Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Tord Gustavsen Trio: The Ground

263

Tord Gustavsen Trio: The Ground

By

View read count
Tord Gustavsen Trio: The Ground
Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen became something of a rock star in his own country after Changing Places (ECM, 2003) came out two years ago. The fact that a jazz record—particularly such a mellow, understated one—could rise above a mess of mass-market pop came as a surprise to just about everyone involved, but I guess it's a sign that the Norwegians have pretty good taste in music after all. The rest of the world caught on a little more slowly, but Gustavsen ended up doing quite well internationally with his debut, now well over the 60,000 mark.

Thus The Ground, his sophomore trio release, aroused some pretty high expectations (and rocketed to the top of the Norwegian charts in its second week). Fortunately, Gustavsen and his trio grew wiser and stronger in the two-year interval between these recordings, aided by quite a bit of touring along the way. The relaxed, confident playing on this record is evidence that Gustavsen is here to stay. The mellowness is back, and many listeners will relish the way themes unfold without calling much attention to themselves, but this is serious stuff that rewards careful attention and involvement.

What's most striking about the way Gustavsen plays is the liquid, flowing quality of his motion. The pianist places careful emphasis on timing and dynamics, which means you can often catch a ripple or a glint of sun along the way, but the melody is always moving forward. It's never in a hurry, never surging like surf over a waterfall, just flowing like a river—around curves, through passages narrow and wide. Together with regular bluesy colorations and gospelly phrasing, there's something spiritual about this collection of brief meditations. It's hard not to be swept away.

Bassist Harald Johnsen and drummer Jarle Vespestad are very much in tune with Gustavsen's vision, interacting in the moment to flesh out the greens and blues that color this recording. But the pianist is really the center of the action, and you'll find yourself anticipating his moves—often successfully, because the inner logic is quite intuitive, but never predictably so. That's the sort of clever balance Gustavsen crafts and it's what draws me most magnetically to his music. I suspect it will take many spins before this record ever grows tired.

Visit Tord Gustavsen on the web.

Track Listing

Tears Transforming; Being There; Twins; Curtains Aside; Colours of Mercy; Sentiment; Kneeling Down; Reach Out and Touch It; Edges of Happiness; Interlude; Token of Tango; The Ground.

Personnel

Tord Gustavsen Trio
band / ensemble / orchestra

Tord Gustavsen: piano; Harald Johnsen: bass; Jarle Vespestad: drums.

Album information

Title: The Ground | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: ECM Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.