Gewelt was born in Oslo and raised in Larvik, a small town on the southeastern coast of Norway. He started playing guitar at the age of 10, switched to electric bass at 14 and added acoustic bass at 17.[2]
From 1979 to 1981, 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 US 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.[2]
In 1982, he moved back to Oslo and spent a year playing with many of the best Norwegian jazz musicians. In 1983 he returned to the States, enrolling at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts (1983–87). 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 City and upright bass with Dave Holland, as well as playing with internationally composed groups like Forward Motion.[1]
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.
After 7 years in the United States, 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 (1998) and Off Color (1999) on Eagle Records.
