From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Esbjörn Svensson (April 16, 1964 – June 14,
2008) was a jazz pianist and
founder of the jazz group Esbjörn Svensson Trio, commonly
known as E.S.T. Svensson became one of Europe's most successful
jazz musicians at the turn of the 21st century before dying at the
age of 44 in a scuba diving accident.
Early life
and work
Svensson was introduced to both classical music and jazz very
early in life through his mother, a classical pianist, and his
father, a jazz enthusiast, and first showed interest in classical
music. In his teenage years, he developed an interest in rock music
and started a few garage bands with classmates, before going back
to classical music and finally making his way towards jazz. At age
16, Svensson went to a music college, where he took piano lessons.
He later studied at the Royal College of Music,
Stockholm, for four years.
In 1990, Svensson started his own jazz combo with his childhood
friend Magnus Öström on percussion. Both had made their first
appearances on stage as sidemen in the Swedish and Danish jazz
scene during the 1980s. In 1993, bassist Dan Berglund joined the
duo, and the Esbjörn Svensson Trio was born. The trio released its
debut album, When Everyone Has Gone, in 1993, and in the
following years established itself in the Nordic jazz scene.
Svensson was nominated for Swedish Jazz Musician of the Year in
1995 and 1996.
Rise to prominence,
success, and death
The trio's international breakthrough came with their 1999 album
From Gagarin’s Point Of View, their first album to be
released outside Scandinavia. With the release of their albums
Good Morning Susie Soho (2000) and Strange Place For Snow (2002), the
trio drew the attention of United States audiences. In 2002, they
went on a 9-month tour through Europe, the U.S. and Japan. Their
subsequent albums, Seven Days Of
Falling (2003), Viaticum (2005), and Tuesday
Wonderland (2006), were equally well received by critics and
fans and resulted in several music industry award nominations as
well as making the jazz and pop charts.
E.S.T. was the first European jazz combo to make the front page
of the American jazz magazine Down Beat (May 2006 issue). Their last
album, E.S.T. Live in Hamburg, a recording of their fall
2006 concert in Hamburg, Germany, as part of the Tuesday
Wonderland Tour, was released in November 2007. Before Svensson's
death, the trio was working on the concept of integrating
electronic and mechanical sound expansions into a jazz trio
context. E.S.T.'s last performance took place in Moscow, Russia, at the Tchaikovsky Hall, on May 30,
2008. In addition to his work with E.S.T., Svensson recorded albums
with Nils Landgren and Viktoria
Tolstoy.
On June 14, 2008, Svensson went missing during a scuba diving session
on Ingarö outside of Stockholm, Sweden. His diving companions
eventually found him lying unconscious on the seabed. Having
sustained serious injuries, he was rushed to Karolinska University
Hospital by helicopter, but his life could not be saved. He was
44 years old, married and the father of two sons.[1]
Selected
discography
- When Everyone Has Gone (1993) Dragon
- E.S.T. Live '95 (1995, released in Sweden as Mr.
& Mrs. Handkerchief) ACT Music + Vision
- Winter
in Venice (1997) Superstudio GUL
- Esbjörn Svensson Trio Plays Monk (1998) Superstudio
GUL
- From Gagarin's Point of View (1999) Superstudio
GUL
- Good Morning Susie Soho (2000) Superstudio GUL
- Somewhere Else Before (U.S. compilation from From
Gagarin's Point of View and Good Morning Susie Soho,
2001)
- Strange Place for Snow
(2002) Superstudio GUL
- Seven Days of Falling (2003) Superstudio GUL
- Live in Stockholm (2003) Spamboolimbo Productions AB,
DVD, recorded December 10, 2000 - including videos and an
interview
- Viaticum (2005) Spamboolimbo Productions AB
- Tuesday Wonderland (2006) Spamboolimbo Productions
AB
- Live in Hamburg (2007) Spamboolimbo Productions
AB
- Leucocyte (2008) Spamboolimbo Productions AB
References
External
links