Tord Gustavsen Trio - Being There

Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen views �Being There� as the third instalment of a trilogy that began with �Changing Places� (recorded 2001 and 2002) and continued with �The Ground� (recorded 2004). On �Being There� the music�s priorities are maintained. The album�s title is borrowed from a tune on �The Ground�, intentionally stressing the continuity of the music, and also underlining its working concept, characterized by Gustavsen as �being acutely present, aware and focused in the fullness of the moment. The group has a definite direction or sound, but there are still many nuances to explore.� Gustavsen�s clearly-delineated melodies define a large part of the group�s sonic identity, but so does the manner in which the trio approaches them. Technical flamboyance has almost no role to play in Gustavsen�s sound-world: restraint is one of the music�s hallmarks. �On the one hand�, he notes, �this is a matter of discipline, but it�s a discipline inspired by a love of spaces, not by some anorectic minimalist ideology. It�s about �loving every note� � to phrase it as a slogan � or about trying to play what you�d actually like to hear rather than what you think you ought to play.� This �holding back� allows room for other musical developments to flower naturally, one of which has been the drifting of Jarle Vespestad�s drums towards the centre of the sound: the drums are, as Gustavsen says, a crucial component of the music. If this has been a tendency of performances in the live setting almost from the beginning, it is especially evident on �Being There�.