Esbjörn Svensson (1964 – 2008) Swedish Musician, Composer and Founder of e.s.t Esbjörn Svensson Trio.

Esbjörn Svensson is one of the most well known and successful Swedish musicians of all time. His music and the way he played the piano can be described as energetic, experimental and innovative. It has its roots in jazz music but with influences from both classical music and pop/rock.

Esbjörn was born in Skultuna 1964. His mother played classical music on the piano and his father listened to all the great jazz musicians on the radio and gramophone and Esbjörn himself listened to Radio Luxembourg to hear the latest pop and rock.

After playing in different constellations of swedish jazz groups Esbjörn wanted to explore his own music and started e.s.t Esbjörn Svensson Trio together with his childhood friend Magnus Öström, drums and Dan Berglund, base.

1993 e.s.t released their first album “When Everyone has Gone”, but it was with the album “From Gagarin’s Point of View ” in 1999 that they made their international breakthrough.

Touring almost 100 days a year created a great audience both in Europe and the rest of the world. To play live, meet the audience, and create music moments was the impulsion to be on tour and with their non boundary music they found their way to many non-jazz listeners around the world.

e.s.t recorded eleven studio albums and three live albums before Esbjörn died in an accident in June 2008. At this time e.s.t was one of Europe’s most successful Jazz trios with a career spanning over 15 years and the first ever European band to be featured on the front cover of US jazz bible Downbeat.

The trio’s last album “Leucocyte” was recorded in Sydney, Australia and was released posthumously a few months after Esbjörns passing,

The Independent’s critic Stuart Nicholson was clearly moved by the concert. Here we reproduce his thoughtful and vivid review:

“The Esbjorn Svensson Trio, or EST as they like to be known these days, do to the jazz piano trio what James Joyce did to coming-of-age tales by cutting up the form and starting afresh.

“This acclaimed Swedish group have been a hit on the European scene for a while now. In 2000, the German news weekly Der Spiegel hailed Svensson as "the future of the jazz piano", and since then his trio have consolidated their position as one of the top bands on the circuit. They are currently more popular than most big American jazz names.

“Attracting the kind of following EST enjoy prompts accusations - often well founded - of dumbing down. But Svensson is one of those rare musicians who dispenses the common touch without compromising his art. He avoids the usual jazz musician's stock-in-trade of cramming as many notes as he can into the square inch, instead favouring innovative silences and a darkly intense lyricism that allows his emotional honesty to show through.

“Although he once dabbled among the magical spells of the pianist Keith Jarrett's Belonging period, the new spirit Svensson has come up with is shorn of Jarrett's angst and the feeling that a good thing has been taken to wearying extremes. Featured were several tunes from EST's current album, Viaticum (which went gold in France and platinum in Germany), including "Tide of Trepidation", "Eighty-eight Days In My Veins" and the title track.

“The suave use of lighting underlined the shifting moods of EST's music while their careful use of dynamics, unusual in jazz, which usually opts for fast-equals-loud, slow-equals-soft, made Svensson's lyrical intensity stand out in sharp relief. Yet the non-conformist Dan Berglund likes Jimi Hendrix and Richie Blackmore (of Deep Purple) and is not afraid to use a wah-wah pedal or feedback with his acoustic bass ("Mingle In the Mincing Machine"), while the drummer Magnus Ostrom dances around formal regularity with a variety of techniques, such as using his fingers on his snare to emulate pop's rhythm samples.

“EST renew the notion that the cutting edge of jazz need not involve volatile experimentation. At the head of a sense-sharpening breeze of change currently blowing through European jazz, Svensson [..] gave further evidence that the best European jazz is no longer a pale imitation of what is happening in the United States. Indeed, here was evidence that Europe is now moving ahead in creativity and originality.”

Magnus Öström was born on May 3rd, 1965 in Skultuna, Sweden as second son to local painter Arne and Siv Öström. His brother Tommy was three years older and influenced Magnus in his early years with his eclectic record collection including Jimmy Hendrix, Deep Purple, Almond Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. At the age of eight Magnus built his first drumkit out of his fathers empty paintcans and only a year later he started his first band together with a kid from across the street, Esbjörn Svensson. Magnus received his first real drumkit only one year later as a christmas present. Another year later he performed his first concert. The band was called ”Beware Of The Beginners”.
In 1978 his brother took him to a concert of Billy Cobham with John McLaughlin. This experience turned his musical world upside down and got him into jazzrock. Aged 13 to 16 Magnus had several bands simultaneously together with Esbjörn Svensson playing all different styles, from dance-music to punk. From 1981 to 1983 Magnus studied at the music highschool (Gymnasium) in Västerås. During those years Esbjörn and Magnus had their first trio together. From 1983 to 1985 he then studied music at Sjöviks folk high-school.
In 1985 Magnus moved to Stockholm to study at the Royal Conservatory of Music. He immediately started to play in different bands on Stockholm ́s jazz scene. Between 1987 and 1992 he was a constant member of Monica Borrfors band, a well-known Swedish jazz vocalist who played mainly jazz standards and together they toured extensively throughout Sweden and beyond. ”Playing live, especially with a singer is the best school in the world for a young drummer”, he says.
In 1989 after a break of a few years Magnus and Esbjörn hooked up again and started jamming together. They formed a band called ”Stock Street B”. The setup included - amoung other gadgets - samplers and octapads with sampled vocals. ”It was too early for that kind of thing. No one understood what we were doing, really. They thought we were playing to backing-tracks but everything we did was live...!” In 1991 him and Esbjörn started the predecessor to e.s.t. and in 1992 Dan Berglund joined on bass. Together they recorded 12 albums and one concert DVD, toured the world several times over, sold hundreds of thousands of albums, and were titled the ”trio of the decade”. Nowadays e.s.t. are considered to have been the most influential band in jazz in the Noughties and their album ”Live in Hamburg” (ACT 6002-2) has been awarded ”Album of the Decade” by no lesser than the London Times. The career of e.s.t. came to a sudden, tragic end when Esbjörn Svensson died in a scuba diving accident on June 14, 2008.
Three years later, on Februar 25, 2011, Magnus Öström released “Thread of Life” (ACT 9525-2) – his debut as a leader and his first (musical) sign of life after the tragedy. Its haunting, dark music, drawing inspiration from jazz, progressive rock, drum’n’bass and minimal music was Öströms attempt of coping with the huge loss. On the song “Ballad for E”, Magnus Öström and Dan Berglund played together in the studio for the first time after Svenssons death – accompanied by the great e.s.t. fan Pat Metheny.
In July 2011, the German JazzBaltica Festival is paying tribute to Esbjörn Svensson and e.s.t. .
The highlight of the festival is an evening with music by and for Esbjörn Svensson, on which Magnus Öström not only performed with his “Thread of Life” band but also was hosting the programme.
In 2012, Magnus Öström received the „Echo Jazz“, Germany’s most important music award, as „best drummer international“ for „Thread of Life“. His performance of piece “Tears for Esbjörn”, together with pianist Iiro Rantala was an emotional peak of the award ceremony.
Four years after the death of Esbjörn Svensson, on March 30, 2012 with „301“ (ACT 9029-2) a new e.s.t. album was released – with previously unreleased studio material, produced by Magnus Öström and Dan Berglund. The album made it to #53 of the German popcharts and #1 of the jazzcharts. Also, since the release of “Liberetto” (ACT 9520-2) in February 2012, Magnus Öström is a permanent member of the band of bassist Lars Danielsson.