Pianist and composer Tord Gustavsen was born in Oslo, Norway on October 5, 1970. He studied jazz at the Trondheim Conservatory (1993-1996) and musicology at the University of Oslo, where he taught piano and music theory from 1998 to 2002. After accompanying singer Siri Gjære in the duo Aire & Angels, the pianist formed the Tord Gustavsen Trio in 2001 with Harald Johnsen (double bass) and Jarle Vespestad (drums). Their first sessions, supervised by Manfred Eicher on behalf of the ECM label, lead to the album Changing Places (2003). That debut was followed by The Ground (2005) and Being There (2007). The pianist then collaborated with several artists including the Nymark Collective, Silje Nergaard, Carl Petter Opsahl and the traditional Skruk choir. He then founded the Tord Gustavsen Ensemble (2009) and the Tord Gustavsen Quartet (2012-2014) in order to pursue his grand musical aspirations. In 2009, the Tord Gustavsen Trio reformed - with double bassist Mats Eilertsen – and joined forces with the early music vocal ensemble Trio Mediaeval for the album Sufi Poetry. In 2018, a new version of the trio, with bassist Sigurd Hole, recorded the comeback album, The Other Side, followed four years later by Opening (2022), with bassist Steinar Raknes.
