What is a Scandanavian pianist doing sounding so much like Keith Jarrett?
Really, you are excused if at times the gospel-based slow grooves of The Ground make you think of ECM stalwart Keith Jarrett. It’s never a rip-off, as Gustavsen is undeniably committed to this music, but there are moments that spin your head around with familiarity, as the pianist plays these high-calorie gospel chords that move across the rhythm in an eerily Koln Concert-ish way. Of course, every record recorded by Manfred Eicher has that crystalline sound to some extent — like jazz played on a faraway mountain, filtering its way through the cold air to reach you a minute or so after it was played. OK, fine, but a Norwegian gospel pianist? Not exactly, but sort of. The cat plays with undeniable gospel feel, but not the kind of hot-gospel you’d expect on a Kirk Franklin album. He grew up playing hymns in Norway while also listening to Bill Evans. And that’s what the man has done in The Ground (the sacred ground?) — fused the simplicity and harmonic content of gospel music with the me
