Esbjörn Svensson
Esbjörn Svensson (born April 16, 1964 in Västerås , Sweden; † June 14, 2008 in Stockholm ) was the pianist and composer of the Swedish jazz band Esbjörn Svensson Trio (also EST or est ). He is considered one of the outstanding jazz pianists of the time around the turn of the millennium and, together with his band, created a new kind of jazz trio sound, which, with its borrowings from pop and rock music, opened up new listeners to jazz.
biography
Early years
Esbjörn Svensson was the son of a classical pianist and a jazz-loving father; his great-uncle was the pianist and singer Gunnar Svensson . Piano, he learned first only self-taught . Growing up in a musical family, he came into contact with jazz at an early age, but initially only felt addressed by classical music. As a teenager, he also developed a keen interest in pop music and rock 'n' roll, which brought him back to classical music and finally to jazz. He founded his first bands while still at school. After he was able to gain initial experience on the instrument under the guidance of his mother, he began to make music together with his friend and later bandmate Magnus Öström.
At the age of 16 he finally moved to a music high school, where he was assigned to his first jazz teacher Jerzy Lisewski. He later studied for four years at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and received lessons from a classical concert pianist, as he could not work satisfactorily with the jazz pianist assigned to him as a teacher. So he initially pursued a training in classical play and in this context also dealt intensively with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach , which later also shaped him compositionally. He also received lessons from Bengt-Arne Wallin as part of his studies .
After graduating, he initially worked for a short time as a sideman in the Swedish and Danish jazz scene - including since 1985 for several years in Fredrik Norén's hardbop band . From 1990 he was part of Lina Nyberg's quintet . He also appeared as a composer for pop music. Since he didn't really feel at home in this formation, he immediately pursued the idea of his own jazz trio.
Esbjörn Svensson Trio
In 1990 he founded his first own trio , which was a forerunner of the Esbjörn Svensson Trio and to which his childhood friend and drummer Magnus Öström already belonged. In 1993 the bassist Dan Berglund (* 1963) joined the two musicians, and the Esbjörn Svensson Trio was founded. Shortly afterwards her first album When Everyone Has Gone was released . A year later, the three musicians agreed to concentrate only on working with their own trio and not to carry out any major musical sideline activities. In 1995 their album Mr. & Mrs. Handkerchief was released in Sweden , which was released six years later by the ACT Music label under the title EST Live '95 in the rest of Europe.
The trio had established themselves on the Nordic jazz scene in the mid-1990s, and Svensson was voted Jazz Musician of the Year in Sweden in 1995 and 1996. The next album, EST Plays Monk, sold over 10,000 copies in Sweden and the fresh arrangements of Thelonious Monk's compositions have already been very well received by critics. In 1997 the album Winter in Venice was released , which contains almost exclusively original compositions and won two Swedish Grammys, one for Svensson as "Best Composer", the other for the best album.
Since his Stockholm label had no international contacts to the jazz world, Svensson took the opportunity to record with trombonist Nils Landgren in 1994 to talk to his manager Siegfried Loch from the German jazz label ACT about a collaboration. Svensson insisted on mutual cooperation between the labels and it took five years for the contract to come about. The international breakthrough came with the CD From Gagarin's Point of View (1999), which was distributed internationally by ACT. The song Dodge the Dodo from the album mentioned developed into an often played hit of the band. Together with Svensson's other compositions, he made an international audience aware of his compositional skills and the typical est sound and was pioneering for the development of the jazz trio.
With their albums Good Morning Susie Soho and Strange Place for Snow they drew the attention of the American public to their trio, and in 2002 a nine-month tour through Europe, the United States and Japan followed. Both albums were characterized by great originality, integrated other styles of music safely and creatively and consolidated the specific sound of the group. The subsequent albums Seven Days of Falling (2003), Viaticum (2005) and Tuesday Wonderland (2006) were received very positively by both critics and fans and brought various awards and very good placements in the jazz and pop charts. The extensive concert tours accompanying the albums brought many listeners to their live performances, and on the “Tuesday Wonderland” tour alone, the band gave over 100 concerts in 24 countries to more than 200,000 listeners within a year. As the first European jazz band ever, est appeared on the cover of the prestigious US jazz magazine Down Beat (May 2006).
After this success, the trio continuously worked on the concept of integrating sound extensions (electronic and mechanical) in a jazz trio context. The album est Live in Hamburg was released in November 2007 and is a concert recording of a performance in Hamburg in autumn 2006 as part of the “Tuesday Wonderland” tour. The band's creative and energetic improvisation is recorded and performed very authentically on this double CD for comparison with the Köln concert by Keith Jarrett , in terms of importance in their discography. The recording illustrates the sound of the trio, which has developed over the years, partly points as a new interpretation of the well-known est compositions beyond what was previously heard and is one of the most important live recordings that the genre has produced during this time.
The posthumously released albums Leucocyte and 301 are compiled from the band's freely improvised jam sessions in Studios 301 during the Australia tour in January 2007. The music is much more experimental than on previous albums and presents a sound unfamiliar to jazz trios, which contains many electronic sound extensions (reverb, distortion, etc.), but preserves the acoustic sound as a foundation. This points to the originally planned musical further development of the trio, which is also supported by the fact that spontaneous jam sessions, without fixed compositions, were considered a source of musical renewal by the band. The reception of Svensson's visionary tonal language at this milestone by musicians, experts and the public is not yet complete and offers starting points for the development of new sound dimensions in the jazz trio context.
After Svensson's death, the est was dissolved. On September 12, 2008, a memorial concert for Esbjörn Svensson took place at Elmau Castle in Bavaria. Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström and Nils Landgren played.
Other musical activities
Since 1994 Svensson has also played albums with trombonist Nils Landgren . The collaboration ended in 1999, as Svensson only wanted to concentrate on his trio, which became more and more popular and successful. Despite the sporadic musical collaboration, the two remained good friends and Nils Landgren made guest appearances with the Esbjörn Svensson Trio.
In 1997 the Esbjörn Svensson Trio toured with singer Viktoria Tolstoy , who had completed her Blue Note debut album Russian White , which was produced by Svensson. In October 2003 she also recorded the album Shining on You , which was dedicated to Svensson. He composed and arranged all the songs on the album and also took over the piano part, but performed under the pseudonym Bror Falk.
Accidental death
On June 14, 2008 Svensson had a fatal accident while diving in the Stockholm archipelago . Since the cause of death was initially unclear, the Swedish police investigated the circumstances of the death and came to the conclusion that it was an accident.
He disappeared from the group during the dive and was found lifeless at the bottom of the water. The air line to his dry suit has come loose. Svensson, who only recently started diving, was probably overwhelmed with the situation.
His sudden death at the peak of his career so far and before the release of the recently completed album Leucocyte caused deep consternation and dismay in the jazz scene. On July 8th, 2008 a commemoration ceremony with short musical contributions by Viktoria Tolstoy, Nils Landgren and Svensson's two bandmates Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström took place in Stockholm. The funeral took place in camera. His grave is in Sandsborg Cemetery in Stockholm.
Esbjörn Svensson left behind his wife and two sons.
Work and appreciation
Esbjörn Svensson's piano style is strongly influenced by Keith Jarrett - especially his early recordings - but also shows the reception of Bill Evans' style and influences of Pat Metheny's music . Furthermore, he valued the music of Johann Sebastian Bach as extremely valuable for his musical development and composed a well-tempered piano for his jazz trio. Parts of these compositions can be heard on the album Tuesday Wonderland in a modified version, which arose from suggestions from his band colleagues . In the jazz tradition he is compositionally closely linked to the music of Thelonious Monk . In his compositions and improvisations he also processed listening experiences from other musical genres, such as pop and rock music (e.g. Radiohead ). For exercise and relaxation, he also liked to play classical works by Beethoven , Chopin , Rachmaninov and Bartók , but did not consider himself good enough to record them on CD.
Although he made a significant contribution to the emancipation of the European jazz scene from the American one, he valued its tradition without exposing himself to unnecessary constraints. However, he could not understand the often-invoked scenario of a competition or battle for the newer, more innovative jazz scene between the United States and Europe and saw the innovation more dependent on individual artists than on states.
A rather unusual approach for jazz trios was the long and steady bond of the three members, who only appeared together in the Esbjörn Svensson Trio. This persistence of the band members, more familiar from pop and rock music, contributed significantly to the trio's own sound formation, which later became their unmistakable trademark. A quasi-blind understanding of joint improvisations, which enjoyed great recognition, also developed. The traditional sound of the jazz trio was expanded through the organic integration of electronic sound effects on the basis of acoustic instruments. The electronics should not dominate the sound, but only complement it, so that synthesizers, for example, were only used for rehearsals at home, but not for concerts or recordings. Svensson played the piano lyrically, virtuously and energetically at the same time, but not technically, so that the purely pianistic technique was always subordinate to the sound impression of the trio and was partly composed and improvised according to the principle "less is more".
Svensson often referred to the band's sound engineer, Åke Linton, as "a fourth member of the band," which emphasizes the group's search for the perfect sound for any type of concert venue. Later on, est also used lighting effects for live performances, which, however, never distract from the music, but only support it visually.
Svensson influenced a number of younger musicians in their musical development, such as Ethan Iverson of the group The Bad Plus and the German jazz pianist Michael Wollny , and shaped a new sound in the genre of the jazz trio.
Together with the American Brad Mehldau, he is regarded as one of the most important and influential jazz pianists of the time around the turn of the millennium.
Discography (selection)
- 1993: When Everyone Has Gone Dragon
- 1995: EST Live '95 (released in Sweden as Mr. & Mrs. Handkerchief) ACT Music + Vision
- 1997: Steve Dobrogosz , Bobo Stenson , Anders Widmark , Esbjörn Svensson Solo Flights , Scandinavian Songs Music Group (4 solo pieces)
- 1997: Winter in Venice , Superstudio GUL
- 1998: EST Plays Monk , Superstudio GUL
- 1999: From Gagarin's Point of View , Superstudio GUL
- 2000: Good Morning Susie Soho , Superstudio GUL
- 2001: Somewhere Else Before (US compilation of From Gagarin's Point of View and Good Morning Susie Soho )
- 2002: Strange Place for Snow , Superstudio GUL
- 2003: Seven Days of Falling , Superstudio GUL
- 2003: Live in Stockholm , DVD, recorded December 10, 2000 - contains videos and an interview
- 2005: Viaticum , Spamboolimbo
- 2005: est Viaticum, Live in Berlin Platinum Edition German Jazz Award , contains four live recordings of a concert and a previously unreleased bonus track
- 2006: Tuesday Wonderland , recorded at Bohus Sound Recording Studios, Gothenburg, Sweden in March 2006
- 2007: Live in Hamburg , recording by NDR, Laeiszhalle November 22, 2006
- 2008: Leucocyte recorded at Studios 301 , Sydney, January 2007
- 2009: Retrospective - The Very Best of est
- 2012: 301 recorded at Studios 301 , Sydney, January 2007
- 2016: EST Symphony (Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra with Hans Ek, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström, Iiro Rantala, Marius Neset, Verneri Pohjola & Johan Lindström)
- 2018: Live in London , recorded during the Viaticum tour, 2005
literature
- est Songbook Vol. 1 . Bosworth, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-86543-330-5 .
- The est tuesday wonderland magazine . Spamboolimbo Productions AB, Elisabeth Olins Väg 3, 12134 Enskededalen, Sweden
Awards
Svensson was voted Jazz Musician of the Year in Sweden in 1995 and 1996 , in 1998 he received the award for Best Composer and in 2002 the Guinness Jazz in Europe Award . In 2003 he received the Special MIDEM Award: Discovery of the Year . In 2003 he also received the BBC Jazz Award: Best International Artist of the Year , The Jazz Cat Award from the Swedish Jazz Organization and the French Grammy for Best International Artist - Victoire du Jazz . The Swedish Music Export Prize followed a year later . He is the recipient of the "Hans Koller European Jazz Prize 2004". In 2007 he received the Django d'Or (Sweden) as Contemporary Star of Jazz .
Seven of his albums as the pianist of the Esbjörn Svensson Trio received gold and three more even platinum awards in Germany .
Quotes
"We are a pop band that plays jazz."
“The energy is probably the most important thing in music. Without energy, everything is nothing. "
“We are no longer 20 year olds who think they are the best musicians in the world. We have families and children who keep bringing us down. When we get home we play Lego with them and take them to school. We're just normal guys who have a lot of fun and passion in what they do. "
"I am following the path of my heart, this is the music we have to play, this is the music we love to play, the only music we want to play."
Voices on Esbjörn Svensson
"His [Svensson's] solos were minor masterpieces of melodic development, stories within stories that often exploited the drama of the rising line. At concerts the power and intensity of his playing would hold audiences spellbound [...]. But whatever price and awards were heaped on him, [...], his feet always remained firmly on the floor [...]. "
"[Their music] didn't sound to me like people imitating 1957 Miles Davis records, it sounded to me like the world feels right now, those qualities are the qualities that for me will make jazz survive and they are increasingly rare [...] . "
"This group has become one sound, one genius mutant human being with six hands, three brains and one musical sensibility."
"The single most important artist to emerge in jazz in the last ten years."
Trivia
- Svensson preferred grand pianos and upright pianos from Steinway and Yamaha, but tried to remain as open as possible to instruments from other manufacturers. In general, he attached more importance to the tuning of the instrument than to the make. He himself owned a Yamaha grand piano and used a Line6 POD 2.0 for electronic sound effects.
- The official spelling of the band name is abbreviated with lowercase letters, although est Svensson preferred the case in capital letters, EST , but the management advocated lowercase letters.
- The song titles from est are often very extravagant and contain rhymes, alliterations, tongue twisters or puns. They were always created by the band's drummer, Magnus Öström, and should be as open to interpretation as possible and sometimes contain a subliminal political message, although the trio never openly propagated this, but always placed the music in the foreground.
Web links
- Web presence of the trio EST (English)
- Biography at laut.de
- Esbjörn Svensson at Discogs (English)
- Biography in English
- Obituary in time
- Obituary in the New York Times (English)
swell
- ↑ Jazzwise # 122 , 2008, p. 18.
- ↑ The est tuesday wonderland magazine , 2006, p. 29.
- ↑ a b Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 5th edition. Penguin, London 2000, ISBN 0-14-051452-X , p. 1422.
- ↑ Jazzwise # 52 , p. 25.
- ↑ Jazz for Tomorrow , Die Zeit , June 16, 2008. Accessed November 16, 2015.
- ↑ Tom Barlow, Jazzwise # 52 , p. 60.
- ↑ ACT Music: est Esbjörn Svensson Trio Biography ( Memento from June 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).
- ↑ Jazzwise ESBJÖRN SVENSSON TRIO - EST - THREE FALLING THREE .
- ↑ Guy Hayden, BBC - Jazz Review: Esbjörn Svensson Trio Live in Hamburg Review. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
- ↑ ACT Music: To the artist page of est Esbjörn Svensson Trio ( Memento from October 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ).
- ↑ Wolf Kampmann, Jazzthetik # 218 , p. 64; similar to Reiner H. Nitschke, Fonoforum, 08/2008: fonoforum.de edition 10/2008 .
- ↑ Stuart Nicholson, Jazzwise # 122 , p. 22.
- ↑ playgroundmusic.no: est (Esbjörn Svensson Trio)
- ^ Svensson, Jazzwise # 52, p. 27.
- ↑ Andreas Kunz, Fono Forum December 2007: Klassik-Kanon Episode 56: Richard Wagner's “Parsifal” ( Memento from August 1st, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ).
- ↑ Esbjörn Svensson, Interview in the WELT: Esbjörn Svensson - His vision of jazz. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
- ↑ Stuart Nicholson, Jazzwise # 122 , p. 18.
- ^ Svensson, Jazzwise # 68 , p. 25.
- ^ Svensson, Jazzwise # 122 , p. 20.
- ↑ est songbook volume 1 , 2007, p. 63.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Svensson, Esbjörn |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swedish jazz pianist and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 16, 1964 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Västerås , Sweden |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 14, 2008 |
| Place of death | Stockholm , Sweden |