Track Listing

1. Deep as Love
2. Graceful Touch
3. Ign
4. Melted Matter
5. At a Glance
6. Song of Yearning
7. Turning Point
8. Interlude
9. Where Breathing Starts
10. Going Places
11. Your Eyes
12. Graceful Touch, Variation
13. Song of Yearning (Solo)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22845 in Music
• Released on: 2003-04-08
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Any 1 Cut is Worth The Price of This CD
I hunted this new release down after reading a glowing review in June's Stereophile Magazine and boy, was it worth it! Not only are the compositions striking and moving, but the recording and engineering are spectacular.

My favorite cut "Where Breathing Starts" transported me to far away places in my mind where the music became almost tangible. I can't express it very well, but I felt as if I was actually travelling through time and space.

"Graceful Touch" also shows off the amazing talent of Gustavsen's composing and playing and involves Harald Johnsen on double bass and Jarle Vespestad on drums so seamlessly that they almost sound as if they were one person magically playing some kind of do-it-all instrument. Gustavsen modulates his rhythm and sometimes strikes the keys ever so slightly off the beat that it creates an ebb and flow of rhythmic tension that just carries you off into another world.

I believe that this CD benefits greatly from a good stereo system, having listened to it casually in the car and critically at home. The better the equipment, the more involving this CD becomes. The music comes from an almost unbelievably dead silent background and is recorded with a clarity and presence rarely seen in commercial CD's these days.

The mood here is one of extreme relaxation. Nothing is ever forced, although Johnsen goes just a little wild in the middle of "Where Breathing Starts". A lesser bassist would not be able to pull it off, but Johnsen not only manages to do it with style, but it ends up making you realize what a talent he actually has.

Gustavsen's classical music experience provides some of the modulations, but this album is all jazz. The kind of jazz you only wish you could hear after hard day or during an intimate dinner. Vaguely reminiscent of Ellis Marsalis' cool style on his "Heart of Gold" CD from 1992, but even more contemplative and much more enticing.

I strongly recommend this CD for both the music and the recording quality especially if your stereo is up to the task of reproducing it in all its quiet detail.

ECM: pioneer and perfecter of down tempo jazz
Sometimes it takes me a while to get it. For some strange reason, I struggled to find the context, the vibe, for this music (even though, once I got it, it was pretty obvious)--then it just clicked in: ECM down-tempo jazz.

What threw me, I think, is that there's never been an ECM outing quite like this one. ECM, of course, had pioneered down-tempo jazz as long ago as 1974 with Jan Garbarek's great release, Witchi-Tai-To (misspelled, by the way; composer Jim Pepper spells it Witchi-Tia-To). Over the years, with artists like Dino Saluzzi, Terje Rypdal, Haden/Garbarek/Gismonti, John Taylor, Charles Lloyd, Arild Andersen, Misha Alperin, Ketil Bjornstad, Vassilis Tsabropoulos, ECM has perfected the down-tempo jazz aesthetic.

What separates Tord Gustavsen's Changing Places from the above artists is its extreme melodicism. In contrast, for example, Garbarek's down-tempo approach has always been folk (and, to a lesser extent, rock)-rooted; Lloyd's, gospel- and spiritual-rooted; Saluzzi's, tango-rooted. The music of Rypdal, Alperin, Andersen, and Bjornstad has a kind of sweep and grandeur completely lacking in Changing Places.

To these ears, Gustavsen sounds most like John Taylor, but even more delicate, pretty, and melodic than the great British pianist--so much so that I initially mistook Changing Places for some kind of pop/classical/New Age melange.

A closer listen began to reveal its authentic jazz sensibility: the lilting bluesiness of "Ign," the jazz/tango roots of "At a Glance" and "Melted Matter," the latter the most starkly beautiful number on the disc, and one of the most poignant and purely beautiful jazz songs ever recorded. One of the startling things about this disc is its complete lack of melancholly, a staple of down-tempo jazz and of most Nordic jazz artists. Wistfulness, poignancy, longing, maybe just a tinge of sadness--but no melancholly.

I don't hear much if anything of either Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett in this music. The fact that it is melodic and pretty, as Evans was and Jarrett is, doesn't necessarily mean it derives from them--or even sounds much like them. Instead, it sounds like European classical music and tango are the main influences--although Gustavsen betrays neither none of the stiffness of many jazz-slumming classical pianists nor the overly mannered playing of many tango-oriented musicians. Rather, I detect a sly and completely unexpected bluesiness (although of a European rather than American flavor) and very subtle though sophisticated Latin rhythmic feel (again, mainly tango-based, although seemingly owing nothing to Astor Piazzola, the late great master and inventor of the New Tango) that gives his compositions the spine and character that New Age music lacks.

It strikes me that what this really is is a world-jazz disc, although of a very unusual and subtle type. In any case, Changing Places is a truly remarkable disc that should appeal to a wide range of listeners.

Well polished Keith Jarrett
If you enjoy the music of Keith Jarrett, this is a must CD. Tord Gustavsen not only plays with the beauty of a Keith Jarrett, but has a "Bill Evans" haunting sound in takes like Melted Matter. Gustavsen is also very exact and simple in his playing, similar to the preciseness that the late jazz pianist Bill Evans demonstrated. There is great beauty in not rushing the music and allowing space and time to fill the voids, adding to the complete musical experience. Tord Gustavsen seems to have mastered this approach to jazz piano playing.

Another nice suprise on this CD has to do with the quality of the composing. I sometimes shy away from CD's from new artists who write their own music, opting for a set of standards. However, this CD takes off with an array of great original songs, composed by Tord Gustavsen. Not only does Gustavsen exemplify great elegance in his playing, but he demonstrates a gift for composing. This is an outstanding CD and a must addition for those who enjoy the contemporary jazz pianist such as Brad Mehldau, Keith Jarrett, Eric Reed, Bill Charlap, etc.