Esbjorn Svensson Trio (E.S.T) who are they?

[GA Russell]

Very sorry to read this.

I enjoy Strange Place for Snow. I picked it up from BMG after reading about it at AAJ. I thought that its music was different from the sort of thing BMG normally carries, but perhaps their carrying it was due to Sony/Columbia's marketing of it.

[Van Basten II]

Holly shit, that's horrendous news, they were supposed to come here for the jazz fest. Saw them a few times, did not buy tickets but i felt i saw them enough times in the last years. Have most of their music.

Was looking to hear their next output.

[Van Basten II]

http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/artikel_1368291.svd

Here's a google translation

One of Sweden's foremost jazz musician, pianist Esbjörn Svensson, is dead. He died after Saturday's diving accidents at Stockholm in the Stockholm archipelago.

Pianist and jazz music Esbjörn Svensson died late yesterday after dykolyckan in Stockholm in Värmdö, south of Stockholm. He was 44 years old. Esbjörn Svensson leaves a wife and two children.

-- I feel a terrible sadness. It is a great loss of a very close friend. Esbjörn was always happy and forward. He was extremely creative and always good to have and deal with. I have always loved to work with him, "said Dragana Maksimovic, longstanding friend and co-workers, to SvD.se.

She was told early this morning that Esbjörn Svensson dödförklarats shortly before midnight on Saturday at the Karolinska University Hospital.

-- I think this is as big a loss to American music that when (jazzpianisten) Jan Johansson passed away in a car accident. I look Esbjörn as the largest musical talent and the composer as Sweden has had.

Burkhard Hopper is the group's manager in Germany. In a press release on Sunday, he writes:

"Esbjörn Svensson was the finest man I met. Ödmjuk and respectful - he was shining up the world and his music inspired people in all corners of the earth, "according to Hopper.

It was last Saturday that Esbjörn Svensson made a dive at the Björkviks bridge, together with a group and a dykledare. When the group returned to the surface was discovered that a diver was missing.

Esbjörn Svensson was found seriously injured on the bottom and were held with ambulanshelikopter to Karolinska. But late on Saturday evenings was thus made clear that his life could not be salvaged.

The police have informed the Esbjörn Svenssons next of kin. Investigators are now awaiting a forensic examination and will investigate diving and examine witnesses on the accident.

Esbjörn Svensson was one of Sweden's foremost jazz musician and has also made itself a name internationally with the group Esbjörn Svenssons trio, EST, consisting of drummer Magnus Öström and basisten Dan Berglund.

Both discs that the concerts have become columnists favorites. The band has found a large audience not only in Sweden but also in Germany, France and the United States.

Esbjörn Svensson grew up in the village of Skultuna outside Västerås and was childhood friend with bandkollegan Magnus Öström. On the band's website says Esbjörn Svensson that he began playing the piano because they had no other instruments at home.

But the musical påbråt was there from others in the family. In fact, he wanted to play drums, but when it was shown that the Magnus Öström chosen drums Esbjörn decided to go for the piano.

The two began playing together and Esbjörn has declared that since they had no teachers developed their music into something very special and personal. In the 1980s, the duo was sought after by young promising backup at both the Swedish and Danish jazz.

They formed the band 1990, but it was not until three years later they met with Dan Berglund and became Esbjörn Svenssons Trio. The same year was released debutskivan When everyone has gone.

Since then, it has become ten discs of which the latest, Live in Hamburg, was released in november 2007. It is largely based on material from the last studioplattan, Tuesday Wonderland. That it became a disc of the concert in Hamburg was not planned. Esbjörn Svensson told the newspaper Dig Jazz to the band was extraordinary tagged to do a really good play just the evening of 22 november 2006.

He also noted that it is a completely different feel and freedom to play in public and that contact with the audience makes all three of the band like to stretch out a little extra.

Esbjörn Svensson was appointed in 1995 and -96 for this year's jazz musician and 1998, he won a grammis as best composer. The band has also received several grammis and also received prizes abroad. This fall, they were uppbokade on several concerts in around the world, New York, Canada around in Europe and the Stockholm Jazz Festival.

Their music has in the past discs with electronic effects remained in the intersection of jazz, rock and pop, and has accused a larger crowd than the faithful jazzlyssnarna. According to the band's website is EST a popband who play jazz. And although the band has been named Esbjörn Svenssons trio sees itself as the equal bands, but the more usual division conductor and backup

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[sidewinder]

Absolutely tragic news - I feel really sorry for the wife and kids. I wonder what the details were for the dive accident. Sounds as if he might have panicked and run out of air on the bottom, possibly got tangled up with something? In those cold Northern waters when something goes wrong things can escalate out of control fast.

I saw the trio just the once and really enjoyed their performance. RIP, what a damn shame.

[Guest Bill Barton]

R.I.P.

This is indeed very sad news.

I too only heard E.S.T. once, a couple of years back in Vancouver, and thoroughly enjoyed their set.

[White Lightning]

44 years old! What a tragedy!!

R.I.P.

[Jim Alfredson]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7456031.stm

[Rosco]

Woke up to this news on the BBC website. Shocking.

[aparxa]

Very sad news indeed, R.I.P.

[mikeweil]

Indeed shocking! I do not consider myself a fan, but this is a tragedy! R.I.P. and peace to his family and friends.

[Clunky]

This is such tragic news. EST were great value, I saw them 3 or 4 times from the very small venue of Henry's to larger auditoria in more recent years, always spell binding performances.

I drifted away from getting all of their releases instantly, a few years ago but was brought sharply to my senses by their Live in Hamburg release released 2007. I had fully intended seeing them again this summer in a double bill with local heroes Trio AAB , so I would guess that make me a fan. I think their influence is pretty wide on the likes of Neil Cowley Trio. Whether EST would have aged well with time is another matter, I suspect there was danger in their music becoming a bit repetitive and near pop like. We'll now never know. RIP

[CJ Shearn]

I was shocked to read the news at AAJ. RIP

[Kari S]

Absolutely shocking, even though I wasn't a "fan" or that familiar with their material, other than "Goodbye Susie Soho". Supposedly they had been booked for tours until 2010 already ...

[aparxa]

EST - Studio 105, Maison de Radio, France , 03-17-2005

A Picture of Doris Travelling with Boris

[7/4]

June 17, 2008

Esbjorn Svensson, Leader of the Jazz Group E.S.T., Dies at 44

By BRUCE WEBER, NYT

Esbjorn Svensson, a Swedish pianist and leader of the jazz trio E.S.T., one of Europe’s most popular ensembles, which was to appear in New York this Saturday as part of the J.V.C. Festival, died on June 14 in Stockholm. He was 44.

Mr. Svensson was killed in a scuba diving accident in the Stockholm archipelago, said the manager of the trio, Burkhard Hopper.

A composer of genre-bending music that drew widely on influences outside of jazz, especially niches of pop like funk and hip-hop, Mr. Svensson was a pop artist of sorts, melding lyrical melodies and electronic effects, classical grandeur and the propulsion of rock, a sumptuous piano sound and frenetic improvisation.

His ensemble, the Esbjorn Svensson Trio, better known as E.S.T., was unsung in the United States in spite of being featured on the cover of Downbeat magazine. But it has a substantial following almost every place else with a jazz scene, especially in Europe, where the trio often packs mostly young people into large auditoriums usually reserved for rock bands and augments the music with light effects, fog machines and multimedia presentations.

The trio’s Web site, EST-music.com, lists 11 previous albums, including the most recent, “E.S.T. Live in Hamburg,” and it has completed a 12th, “Leukocyte.” In 2002 the trio won the Guinness Jazz in Europe Award for the album “Strange Place for Snow.”

Its anonymity in America was perhaps on the verge of bring broken. This week the trio — including the drummer Magnus Ostrom and bass player Dan Berglund — had been booked for a Saturday night show at Le Poisson Rouge in Greenwich Village, home of the old Village Gate. “They were looking forward to making an impact in the States,” said Jason Olaine, artistic director of the J.V.C. festival. “They were really trying to make music that was engaging, not trying to take it out of its comfort zone, and to embrace people who wouldn’t necessarily classify themselves as jazz fans. They’re kind of like the Keith Jarrett Trio of Europe.”

Esbjorn Svensson was born in Vasteras, about two hours northwest of Stockholm, on April 14, 1964. He studied music at Stockholm University, and in 1990, he and his childhood friend, Mr. Ostrom, formed their first trio. However, it was not until they were joined by Mr. Borglund that they met with recognition, which came with their first album, “When Everyone Has Gone,” in 1993. The group’s other notable albums include “E.S.T. Plays Monk,” “From Gagarin’s Point of View” and “Good Morning Susie Soho.”

Mr. Svensson is survived by his wife, Eva; two children, Ruben and Noah; his parents; and several siblings.

[JohnS]

Not being a fan I've not been following this thread but I was shocked to hear the news. A great loss to the jazz world.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Jazz on [bBC Radio] 3 tonight:

Jazz On 3 – A Tribute to Esbjörn Svensson

Tonight – 20th June – at 11.30pm on BBC Radio 3

Tonight we pay tribute to Swedish pianist Esbjörn Svensson, who died last Saturday 14th June in a diving accident. He was 44.

When we first recorded e.s.t. back in 1999, it was clear that Esbjörn’s trio with bass player Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Östrom was very special. But it would have been hard to anticipate, sitting in the Pizza Express Jazz Club, just how influential this band would become over the next decade.

With their anthemic tunes, seemingly telepathic group dynamics and commitment to the concept of the band, e.s.t. were always compelling; on record, but particularly live in concert. They headlined festivals and concert halls around the world and there’s no doubt they introduced new, and younger, audiences to jazz.

Tonight we’ve music from that 1999 gig and extracts of three other e.s.t. performances, recorded in 2001, 2002 and 2005. (In fact, we’ve recorded e.s.t. for Jazz On 3 more times than any other band).

We’ll also hear memories of Esbjörn from his friend and collaborator Pat Metheny and ACT record label founder Siggi Loch, who released many of e.s.t.’s albums. Jazzwise Magazine editor Jon Newey joins Jez in the studio to discuss e.s.t.’s legacy and there’s a chance to hear archive interviews with Esbjörn and his band-mates.

Do send us your memories of Esbjörn Svensson and e.s.t. - jazzon3@bbc.co.uk

- Jazz On 3

Forthcoming highlights on Jazz On 3:

Jun 27th – Saalfelden Jazz Festival Highlights

- Jez’s pick of the gigs at last year’s superbly-programmed Saalfelden Jazz Festival in Austria.

[king ubu]

Though I'm not really much of a fan, this is very sad news

[Van Basten II]

When we first recorded e.s.t. back in 1999, it was clear that Esbjörn’s trio with bass player Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Östrom was very special. But it would have been hard to anticipate, sitting in the Pizza Express Jazz Club, just how influential this band would become over the next decade.

With their anthemic tunes, seemingly telepathic group dynamics and commitment to the concept of the band, e.s.t. were always compelling; on record, but particularly live in concert. They headlined festivals and concert halls around the world and there’s no doubt they introduced new, and younger, audiences to jazz.

Think this will be their main legacy, and as someone who hopes the music will live on, you have to be grateful to this band for making music that was able to shake up the barriers and brought new fans

[GA Russell]

Here's his LA Times obituary:

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...0,5483341.story

June 20, 2008

<h2 style="">Esbjorn Svensson</h2>Swedish pianist an innovator in jazz

Esbjorn Svensson, 44, a Swedish jazz pianist whose fusion of lyrical melodies and rock-inspired electronics broke fresh ground in modern jazz, died Saturday in a diving accident off a small island near Stockholm.

• Esbjorn Svensson
  
• Anne C. Martindell
  

Police will conduct a routine investigation of the accident, said Burkhard Hopper, manager of the musician's band, the Esbjorn Svensson Trio.

Svensson and his band won worldwide critical acclaim and several awards, including the Guinness Jazz in Europe Award, for their 2002 album "Strange Place for Snow."

The group was also named best international artist in the 2003 BBC Jazz Awards.

The band, also known as E.S.T., released "When Everyone Has Gone" in 1993 and had its international breakthrough with the 1999 album "From Gagarin's Point of View."

Hopper said the band had just finished its 12th album, "Leukocyte," to be released in September.

[coooltrane]

Had never heard of them until I heard the news on my local jazz radio station. They played some tracks, which I really enjoyed, now I have been listening to a lot of their stuff on youtube and would like recommendations on which discs to buy. Not the Gregarin one though, as I've seen that one for like 45 bucks.

[Van Basten II]

Good morning Susie Soho was the one that got me started about this band

[Van Basten II]

Here's a posthumous effort, a fitting end for one of the finest trio who were able to make the bridge between a contemporary sound and classical jazz trio