Tord Gustavsen Quartet - The Well (2012) Hi Res

Two years after “Restored, Returned” introduced this line-up and with extensive touring behind them, on “The Well” the four musicians of the Gustavsen Quartet really blossom as a band in a programme of new tunes by Tord. Sax player Tore Brunborg is given an important voice here, his melodic lines combining bluesy sonority and Nordic cry. Gently but effectively propelled by the subtle pulses of drummer Jarle Vespestad and bassist Mats Eilertsen, Gustavsen’s gospel-tinged, unhurried piano playing displays a characteristic warmth and tenderness.

When the popular Norwegian jazz pianist Tord Gustavsen expanded his regular trio to a quartet, adding atmospheric saxophonist Tore Brunborg for the album Restored Returned, he found his perfect band. The Well takes that group’s development into more structurally intricate territory by Gusatvsens’s standards, but his signature ingredients of low key gospel playing, acres of open space, memorable melodies and a glistening delicacy of touch are all present. A more urgent feel is quickly apparent when the opener’s church-music solemnity is followed by a snare-drum tattoo and the pianist’s rolls and swerves on the sinewy Playing. […] The delicious Circling sounds like a slow Keith Jarrett, and the shifting harmonies of the title track reflect Gustavsen’s investigation of a slightly busier musical work. The evolving story of this group remains pretty irresistible. (John Fordham, The Guardian)

After three close to perfect piano trio albums followed by a slightly more tentative ensemble-recording featuring the musicians of the present quartet (Tore Brunborg on reeds, Mats Eilertson on bass and Jarle Vespestad on drums) The Well synthesises composer Gustavsen's high seriousness and groovy, gospel-tinged vamps. 'Circling' is the track that really cooks, but it's all of a piece: stately lullaby-themes given rhythmic momentum by Vespestad's drum'n'bassy whispers.