Tord Gustavsen (born 5 October 1970) is a Norwegian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist and composer. He tours extensively worldwide, and he has been a bandleader for a trio, ensemble and quartet at various times, all bearing his name.

Early life

Gustavsen was born on 5 October 1970 in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

and raised in rural

Hurdal Hurdal is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus in Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is t ...

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...

. He "grew up playing church music".

Later life and career

Gustavsen holds a bachelor's degree (mellomfag) in psychology at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

, before he attended the Trondheim Musikkonsevatorium for a three years study of jazz (1993–96). Thereafter he became a graduate ( Cand.philol.) of

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

at the University of Oslo, where he was guest teacher of jazz piano and theory (1998–2002). Gustavsen-Tander-Vespestad-Vossajazz2016

Between 2003 and 2007 The Tord Gustavsen Trio released three albums on

ECM Records ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's a ...

.Conrad, Tom (February 2014) "Extended Circle – Tord Gustavsen Quartet (ECM)". ''The New York City Jazz Record''. p. 25. The trio was made up of Gustavsen on piano,

Harald Johnsen Harald Gill Johnsen (19 March 1970 – 24 July 2011) was a Norwegian jazz double bassist, known for his contributions in bands like Køhn/Johansen Sextet and Tord Gustavsen Trio, and a series of recordings with such as Sonny Simmons, Sigurd ...

on double bass and

Jarle Vespestad Jarle Vespestad (born 16 April 1966) is a Norwegian jazz musician (percussion), the younger brother of jazz musician Liz Tove Vespestad, and a central member of Tord Gustavsen's projects. Career Vespestad was born in Kirkenes and picked up d ...

on drums. The albums "contained rapt, pristine, meditative music, which resonated with the inner needs of a large, discriminating audience": combined sales exceeded 100,000. The trio won the

Nattjazz Bergen International Jazz Festival or Nattjazz, is one of the largest jazz festivals of Norway. The festival has a musical profile with an emphasis on ethnic and jazz, contemporary jazz. It is held annually in late May, coinciding with Festspil ...

prize in 2005. A later ensemble was composed of Gustavsen,

Tore Brunborg Tore Brunborg (born 20 May 1960) is a Norwegian jazz musician and composer who plays saxophone. He was born in Trondheim but grew up in Voss where a jazz environment was flowering. Known from numerous appearances with international greats includ ...

(saxophones),

Mats Eilertsen Mats Eilertsen (born 4 March 1975) is a Norwegian jazz musician and composer. He is known for recording with numerous bands, including the Maria Kannegaard Trio, Ola Kvernberg, Nils Økland, Eldbjørg Raknes, Anders Aarum Trio, Eirik Hegdal, Sve ...

(bass) and Vespestad (drums). With vocalist

Kristin Asbjørnsen Kristin Asbjørnsen (born 12 May 1971) is a Norwegian jazz singer and composer whose focus is on improvised music. She is known for musical projects like Dadafon including with Carl Haakon Waadeland, Krøyt, Kvitretten, and Nymark Collectiv ...

added for some tracks, the album ''

Restored, Returned ''Restored, Returned'' is an album by Norwegian jazz pianist and composer Tord Gustavsen Ensemble recorded in 2009 and released on the ECM label. Reception ''The Guardian'' review by John Fordham awarded the album 4 stars. The All About Jaz ...

'' was recorded in 2009. The album was awarded with

Spellemannsprisen Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organizati ...

(the Norwegian Grammy).
The quartet's follow-up, ''

The Well The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, normally shortened to The WELL, was launched in 1985. It is one of the oldest continuously operating virtual communities. By 1993 it had 7,000 members, a staff of 12, and gross annual income of $2 million. ...

'', was released in 2012. That year, Gustavsen played over four days at the

Montreal Jazz Festival The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fest ...

: with the quartet, as a solo pianist and in a duo with vocalist Solveig Slettahjell. The quartet album ''

Extended Circle ''Extended Circle'' is an album by pianist Tord Gustavsen's Quartet released on the ECM label.ECM Ca ...

'' two years later "reveals a new edginess and dynamic impact that the quartet brings to Gustavsen's music." In addition, he has recorded as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, and guested on friends' albums. Collaborative projects have included Norwegian jazz vocalist and songwriter

Silje Nergaard Silje Nergaard (born 19 June 1966) is a Norwegian jazz vocalist and songwriter. She is one of the best-selling jazz artists on the official sales chart in Norway. She became known worldwide after the release of the international bestseller ''Tel ...

, musician Carl Petter Opsahl, actress Cecilie Jørstad and drummer Rune Arnesen, duo aire & angels and jazz vocalist

Siri Gjære Siri Gjære (born 1 February 1972 in Trondheim, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz vocalist from Levanger, known for her collaborations with musicians like Tord Gustavsen, Stian Carstensen, Eirik Hegdal, Maria Kannegaard, Jarle Bernhoft, Eldbjørg Ra ...

. He also took part in Nymark Collective established by Kåre Nymark. Since 2014 Gustavsen has collaborated with the German-Afghan jazz singer

Simin Tander Simin Tander (born 19 October 1980) is a German jazz musician (vocals and piano) and composer. Biography Born in Cologne, Tander is the daughter of an Afghanistan, Afghan journalist father, who died when she was a child, and a German teach ...

, releasing the album ''What Was Said'' (2016). They also performed at the 2016 Vinterjazz and the 2016

Vossajazz Vossajazz or Vossa Jazz (established 19 December 1973) is an international jazz festival in Voss, Norway, which takes place annually during the week before Easter, and which also includes concerts throughout the year. The festival has been led by ...

in Norway. Gustavsen continues to be highly interested in psychology and has written a lengthy thesis on the paradoxes of improvisation, drawing on the

dialectic Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...

al psychological theory of

Helm Stierlin Helm Stierlin (12 March 1926 – 9 September 2021), born as ''Wilhelm Paul Stierlin'', was a German psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and systemic family therapist. From 1974 to 1991 he was the medical director and chairowner of the Department for p ...

and Anne-Lise Løvlie Schibbye.

Honors

* 2005:

prisen (for the Tord Gustavsen Trio) * 2009:

Spellemannprisen Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organizati ...

in the class Jazz (for the Tord Gustavsen Ensemble)

Discography

Albums

Collaborations

;aire & angels duo with

* ''aire & angels'' (1999) * ''aire & angels II'' (2002) ; Nymark Collective * ''First meeting'' (2000) * ''Contemporary tradition'' (2002) * ''Bessie Smith Revisited - Live in concert'' (2008) - with Kristin Asbjørnsen ;

* ''Port of Call'' (2000) * ''At First Light'' (2001) * ''Nightwatch'' (2003) * ''The Essential'' + ''Live in Koln'' VD(2005) ;

SKRUK SKRUK is a Norwegian choir which has toured all over the country and many parts of the world for more than 35 years with its conductor, Per Oddvar Hildre. It was founded in 1973. The choir has released more than 25 records over the years, all of ...

* SKRUK / Rim Banna ''Krybberom'' (2003) * SKRUK / Torun Sævik / Cecilie Jørstad ''Sommerlandet'' (2004) * SKRUK / Nymark Collective ''dype stille sterke milde'' (2006) * SKRUK / Mahsa Vahdat ''I vinens Speil'' (2010) ; Carl Petter Opsahl * ''Indigodalen'' ( Heilo, 2001) * ''Improvisions'' (Park Grammofon, 2005) * ''Love, The Blues'' (Park Grammofon, 2008) ;Other projects * ''Whoopin'' (2001) * ''Humans & Places'' (2006) with Ulrich Drechsler Quartet * '' ID'' (2007) with

Anna Maria Jopek Anna Maria Jopek (born 14 December 1970) is a Polish vocalist, songwriter, and improviser. She represented Poland in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Ale jestem" and finished 11th out of 25 participating acts; and in 2002, she co ...

* ''Sorgen og gleden'' (2008) with various artists * ''Natt i Betlehem'' (2008) with Solveig Slettahjell (Peaked in NOR: #32)

References

External links

*
Tord Gustavsen Trio Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gustavsen, Tord 20th-century Norwegian pianists 21st-century Norwegian pianists Chamber jazz pianists Norwegian jazz composers Norwegian jazz pianists Spellemannprisen winners Norwegian University of Science and Technology alumni University of Oslo alumni Musicians from Hurdal 1970 births Living people Tord Gustavsen Ensemble members ECM Records artists