- Esbjörn Svensson - piano - Dan Berglund - double bass - Magnus Öström - drums
Esbjörn Svensson Trio - e.s.t. formed in 1990 (Dan joined Esbjörn and Magnus 1993), is (was) a Swedish jazz piano trio, who played in a very, very vibrant and special way. Once you´ve heard them nothing in the music world seems to be as it used to be! e.s.t. came to be the greatest jazz band that sweden ever produced. And as a band they where amazing. Because they knew each other so well, their ability to improvise was outstanding! The audiences around the world are greatful witnesses to this. They where foremost a live band, due to the astonishing improvisations. But with their exceptional sense for sound, the studio albums turned out to be extraordinary. Highly responsible for the e.s.t. sound, both live and in the studio, was the fourth member of the trio; Âke Linton, the marvelous sound engineer. It should be mentioned that there where not many overdubs on the studio albums. They where, almost, always recorded in one take.
e.s.t. was a pure phenomenon! e.s.t. saw themselves as a popband that plays jazz. They broke with the tradition of leader and sidemen in favour of equality within its members. e.s.t. not only played jazz-venues but also venues usually reserved for rockbands, which uses light effects and fog-machines in their live shows. e.s.t. attracts all kind of audiences; jazz, rock, pop and even classical listeners have come to love the sound and vision of e.s.t.
Being on the front cover of the distinguished jazz magazine Down Beat, made e.s.t. the very first european band manage to do such a rare thing. That meant a lot for e.s.t. The conquest of the world had just begun when the tragic diving accident, which took Esbjörn Svensson's life, occured on saturday afternoon 14.06.2008. The loss is unimaginable! e.s.t, as a band, has come to an end. But their music will go on as long as people listen to music. e.s.t. have inspired, and still inspires, a lot of musicians around the world.
Discography:
- When Everyone Has Gone (1993)
- E.S.T. Live '95 (1995, released in Sweden as Mr. & Mrs. Handkerchief)
- EST plays Monk (1996)
- Winter in Venice (1997)
- From Gagarin's Point of View (1999)
- Good Morning Susie Soho (2000)
- Somewhere Else Before (2001, U.S. compilation from From Gagarin's Point of View and Good Morning Susie Soho)
- Strange Place for Snow (2002)
- Seven Days of Falling (2003)
- Live in Stockholm (2003, DVD, recorded December 10, 2000 including videos, an interview and more)
- Viaticum (2005)
- Viaticum Platinum Edition; Viaticum + Live in Berlin (2005, recorded april 19, 2005)
- Tuesday Wonderland (2006)
- Live in Hamburg (2007, recorded november 22, 2006)
- Leucocyte (2008)
- Retrospective - The Very Best Of e.s.t. (2009, compilation)
Leucocyte - the final e.s.t. album, and the legacy of esbjörn svensson
About Leucocyte: Definition of Leucocyte; white blood cells that engulf and digest bacteria and fungi; an important part of the body's defense system The final e.s.t. album was also the only studio album which e.s.t. recorded in a complete improvised situation. This album shows e.s.t. as a mutual living organism that transcends their music into something never recorded before. For more in depth information about Leucocyte, please read the letter from B.H. Hopper below. The link section, far below, includes reviews and web pages concerning the Leucocyte album.
Leucocyte album content: 1. Decade - 01:17 (Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström) 2. Premonition - Earth - 17:07 (Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström) 3. Premonition - Contorted - 06:18 (Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström) 4. Jazz - 04:17 (Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström) 5. Still - 09:55 (Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström) 6. Ajar - 01:36 (Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström) 7. Leucocyte - Ab Initio - 08:51 (Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström) 8. Leucocyte - Ad Interim - 01:00 (Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström) 9. Leucocyte - Ad Mortem - 13:08 (Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström) 10. Leucocyte - Ad Infinitum - 04:38 (Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström)
Official Release Dates: Europe September 01, 2008 Japan September 03, 2008 USA/Canada September 30, 2008
Some album details: *Location: Recorded at Studios 301, Sydney, AustraliaDate: January 17th and 18th, 2007 *Recording & mixing engineer: Âke Linton *Esbjörn Svensson: Grand Piano, electronics, transistor radioDan Berglund: Double Bass, electronicsMagnus Öström: Drums, electronics, voices *All music created, performed and produced by e.s.t.
Letter from B.H. Hopper Management concerning the release of Leucocyte
Right after the untimely passing of Esbjörn Svensson his band colleagues Magnus Öström and Dan Berglund had decided to stop the release of the already finished album LEUCOCYTE.
Now this final e.s.t. album will get released worldwide on September 01, 2008 in its original and unchanged version - as it has been previously approved by the band and delivered to the record companies before Esbjörn Svensson´s passing. It will now become the legacy of Esbjörn Svensson and shows the band at its very peak in its most daring, innovative and ground breaking performance.
Below you can read the record company´s press text for the album:Leucocytes, white blood cells, are a part of the human immune system that protect the body against foreign pathogens and infections. They must periodically renew themselves to continue their work.
For e.s.t., spontaneous jam sessions were the way to renewal. They would often rent a local recording studio for a couple of days during their tours and then start to jam. They did this without any pre-composed material. The musicians reacted freely to each other and let themselves be totally carried by the flow of ideas and musical to and fro. The players needed this freedom in order to explore new musical regions, or as Esbjörn Svensson always formulated it, “…to follow the music”. In the past, many of the trio’s compositions were developed through precisely this art of improvisation.
And there was scarcely another formation on the planet that was as predestined for this way of going about business as e.s.t were. The three performed with an almost telepathic assuredness, breathing as one; “This group has become one sound, one genius mutant human being with six hands, three brains and one musical sensibility.” (Jamie Cullum). The trio constantly posed the fundamental question, “What can a piano trio be that it has not been before?” (Pat Metheny).
Leucocyte is the result of one of these two day jams. It took place at the famed “Studios 301” in Sydney during the band’s Australian tour. In early 2008 e.s.t.’s sound engineer Ake Linton joined the band at the Bohus Sound Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden to begin mixing. On April 28 there was a photo shoot in Berlin for the new campaign. On May 16 the artwork and album were delivered to the label.
Then on June 14 the incomprehensible happened: Esbjörn Svensson, probably the most influential stylist of the last decade, lost his life in a diving accident off the island of Värmdö near Stockholm.
As a result, Leucocyte has become Esbjörn Svensson’s and e.s.t.’s musical legacy! It is the most venturesome album Esbjörn Svensson (p), Dan Berglund (b), and Magnus Öström (dr) have recorded as e.s.t. The essence of this journey of discovery is its ecstatic energy. It is a trip through the bloodstream sans compositional safety-net and stylistic restraints in which the borders of musical communication are sounded out.
Esbjorn Svensson's orbital musical journey began barely ten years ago with From Gagarin's Point Of View, before coming to Earth with Strange Place For Snow and Seven Days Of Falling. He provided food for the soul with Viaticum, lost himself in his Tuesday Wonderland, and the journey now comes to an end with Leucocyte.
This album corresponds 100% to the material that Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström chose and sent to their label on May 16, 2008. ------------------------------------- B.H. Hopper Management
a beautiful tribute to esbjörn and e.s.t. richard maggioni trio, 3 i 0, performing their e.s.t. tribute 'c'E.S.T. la vie'
for more information about this splendid trio, and samples of their tunes, please visit richard maggioni trio , or 3 i 0, at my space - they're worth all attention!
