a very melodic trio and a very freedom-searching trio, and both those aspects may be clearer on the new record. The strong but somewhat abstract 'gospel' or 'hymnal' feel in much of our playing has also become more evident and central to our approach during the last couple of years. I think this relates to a constant urge to unite 'openness' with solid and sensuous foundations." Gospel elements in the music go back to Gustavsen's childhood and to teenage years spent playing the piano in church. "The hymnal elements in our music represent a kind of post-modern but sincere 'sacred' attitude in our approach to music at large. And wordless hymns may also have emerged from my personal need for music of support and hope in times of grief."
The relationship of written material to improvising is calibrated differently in this trio, with none of bebop's impatient rushing past the "heads" to improvise on the changes. These tunes don't work that way. "I like to think of a piece as a whole. And I'll use a lot of fragments from the composed piece, melodic fragments, also in my improvisations. Sometimes small fragments used for development. In any case, it's imperative, for us, to have a real relationship between composition and improvisation -- it's an organic thing. All members of the trio are very focused on that." Yet simultaneously the band members are taking greater freedoms, with drummer Jarle Vespestad in particular playing through the song-forms with much creativity and subtlety, and, to quote Gustavsen, "expressive minimalism".
The Gustavsen Trio toured the world's festivals even before making their first ECM recordings, with all three members comprising the band of popular singer Silje Nergaard. Singers figure prominently in Gustavsen's history, much of his work has been with vocalists. Singers number amongst his most important influences, too, the names of Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith often coming up in conversations with him. It can be argued that his piano style, honouring and caressing a melody, owes at least as much to singers as it does to other pianists, although he has of course paid due attention to Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans, as well as to Jon Balke and Lennie Tristano.
"The Ground" is being rush-released in Australia, firstly, in time for the Trio's appearance at the Wangaratta Festival near Melbourne on October 29/30/31. European and North American releases follow in January/February 2005.
Demand for live concerts by the band is high for 2005. A central European tour is planned for February, followed by US and Japanese dates in April, and in October the trio will make another British tour.
---Background
In the proto-typical Scandinavian ECM style of modern jazz oriented music, pianist Tord Gustavsen follows the path of previous progenitors influenced by Bill Evans, forged by Keith Jarrett, and extended by the likes of Mike Nock. This is certainly late-night, nocturnal music, completely reserved and relaxing, ultra-melodic, calm, peaceful, and non-threatening. Rarely does a tempo move beyond medium, a dynamic merge above mezzo piano, and any mood goes farther than moderately cool. Well within this consistent timbre, Gustavsen and his trio show a modicum of diversity and influences. Fellow ECM labelmate Bobo Stenson's style and technique is most extant during the lilting "Edges of Happiness," "Twins" is spiritual, calm, and light but not somber, while "Token of Tango" is perfectly representative of its title. "Curtains Aside" mixes march rhythm in 6/8 with a regal light funk, the delicate waltz "Being There" is reminiscent of "The Shadow of Your Smile," while darker ballads "Colours of Mercy" and "Sentiment" sport undoubtedly religious overtones. Gustavsen, while playing laid-back, pristine, pretty, and serene music, is far from challenging convention or pushing the envelope. Conversely, his personal voice is fully realized. Time will tell whether this style finds a worldwide audience, moves away from this type of contemporary texture music, or takes the approach he has established to any more extreme measures, even softer or more forceful.
---Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide
Tord Gustavsen
Active Decade: '00s
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Chamber Jazz, Contemporary Jazz
Before he started his trio, Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen was already very much involved in his country's jazz scene. Contributions to releases by groups like the Silje Nergaard Band, the Ulrich Drechsler Quartet, and others had already helped to establish him as one of Norway's top players. In 2003, signed to ECM, Gustavsen, along with drummer Jarle Vespestad and bassist Harald Johnsen, released Changing Places, which was followed in 2005 with Ground. Two years later, Being There, what Gustavsen called the completion of the trilogy, hit shelves.
---Marisa Brown, All Music Guide |
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