Scandinavia may not leap to most people’s minds when they think of centers of jazz creativity, but over the last 30 years the region has provided a remarkable stream of improvisers who have pushed the boundaries of the tradition. By drawing on their own heritage of classical music, Lutheran hymns and Scandinavian folk songs as much as on the blues-based structures of American jazz, they’ve produced what’s come to be known as the “Nordic tone”—a sort of Scandinavian blues that is cooler, more meditative and marked by a much greater use of silence than its US counterpart. The Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen has been considered a prime example of this—JazzTimes even called his trio “the quietest band in the world”—but his most recent CD, Being There, shows him equally capable of gospel-tinged dance rhythms and up-tempo Spanish numbers. Backed by bassist Harald Johnsen and the remarkably subtle touch of drummer Jarle Vespestad, Gustavsen should be an excellent chance for Buffalo audiences to hear a rising musician who represents the Nordic tone at its best. The concert is preceded by a lecture at 7pm on the history of ECM, the German record company that is at the center of it all.

8pm. Albright-Knox, 1285 Elmwood Avenue (882-8700, albrightknox.org).

$22 general, $18 members