Esbjörn Svensson Trio - Seven Days Of Falling

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:23
Size: 145,7 MB
Art: Front

( 5:29)  1. Ballad For The Unborn
( 6:26)  2. Seven Days Of Falling
( 6:49)  3. Mingle In The Mincing-Machine
( 0:50)  4. Evening In Atlantis
( 6:02)  5. Did They Ever Tell Cousteau?
( 4:48)  6. Believe Beleft Below
( 6:43)  7. Elevation Of Love
( 4:16)  8. In My Garage
( 6:30)  9. Why She Couldn't Come
(14:25) 10. O.D.R.I.P

Now in their tenth year, the Swedish piano trio e.s.t. has gradually evolved into a significant force on the European scene, playing to packed houses and releasing records that figure on jazz and pop charts. Why they've never managed to achieve the same level of success in North America is a mystery. The more elegant alternative to the Bad Plus, they share a similar penchant for song-like structure, but with a more delicate approach, clearly rooted in Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, as opposed to the Bad Plus' roots in Thelonious Monk. They even shared labels, with Columbia releasing the '01 compilation Somewhere Else Before as well as their compelling '02 effort, Strange Place for Snow. Sadly, they mustn't have moved enough copies to satisfy Columbia's powers that be, because their most recent disk, Seven Days of Falling , has remained noticeably absent from the shelves in North America for nearly a year. Finally 215 Music has stepped up to the plate to release the disk along with a bonus DVD containing four songs from their European live concert video, Live in Stockholm , and that makes the package as good an introduction to the group as any, as well as satisfying existing fans who have been waiting for this album for many months. With Seven Days of Falling e.s.t., consisting of pianist Esbjörn Svensson, bassist Dan Berglund and percussionist Magnus Öström, moves even further towards song form, and ups the ante in terms of what has traditionally been more subtle electronic processing. "Mingle in the Mincing- Machine" starts with a fuzz bass and clangy industrial-sounding percussion that drives a bouncy melody before moving into a rhythmical ostinato over which Berglund delivers a raucous solo. Svensson's solo is more subtly treated, with light washes in the background. Still, while the electronics are more overt than before, e.s.t. manages to use them in a refreshing way that adds to the music without completely defining it.

Contrasting up-tempo tunes like the bass-driven "Did They Ever Tell Cousteau" and the weighty "O.D.R.I.P.," the album also has its share of tender moments, including the sparse opener, "Ballad for the Unborn," and the poignant "Believe, Beleft, Below," which reappears as a bonus hidden track, with vocals from an unknown singer. Regardless of the context, the constant throughout is Svensson's innate lyricism and ability to weave a convincing story with his improvisations, as on "Elevation of Love," which leans towards a Metheny/Mays writing style. The fifty-minute concert footage on the DVD, which also features a music video and thirteen- minute interview, are all tunes taken from Somewhere Else Before , but in concert e.s.t. takes these simple pieces, including "Dodge the Dodo," the closest thing they've had to a "hit," and develop them into lengthier excursions that demonstrate just how strong they are, individually and collectively. An excellent package that highlights where they've been and where they're going, the North American release of Seven Days of Falling is an event that has been all too long in coming. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/seven-days-of-falling-esbjorn-svensson-215-music-munich-records-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Esbjörn Svensson: piano, keyboards; Dan Berglund: double-bass; Magnus Öström: drums, percussion.

Seven Days Of Falling

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Esbjörn Svensson Trio - Plays Monk

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:47
Size: 147,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:47)  1. I Mean You
(5:48)  2. Criss Cross
(6:13)  3. Round Midnight
(7:22)  4. Bemsha Swing
(4:03)  5. Rhythm-A-Ning
(6:40)  6. In Walked Bud
(4:05)  7. Little Rootie Tootie
(4:59)  8. Eronel
(5:05)  9. Evidence
(6:41) 10. Crepuscule With Nellie

Esbjörn Svensson Trio Plays Monk from 1996 is a music album by Esbjörn Svensson Trio . The album is a tribute to the jazz pianist Thelonious Monk . https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esbjörn_Svensson_Trio_Plays_Monk

Personnel:   Esbjörn Svensson - piano , percussion , string arrangement; Dan Berglund - double bass , string arrangement; Magnus Öström - drums

Plays Monk

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Esbjörn Svensson Trio - e.s.t. live in london

Styles: Piano Jazz

Year: 2018

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 105:55

Size: 244,8 MB

Art: Front

( 9:50)  1. Tide of Trepidation

(10:17)  2. Eighty-Eight Days in My Veins

( 6:55)  3. Viaticum

(14:22)  4. Mingle in the Mincing-Machine

( 7:13)  5. In the Tail of Her Eye

(12:55)  6. The Unstable Table & the Infamous Fable

( 8:53)  7. When God Created the Coffeebreak

(17:32)  8. Behind the Yashmak

( 7:24)  9. Believe, Beleft, Below

(10:30) 10. Spunky Sprawl

In the ten years since the Esbjörn Svensson Trio came to a tragic end, a handful of piano trios have shown a trace of promise in becoming successors to the eclectic pianist's group. Capturing the raw energy that coalesced jazz, classical, rock, and technique in their unique way has been elusive. Since Svensson's accidental death in 2008 ACT Music has released Leucocyte (2008) and 301 (2012). The latter of the two consists of tracks that were recorded during the Leucocyte sessions but did not make the final cut. They were hardly throwaways however, as both recordings indicated that e.s.t.'s improvisational revolution was still a work in progress. Both of those albums represented the most powerful and open music they had recorded to that point. ACT also released E.S.T. Symphony (2017), a fine tribute-recording with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and various artists including e.s.t. bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Ostrom. Now the label has issued e.s.t. live in london. e.s.t. live in london was recorded at the Barbican Centre in 2005.

The double CD set also available as a two-LP vinyl release updates pieces from Strange Place for Snow (2002), Seven Days of Falling (2003) and Viaticum (2005). From the latter of those three albums, Disc 1 seamlessly segues across "Tide of Trepidation," "Eighty-Eight Days in My Veins" and the title track, all patiently building in tension. Svensson's crystalline piano moves in and out of focus and then with the help of Berglund's arco and plucked bass brings this particular portion of the program to a beautifully-rendered conclusion. The live versions of "Mingle in the Mincing-Machine" from Strange Place for Snow and "The Unstable Table & the Infamous Fable" ( Viaticum ) are indicators of where the group would end up musically. With a rock-sensibility woven around Berglund's classic bass line, Svensson's tight choreography and Öström's highly analytical improvisations, these pieces would be at home on Leucocyte. If there is a "classic" e.s.t. track, it is "Behind The Yashmak" and here, at nearly half the length of the second disc, it is a true masterpiece of modern jazz. e.s.t. live in london asks that we once again consider the magnitude of this trio. Their body of work has helped to broaden the definition of jazz, as it has not been redefined again in the passing ten years. As a composer and improviser, Svensson ranks among the finest of a generation; Öström employs hard-hitting undulation and intriguing embellishments as he intertwines the rumble of progressive rock with the spray of nuanced inflections; Berglund's bottomless, woody tone and brilliant bowed bass-work both drive and color the music. It is a trio that, a decade on, seems to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. e.s.t. live in london is highly recommended and an essential for collectors who believe that jazz is meant to be a fluid, shifting genre.~ Karl Ackermann https://www.allaboutjazz.com/est-live-in-london-esbjorn-svensson-act-music-review-by-karl-ackermann.php

Personnel: Esbjörn Svensson: piano; Dan Berglund: bass; Magnus Öström: drums.

e.s.t. live in london

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Esbjörn Svensson Trio - When Everyone Has Gone

Styles: Piano Jazz

Year: 1993

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 65:58

Size: 153,7 MB

Art: Front

(6:42)  1. When Everyone Has Gone

(8:30)  2. Fingertrip

(6:42)  3. Free Four

(8:26)  4. Stella by Starlight

(5:29)  5. 4 am

(4:14)  6. Mohammed Goes to New York, Part I

(5:41)  7. Mohammed Goes to New York, Part II

(3:58)  8. Waltz for the Lonely Ones

(5:34)  9. Silly Walk

(4:18) 10. Tough Tough

(6:20) 11. Hands Off

Like so many American players, Sweden's Esbjorn Svensson has backed his share of pop artists but is essentially a jazz improviser at heart. Svensson's enthusiasm for improvisation came through loud and clear on his Dragon dates of the 1990s, one of which was the decent When Everybody Has Gone. Backed by fellow Swedes Dan Berglund (bass) and Magnus Ostrom (drums), Svensson favors the piano trio format and draws on post-bop influences like Chick Corea, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett on the standard "Stella By Starlight" and originals ranging from the pensive "4 a.m." to the melancholy "Waltz for the Lonely Ones" and the Middle Eastern-influenced "Mohammed Goes to New York." Much of Svensson's work tends to be introspective and impressionistic, but things get surprisingly funky and almost Horace Silver-ish on "Tough Tough." This CD was released by the Stockholm-based Dragon label, but made its way to some U.S. stores as an import.~ Alex Henderson https://www.allmusic.com/album/when-everyone-has-gone-mw0000422878

Personnel: Piano [Grand Piano], Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Synthesizer [Roland D 50, Oberheim] – Esbjörn Svensson;  Double Bass, Whistle – Dan Berglund;  Drums, Percussion, Vocals [Arabic Style] – Magnus Öström

When Everyone Has Gone

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Esbjorn Svensson Trio - 301

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:05
Size: 141,0 MB
Art: Front

( 3:42)  1. Behind the Stars
(11:51)  2. Inner City, City Lights
(13:35)  3. The Left Lane
( 3:33)  4. Houston, the 5th
( 5:49)  5. Three Falling Free Part I
(14:36)  6. Three Falling Free Part II
( 7:56)  7. The Childhood Dream

Australia in January 2007, the height of summer, a time for relaxing on the beach and for taking it easy in the post-Christmas comedown but not for the Esbjörn Svensson Trio. Hiring Sydney's Studio 301 for a couple of days, the band spent its time jamming and improvising, yielding what would seemingly be the groundbreaking trio's final studio album, Leucocyte (ACT, 2008), for Svensson's untimely death was less than 18 months away. In late 2011, bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Ostrom returned to the unreleased music and, in collaboration with sound engineer Åke Linton, prepared 301. 301 refers to the recording studio, but it can also be read "3 as 1" or "3 minus 1." Semiologists might wish to linger on those options, but for e.s.t.'s many fans, the music remains the priority. Unsurprisingly, there is a distinct similarity in sound between 301 and Leucocyte: a mix of acoustic instrumentation and electronica in which first one, then the other, takes center stage. Of the electronica-led tunes, the most successful is "Three Falling Free Part II." Öström's powerful drumming dominates initially, and a heavy dose of electronically created noises gives the tune a decidedly prog-rock sensibility e.s.t. channeling the spirit of ELP. The overall feel is pretty lighthearted, but elsewhere there are times when the electronics tend to detract from, rather than enhance, the acoustic instruments. The wholly electronic "Houston The 5th" sounds oddly anachronistic and out of place.

When the bass, piano and drums are given control, the organic beauty of e.s.t.'s music shines through. "The Childhood Dream" combines Svensson's delicately sorrowful piano with Berglund's restrained bass playing and Öström's hand drums, the result sounding like a valediction. "Behind The Stars" is a Svensson solo, apart from Berglund's occasional sparse arco bass. It's a graceful, contemplative ballad. On "Three Falling Free Part I," Svensson's moving, emotive piano has a real "after hours" sound thrown into relief by the freer, more fragmented bass and drums. By contrast, the lengthy "The Left Lane" is a more upbeat, jaunty number. Driven by Öström's percussion groove, Svensson and Berglund gradually rack up the tension across 13 minutes, before the release comes with the bassist's pizzicato solo. It's a quartet of tunes that stand with the best of the e.s.t. canon. 

The jazz and rock catalogs are littered with posthumously released recordings that do nothing to enhance the reputation of the musicians concerned. There need be no such concern about this album. 301 carries on where its predecessor left off. While it doesn't feel quite so innovative it does, after all, appear four years after Leucocyte it's still stylish and at times hauntingly beautiful. It's a worthy, welcome reminder of the majesty of e.s.t. ~ Bruce Lindsay https://www.allaboutjazz.com/301-esbjorn-svensson-act-music-review-by-bruce-lindsay.php

Personnel: Esbjörn Svensson: piano, electronics, transistor radio; Dan Berglund: double bass, electronics; Magnus Öström: drums, voices, electronics.

301

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