Gisle Torvik was conceived June 2, 1975. He was born in Torvikbygd, Norway. He found an old Hoefner instrument in his attic in spring 1992. Gisle became a solo-guitarist by using a bit of plastic. Although his father advised him to learn chords, Gisle wanted to play solos with Knopflers spirit. Therefore, he refused to learn chords. He realized that his father’s suggestion of learning the harmonics was a good idea and began to learn the chords and strings. Torvik was on stage in front of 300 people with his guitar after only six months. Although he had practiced for hours, his fingers still vibrated. The young guitarist was able to perform with the support of a large audience and felt compelled to do more. The band continued to play in local venues for the next few years. Gisle began studying music at Sunnhordaland Folkehoyskole in 1994. He decided to become a professional guitar player right there. He began a three year education at the Nordic Institute of Stage and Studio in 1999, majoring as a guitarist and composer. His first solo album was released in 1999 after he had played in several bands. “Naked without a Guitar” was made possible by Sigmund Groven and Petter Wettre as well as Endre Christiansen, Frode Berg and Endre Christiansen. He has had many side projects and worked as a musician in many styles, including Soul, Pop and Singer Songwriter. You can hear his ability to adapt to many styles on his 2009 album, frozen moment, featuring Hilde Norbakken. It was released to great reviews. This was his first album that combined vocals and guitar. His song “I remember” from this album reached semi-finals of the ISC International Songwriting Competition in march 2011. After having been a sponsor of Ibanez for many decades, he was offered an endorsement by the American brand Sadowsky Guitars in 2011. He released a solo version on YouTube of Tranquil Fjord, his beautiful song. The video was shot in Hardanger’s 1918 closed hydroplant. It was well-received and still ranks #1 on bestjazzvideos.com. He finally released his first trio album in october 2013, with Audun Ellingsen on double bass and Hermund Nygard playing the drums. Amazing reviews have been received all over the globe for Tranquil Fjord. Torvik toured extensively nationally and internationally in autumn 2013. Torvik is a guitarist and producer as well as an arranger, composer and mixer. He was the one who mixed Tranqul Fjord’s final mix. Gisle is an instructor in guitar, harmony and arranging, composition, and music theory at different schools. Torvik is a jazzguitarist who is considered to be the best in Scandinavia. However, he enjoys playing all kinds of music and is not afraid to work in many genres. Calvert’s guitarist and producer is Torvik. He has performed solo concerts as well as large ensembles in concert all over the globe and has worked with many great jazzmusicians like Bendik Hofseth and Eddie Gomez, Tony Moreno and Sigmund Groven. from http://gisletorvik.com
