Tord Gustavsen Ensemble

Restar av lukke, Bitar av tru  (English:Remains of happiness, bits of faith) was the title of Tord Gustavsen's commissioned piece for the 2008 Vossa Jazz and the birth of this strong ensemble. Last autumn they presented the Restored, Returned album based on the commissioned piece. As could be expected, the critics were enthusiastic.

For this work, Tord Gustavsen gathered threads from some of the strong musical dialogues that he has been part of in recent years - the duo with Tore Brunborg, the close collaboration with the percussionist Jarle Vespestad of Tord Gustavsen trio, the long-term relation with the singer Kristin Asbjoernsen, the work with the double base player Mats Eilertsen in i.a. Nymark Collective plus concerts with recitation by the actress Cecilie Joerstad.

The main idea behind this work has been to bring in a form of musical miniatures that have often been improvised into being between the melodies in Tord Gustavsen's trio concerts - sequences that have the lullaby's simplicity and its harmonic multiplicity - and then to use these as the basis for an entire concert.

Tord Gustavsen has produced three trio albums for ECM Records, and reached gold sales. The Ground from 2004 was the first instrumental album ever to reach the top of the VG list. All his albums have topped jazz lists around the world, and the critics' reactions to Restored, Returned indicate that this will be another public hit.