Mats Eilersten

Solo Duo was born in a cold winter, in Sweden, on an island in the Baltic Sea: the island of Gotland. The album consists of 2 suites plus 2 tracks, all composed during an artist residency that guitarist composer Mats Hedberg spent at the International Composition Center in Visby, the island's capital. An album for two guitars, both played by Hedberg, it chronicles the powerful atmosphere the artist breathed during long walks on the island's beaches, lashed by wind and swells.

Two years after “Restored, Returned” introduced this line-up and with extensive touring behind them, on “The Well” the four musicians of the Gustavsen Quartet really blossom as a band in a programme of new tunes by Tord. Sax player Tore Brunborg is given an important voice here, his melodic lines combining bluesy sonority and Nordic cry. Gently but effectively propelled by the subtle pulses of drummer Jarle Vespestad and bassist Mats Eilertsen, Gustavsen’s gospel-tinged, unhurried piano playing displays a characteristic warmth and tenderness.