Tord Gustavsen talks to thejazzbreakfast – see Across the table
How Tord starts the day – see Jazz breakfasts
Tord Gustavsen Ensemble: Restored, Returned (ECM 179 8987)
The Norwegian pianist has been special from the start – the three trio discs he has recorded for ECM are among the favourites in this house and always provide a safe haven of grace and beauty from the rigours of life. I loved the comment that the first one, Changing Places, was “the least grand-standing great jazz album since Kind Of Blue“. The sound of Tord’s piano, Harald Johnsen’s bass and Jarle Vespestad’s drums seem to have seeped into the fabric of our lives, three instruments as one, since then.
So it’s a little disconcerting when, at the beginning of this latest disc, the gentle piano chords are quickly joined by a horn – at first it has the timbre of a muted trumpet and then it becomes clear this is the clear-toned saxophone of Tore Brunborg. On track two Vespestad’s quiet storm returns beneath the piano, but the bass part is now taken by Mats Eilertsen, a familiar player from other ECM work with Jacob Young, Bob Stenson and others, who provides a stronger, more precise low end.
The other change here is the presence of singer Kristin Asbjornsen, who sings a few gorgeous songs Tord has written as settings of WH Auden’s poetry. And what a singer! No cool, folksy Scandinavian sound here, but a husky, intimate voice full with a fine sandpaper edge that brings out the gospel/blues strain that has always been there in Gustavsen’s melodic and harmonic content. The pianist has always worked well with singers – his trio formed Silje Nergaard’s band, which was how I first heard them live, years ago at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival – and you could hear Brunborg’s saxophone as something of a vocal element as well. His phrasing and highly tuneful, restrained improvisations certainly support that.
There have been many attempts to set poetry to jazz and I might be biased but they seldom work, to my ears. This one is definitely an exception. Not only does Gustavsen’s music suit having words over it, but he has chosen both poet and poems very wisely. The title track is a real peach – moving from slow, ethereal and slightly spooky intro to a classic deep and sensual Gustavsen groove. The whole band shines and when Asbjornsen rises to a really gritty high in the final verse, after a perfect solo from Brunborg, the hairs on the back of the neck prickle like mad.
The Tord Gustavsen Quartet (the band without Asbjornsen) is touring the UK in October, starting in Edinburgh on the 16th, coming to Birmingham’s CBSO Centre on the 17th and then taking in lots more dates to end at Bristol on the 25th. The Ensemble (presumably with Asbjornsen) plays the QEH as part of the London Jazz Festival on 21 November.
Categories: CD review
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