It's fitting that many of Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen's finest compositions have been inspired by great poets because the music his group presents is increasingly coming to resemble poetry.
It's certainly created, both in Gustavsen's initial ideas and in his musicians' realising of them onstage, with the economy and beautifully chiselled phrasing of poetic writing.
This latest visit found the quartet becoming more expansive on material drawn from Gustvasen's splendid new album, The Well, as well as going back into the trio recordings that forged his reputation. There was a newfound buoyancy at play, especially in drummer Jarle Vespestad's use of his bass drum to propel the rhythm and in his general loosening of the beat, and while Gustavsen seems unlikely ever to introduce racing bebop tempos, the variety of mood, tone, texture and pacing that's achieved within his essential, carefully understated approach is really quite remarkable.
Token of Tango referenced both the nominal dance style and the blues, through saxophonist Tore Brunborg's gorgeously plaintive voicing, and flavours of Brazil, in bassist Mats Eilertsen's berimbau-like, bouncing bowed solo, Norwegian folk music and Gustavsen's beloved gospel influences all featured in a set that was quietly but profoundly gripping. It took two encores to persuade the audience to leave and when they did so, there's every chance that, like your reviewer, they had Gustavsen's final melody – or any one of its dozen or so predecessors – playing on the internal jukebox.
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