ROYAL STOCKHOLM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA - E.S.T. Symphony
ACT Records 9034-2
Members of the RSPO with Hans Ek (cond') Marius Neset ( saxophones) Verneri Pohjola (tpt) Johan Lindstrom (pedal steel gtr) Iiro Rantala (pno) Dan Berglund (bs) Magnus Ostrom (drs)
Esbjorn Svensson, the Swedish founder of E.S.T was one of the very greatest jazz pianists of the modern era and perhaps the best ever to come out of Europe. In fact his group were the only European band ever to appear on the front cover of the American jazz bible Downbeat (2006). After stunning Scandinavian audiences for five years, seminal albums "From Gagarin's Point Of View" and "Goodbye Susie Soho" unleashed the trios unique style on audiences worldwide in 1998. Alongside his compatriots Dan Berglund on bass and drummer Magnus Ostrom, Esbjorn Svensson brought an entirely fresh kind of jazz to the public's attention with a no holds bared sense of adventure and creativity where all three traditional instruments became the front line exchanging thematic ideas and sometimes wild improvisations between themselves at every possible tempo. As most jazz followers will know, after sixteen stunning albums in a playing career of only thirteen years Esbjorn tragically lost his life in a scuba diving accident on 16th April 2008 aged only forty four. Without his major contribution it is fair to say that creative contemporary jazz would not be as far ahead as it is today. Many trios world wide have now taken up and begun to run with the E.S.T. batten including our own Go Go Penguin and Elliott Galvin Trio.
The pianist had begun to become involved in orchestral writing around 2003 and it is in this mode that the retrospective and tribute album has been formulated. Hans Ek has arranged all of the items except one. They stretch across the life cycle of E.S.T. and all convert seamlessly to the symphonic format. With bass and drums remaining from the original trio it must have been a herculean task for 46 year old Finnish Blue Note pianist Iiro Rantala to take up the leaders roll. However he accomplishes this with aplomb, never attempting to sound like the originator, but fully stamping his own personal style and influence on the music. Opening with the austere yet dramatic "Prelude" a largely orchestral piece, you can already feel the warmth that this music generates among the ninety strong ensemble. All the big favourites are included with the ethereal "Garagin", taken at slow tempo and featuring piano reflecting the cold and emptiness of the cosmos at least as much as the original trio recording. "Seven Day's Of Falling" with Dan Berglund's bass to the fore introduces Marcus Neset's tenor to the proceedings, melodic and thoughtful rather than rampant and off-piste as his recent highly acclaimed recordings as leader. The dark and brooding "Viaticum Suite" finds the orchestra expanding on Svensson's beautiful theme with bowed bass answering all the questions. Moving closer to his normal delivery Neset goes up-tempo after fine muted trumpet from Verneri Pohjola with their exploration of "Behind The Yashmak" from the award winning 2001 album "Strange Place For Snow". One of the longer works "Wonderland Suite" gives us nearly thirteen minutes of total integration between symphony orchestra and the full front line with Johan Lindstrom's pedal steel guitar adding contrast before piano and bass take full advantage of the many tempo changes in Hans Ek's masterful arrangement.
All in all this recording fuses together a great orchestra, fine soloists and two founder members of the ground breaking E.S.T. in a fine tribute to a master musician and composer, the late Esbjorn Svensson.
See also: www.est-symphony.com
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
ACT Records 9034-2
Members of the RSPO with Hans Ek (cond') Marius Neset ( saxophones) Verneri Pohjola (tpt) Johan Lindstrom (pedal steel gtr) Iiro Rantala (pno) Dan Berglund (bs) Magnus Ostrom (drs)
Esbjorn Svensson, the Swedish founder of E.S.T was one of the very greatest jazz pianists of the modern era and perhaps the best ever to come out of Europe. In fact his group were the only European band ever to appear on the front cover of the American jazz bible Downbeat (2006). After stunning Scandinavian audiences for five years, seminal albums "From Gagarin's Point Of View" and "Goodbye Susie Soho" unleashed the trios unique style on audiences worldwide in 1998. Alongside his compatriots Dan Berglund on bass and drummer Magnus Ostrom, Esbjorn Svensson brought an entirely fresh kind of jazz to the public's attention with a no holds bared sense of adventure and creativity where all three traditional instruments became the front line exchanging thematic ideas and sometimes wild improvisations between themselves at every possible tempo. As most jazz followers will know, after sixteen stunning albums in a playing career of only thirteen years Esbjorn tragically lost his life in a scuba diving accident on 16th April 2008 aged only forty four. Without his major contribution it is fair to say that creative contemporary jazz would not be as far ahead as it is today. Many trios world wide have now taken up and begun to run with the E.S.T. batten including our own Go Go Penguin and Elliott Galvin Trio.
The pianist had begun to become involved in orchestral writing around 2003 and it is in this mode that the retrospective and tribute album has been formulated. Hans Ek has arranged all of the items except one. They stretch across the life cycle of E.S.T. and all convert seamlessly to the symphonic format. With bass and drums remaining from the original trio it must have been a herculean task for 46 year old Finnish Blue Note pianist Iiro Rantala to take up the leaders roll. However he accomplishes this with aplomb, never attempting to sound like the originator, but fully stamping his own personal style and influence on the music. Opening with the austere yet dramatic "Prelude" a largely orchestral piece, you can already feel the warmth that this music generates among the ninety strong ensemble. All the big favourites are included with the ethereal "Garagin", taken at slow tempo and featuring piano reflecting the cold and emptiness of the cosmos at least as much as the original trio recording. "Seven Day's Of Falling" with Dan Berglund's bass to the fore introduces Marcus Neset's tenor to the proceedings, melodic and thoughtful rather than rampant and off-piste as his recent highly acclaimed recordings as leader. The dark and brooding "Viaticum Suite" finds the orchestra expanding on Svensson's beautiful theme with bowed bass answering all the questions. Moving closer to his normal delivery Neset goes up-tempo after fine muted trumpet from Verneri Pohjola with their exploration of "Behind The Yashmak" from the award winning 2001 album "Strange Place For Snow". One of the longer works "Wonderland Suite" gives us nearly thirteen minutes of total integration between symphony orchestra and the full front line with Johan Lindstrom's pedal steel guitar adding contrast before piano and bass take full advantage of the many tempo changes in Hans Ek's masterful arrangement.
All in all this recording fuses together a great orchestra, fine soloists and two founder members of the ground breaking E.S.T. in a fine tribute to a master musician and composer, the late Esbjorn Svensson.
See also: www.est-symphony.com
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
