Tord Gustavsen’s protest music stems from his own roots

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      Although it is as hushed in tone as a Lutheran funeral, Tord Gustavsen’s new ECM release, What was said, is also protest music. Quiet and reluctant protest music, but an effective riposte to the forces of intolerance nonetheless. Fusing the Norwegian pianist’s rolling sonorities with the elegant singing of Simin Tander, who’s of mixed Afghan and German heritage, the record is a quiet rebuke to those who say there can be no interplay between Islam and Christianity, no happy meeting between indigen and immigrant.

      Gustavsen almost wishes it weren’t so. In his world, faith is an inner certainty but not a missionary impulse. He’d rather there were no racist goons on the streets of Europe, and no drone-tracked bombs falling on Afghan or Syrian soil. And making a political statement was the furthest thing from his mind when he entered the studio with Tander, percussionist Jarle Vespestad, and a stack of lyrics drawn from both his family hymnal and the works of Jalal al-Din Rumi.

      “It’s a project that stems from within, and from the intrinsic talents and blessings of Simin and myself meeting and exploring the crossroads of our diverse backgrounds,” Gustavsen says of Hymns and Visions, the concert incarnation of their collaboration. Speaking in lightly accented English from his Oslo home, he adds: “It’s very much coming from a personalized and spiritual point of departure, and it’s not really trying to say anything with capital letters except the speaking of the heart. But then when we saw where this was heading, we realized also that there is, in a way, controversy here.

      “It’s a project that for some will be really liberating, and for others will be almost like blasphemy,” he continues. “And it is a project that says Sufism and liberal Christianity are not really far apart. On the contrary, we can not only have dialogue and learn from each other, we can pray together, and we can meld together, spiritually.”

      Tord Gustavsen performs "What was said" with Simin Tander and Jarle Vespestad.

      For the 45-year-old musician, who grew up in a religious household and played piano in church, this new trio is a vehicle for his own spiritual and musical journey: he’s trying to find a kind of true belief, purged of dogma, and a sonic voice that has similarly been purged of flash.

      “I was at a point where I felt that I wanted to connect with my musical and spiritual roots in the hymns that I grew up with, but in a new way,” he says. “Both digging deeper into my own roots, and stretching onwards and upwards in a free way. And then when I heard Simin sing in Pashto I felt there was something here, there was potential for exploring common ground. And so I invited her to see if she liked the melodies, and if she could connect with the way I felt about these hymns.”

      The experiment, as heard on What was said, was a success—and Gustavsen notes that the collaboration continues to grow, with the trio having recently added electronics to its palette.

      “It’s very much an open field of musical influences, of different magnetic pulls that we navigate,” he notes. ”It’s easy to do a postmodern mix of styles, but that’s not what we’re after. We’re after trying to find what feels musically necessary. What’s the essence of where we are now?”

      Where we are now, one might answer, is in a transitional period, with huge historical forces impinging on every aspect of life. Gustavsen’s music offers a welcome respite from those horrors, and perhaps even a gentle suggestion of how to move forward into the uncertain future.

      Tord Gustavsen presents Hymns and Visions at Christ Church Cathedral on Wednesday (June 29), as part of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival.

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