[JPL] Esbjörn Svensson (April 16, 1964 - June 14, 2008)

[Nou Dadoun]

Just heard about the premature death of pianist Esbjörn Svensson,
leader of e.s.t. in a scuba-diving accident, now confirmed by the
Wikipedia entry duplicated below.  e.s.t. was set to embark on a North
American tour next week starting with a swing through several major
Canadian jazz festivals.

N.

-------------

Esbjörn Svensson (April 16, 1964 - June 14, 2008) was a jazz pianist
and founder of the jazz band Esbjörn Svensson Trio, commonly known as
E.S.T.

Biography

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
Stockholm University for four years.

In 1990, Svensson started his own jazz combo with his childhood friend
Magnus Oeström, born in 1965, 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, born in 1963, joined
the duo and the Esbjörn Svensson Trio was born.

In 1993, their first album, When Everyone Has Gone, was released. In
the mid-1990s, the trio established itself in the Nordic jazz scene.
Svensson was nominated for Swedish Jazz Musician of the Year in 1995
and 1996. The group'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 U.S.
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. In addition to his work with E.S.T., Svensson recorded
albums with Nils Landgren and Viktoria Tolstoy. He was married and the
father of two sons.

Death

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.

--
====
Nou Dadoun
The A-Trane on the air since 1986 | CFRO 102.7 FM, Vancouver BC
Fri 2:30-5:30 pm PST | http://www.coopradio.org/stream.html