Terje Gewelt
Encyclopedia
Terje Gewelt is a Norwegian jazz
bassist
.
He grew up in Larvik, a small town on the southeastern coast. He started playing guitar at the age of 10, switched to electric bass at 14 and added acoustic bass at 17.
From 1979-81, he studied privately with the internationally recognized Norwegian bassist, Arild Andersen
, and played in local jazz and fusion groups with, among others, the great Norwegian keyboardist Atle Bakken
. In 1981, Terje went to the USA to study bass at the Bass Institute of Technology in Los Angeles. He studied electric bass with Jeff Berlin
and acoustic bass with Bob Magnuson and played in jazz clubs around LA with guitarist Les Wise.
In 1982, he moved back to Oslo
and spent a year playing with many of the best Norwegian jazz musicians. In 1983, Terje returned to the States, enrolling at the Berklee College of Music
in Boston
. While at Berklee, he met and played with many young and talented musicians from around the world, including saxophonists Tommy Smith
and Donny McCaslin
and pianists Christian Jacob
, Danilo Perez
and Laszlo Gardony
. He also took private lessons with the legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius
in New York
.
Terje co-founded the acoustic jazz quartet Forward Motion with saxophonist Tommy Smith
and released the recording "Progressions". He was also a member of the American jazz / world music group Full Circle
, playing on their first two recordings for (CBS Sony).
In 1988, Terje was invited to California
to work with Santana
drummer Michael Shrieve
, resulting in the recording Stiletto
on RCA Novus which also featured Mark Isham
on trumpet and Andy Summers
and David Torn
on guitars.
After 7 years in the USA, Terje moved back to Norway
in 1989, soon becoming a first call bassist on the creative Norwegian jazz scene.
In 1995, he got a call to join Billy Cobham
's group. Terje played acoustic bass on two Cobham CDs, Nordic and Off Color on Eagle Records
.
In 1997, he started playing with Russian pianist Misha Alperin, recording two CDs, North Story
and First Impression (featuring John Surman
) on ECM
.
In 1998, he started the record label Resonant Music. Terje has released eight CDs as a leader, all on Resonant Music. As a sideman, he has played bass on more than 100 jazz recordings, including recordings by Billy Cobham
, Michael Shrieve
, Misha Alperin, Dag Arnesen, Roy Powell
, Staffan William-Olsson and Ahmad Mansour.
Small World (Resonant Music, 2004)
If Time Stood Still (Resonant Music, 2007)
With Christian Jacob
Duality (Resonant Music, 2002)
Interplay (Resonant Music, 2003)
Hope (Resonant Music, 2005)
With Dag Arnesen
Norwegian Song (Resonant Music 2007)
Norwegian Song 2 (Resonant Music 2008)
With Enrico Pieranunzi
and Anders Kjellberg
Oslo (Resonant Music 2009)
Azure (Resonant Music 2010)
With Misha Alperin
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
.
He grew up in Larvik, a small town on the southeastern coast. He started playing guitar at the age of 10, switched to electric bass at 14 and added acoustic bass at 17.
From 1979-81, he studied privately with the internationally recognized Norwegian bassist, Arild Andersen
Arild Andersen
Arild Andersen is a Norwegian bass player.Born in Lillestrøm, Norway, he started out as a member of the Jan Garbarek Quartet , with Terje Rypdal and Jon Christensen...
, and played in local jazz and fusion groups with, among others, the great Norwegian keyboardist Atle Bakken
Atle Bakken
Atle Bakken , is a composer, performer and producer from Norway, known on both sides of the Atlantic, through his work with Stevie Wonder, Sting, Diana Ross, Andy Summers, Snoop Dog, Andrae Crouch and scoring credits such as the Fox/HBO award winning TV comedy series "Martin", starring Martin...
. In 1981, Terje went to the USA to study bass at the Bass Institute of Technology in Los Angeles. He studied electric bass with Jeff Berlin
Jeff Berlin
Jeff Berlin is an American jazz, jazz fusion and progressive rock electric bass player.Jeff Berlin's bass playing is somewhat similar to that of Jaco Pastorius, though Berlin plays a fretted bass and has stated his distaste for Jaco imitators.-Early life:Jeff Berlin was born to parents who were...
and acoustic bass with Bob Magnuson and played in jazz clubs around LA with guitarist Les Wise.
In 1982, he moved back to Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
and spent a year playing with many of the best Norwegian jazz musicians. In 1983, Terje returned to the States, enrolling at the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. While at Berklee, he met and played with many young and talented musicians from around the world, including saxophonists Tommy Smith
Tommy Smith
Tommy Smith or Tommie Smith may refer to:* Tommy Smith , American playwright* Tommy Smith , spent much of his career with Liverpool* Tommy Smith , plays for Queens Park Rangers...
and Donny McCaslin
Donny McCaslin
Donny McCaslin is an American jazz saxophonist.McCaslin's father was a vibraphonist, and he played in his father's ensemble at the age of twelve. He had his own group in high school which played three years at the Monterey Jazz Festival. He studied under Paul Contos and Brad Hecht, both of whom...
and pianists Christian Jacob
Christian Jacob
Christian Jacob is a lyrical jazz pianist who ranks among the top piano improvisers and accompanists working today. He has gained widespread exposure as musical director and performer with vocalist Tierney Sutton, although he has also maintained a substantial career as a solo artist and...
, Danilo Perez
Danilo Pérez
Danilo Pérez is a Panamanian pianist and composer.-Early life:Danilo Pérez was born in Panama in 1965. He is considered one of the finest contemporary pianists and jazz composers of our era....
and Laszlo Gardony
Laszlo Gardony
Laszlo Gardony is an American jazz pianist / composer born in Hungary who has released nine albums and leads his own trio.-Biography:Gardony studied at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest, graduating in 1979....
. He also took private lessons with the legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Terje co-founded the acoustic jazz quartet Forward Motion with saxophonist Tommy Smith
Tommy Smith (saxophonist)
Tommy Smith is a jazz saxophonist, composer and educator. The late jazz critic Richard Cook said of him, 'Of the generation which emerged in the mid-80s, he might be the most outstandingly talented'.-Biography:...
and released the recording "Progressions". He was also a member of the American jazz / world music group Full Circle
Full Circle
-Albums:* Full Circle * Full Circle * Full Circle * Full Circle * Full Circle * Full Circle * Full Circle...
, playing on their first two recordings for (CBS Sony).
In 1988, Terje was invited to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to work with Santana
Santana (band)
Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...
drummer Michael Shrieve
Michael Shrieve
Michael Shrieve is an American drummer, percussionist, and later, an electronic music composer. He is best known as the drummer in Carlos Santana's eponymous band, playing on their first eight albums from 1969 through 1974...
, resulting in the recording Stiletto
Stiletto
A stiletto is a knife or dagger with a long slender blade and needle-like point, intended primarily as a stabbing weapon. The stiletto blade's narrow cross-section and acuminated tip reduces friction upon entry, allowing the blade to penetrate deeply...
on RCA Novus which also featured Mark Isham
Mark Isham
Mark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
on trumpet and Andy Summers
Andy Summers
Andy Summers is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. Best known as the guitarist for rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed...
and David Torn
David Torn
David Torn is an American composer and guitarist.He is known for the organic blending/manipulation of electronic and acoustic instruments and performance techniques that have an atmospheric or textural quality and effect, along with a particular harmonic richness...
on guitars.
After 7 years in the USA, Terje moved back to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in 1989, soon becoming a first call bassist on the creative Norwegian jazz scene.
In 1995, he got a call to join Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
's group. Terje played acoustic bass on two Cobham CDs, Nordic and Off Color on Eagle Records
Eagle Records
Eagle Records is a leading independent record label, a division of Edel Records. Also exists as Eagle Rock Entertainment.In the United Kingdom the label's managing director is Lindsay Brown, former manager of Van Halen, while in the United States the head is Mike Carden, formerly of CMC...
.
In 1997, he started playing with Russian pianist Misha Alperin, recording two CDs, North Story
North Story
North Story is an album by Moldovan pianist Misha Alperin recorded in 1995 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by David R. Adler awarded the album 4 stars calling it a "set of mysterious original compositions... Combining Russian folk, modern classical, and free jazz...
and First Impression (featuring John Surman
John Surman
John Douglas Surman is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music as a basis...
) on ECM
ECM (record label)
ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...
.
In 1998, he started the record label Resonant Music. Terje has released eight CDs as a leader, all on Resonant Music. As a sideman, he has played bass on more than 100 jazz recordings, including recordings by Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
, Michael Shrieve
Michael Shrieve
Michael Shrieve is an American drummer, percussionist, and later, an electronic music composer. He is best known as the drummer in Carlos Santana's eponymous band, playing on their first eight albums from 1969 through 1974...
, Misha Alperin, Dag Arnesen, Roy Powell
Roy Powell
Roy Powell is a British jazz pianist, organist and composer. He first came to wider recognition when his first CD A Big Sky was released in 1994, the Gramophone Jazz Good CD Guide 1997 calling it "extraordinarily accomplished"...
, Staffan William-Olsson and Ahmad Mansour.
Selected discography
Hide and Seek (Resonant Music, 1999)Small World (Resonant Music, 2004)
If Time Stood Still (Resonant Music, 2007)
With Christian Jacob
Christian Jacob
Christian Jacob is a lyrical jazz pianist who ranks among the top piano improvisers and accompanists working today. He has gained widespread exposure as musical director and performer with vocalist Tierney Sutton, although he has also maintained a substantial career as a solo artist and...
Duality (Resonant Music, 2002)
Interplay (Resonant Music, 2003)
Hope (Resonant Music, 2005)
With Dag Arnesen
Norwegian Song (Resonant Music 2007)
Norwegian Song 2 (Resonant Music 2008)
With Enrico Pieranunzi
Enrico Pieranunzi
Enrico Pieranunzi is an Italian jazz pianist. He fuses classical technique with jazz.He has performed with, among others, Frank Rosolino, Sal Nistico, Kenny Clarke, Johnny Griffin, Chet Baker, Joey Baron, Art Farmer, Jim Hall, Marc Johnson, Lee Konitz, Phil Woods, Bill Smith, Charlie Haden, Mads...
and Anders Kjellberg
Oslo (Resonant Music 2009)
Azure (Resonant Music 2010)
With Misha Alperin
- North StoryNorth StoryNorth Story is an album by Moldovan pianist Misha Alperin recorded in 1995 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by David R. Adler awarded the album 4 stars calling it a "set of mysterious original compositions... Combining Russian folk, modern classical, and free jazz...
(ECM, 1996)