Tord Gustavsen Quartet

The series continues on February 23 (Sunday) with another much-anticipated return visit by the Tord Gustavsen Quartet from Norway, featuring Gustavsen on piano, Mats Eilertsen on bass, Jarle Vespestad on drums, and Tore Brunborg on saxophones. Gustavsen made an unforgettable Athenaeum debut with his serenely lyrical trio in 2008, and returned in 2010 for a special program of holiday music with vocalist Solveig Slettahjell. Gustavsen’s 2003 debut CD, “Changing Places” (ECM), made the critics’ year’s 10 best CD lists in major publications worldwide. BBC Jazz commented, “Gustavsen's music is fresh, intuitive and heartfelt… a truly beautiful record.” Stereophile magazine echoed, “With his very first record as a leader, Tord Gustavsen has created an instant classic.” For the past decade, Gustavsen has been touring top international jazz venues, expanding his core trio with the addition of saxophone in 2009. Of the group’s 2012 release, “The Well,” Stereophile wrote, “The qualities in Gustavsen's music of affection and respect—for each note, interval, rolling modulation, silence, and fellow playe—are perhaps as high as I have heard in improvised music. The emphasis is not on how many notes can be played, or how virtuosically, but on how much music can be made with as few notes as possible.” DownBeatwrote, “The collective aesthetic of the ensemble is quietly spellbinding. To Gustavsen, each note seems to hold sacred power.”