01 - I Mean You
02 - Criss Cross
03 - Round Midnight
04 - Bemsha Swing
05 - Rhythm-A-Ning
06 - In Walked Bud
07 - Little Rootie Tootie
08 - Eronel
09 - Evidence
10 - Crepuscule With Nellie

Esbjörn Svensson – grand piano
Dan Berglund – bass
Magnus Öström – drums
Strings – Elisabeth Arnberg, Ulf Forsberg, Ulrika Edström, Ulrika Jansson (1,3)

Originally recorded in 1996, the ESBJORN SVENSSON TRIO's tribute to Thelonious Monk further establishes them as the hottest jazz act on the planet right now, as their recent UK dates have shown."Deeply lyrical, profoundly modern and beautifully balancing the tradition/innovation quotient, they have the sort of interplay that only comes from years using the same line-up (the thoughtful, unpredictable Svensson on piano plus Dan Berglund on bassand drummer Magnus Ostrom) and are currently among the most impressive of small groups in jazz…every cut is a feast of invention and beauty." --- Chris Ingham, MOJO

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01. Dating
02. Picnic
03. The Chapel
04. Dodge The Dodo
05. From Gagarin's Point Of View		play
06. The Return Of Mohammed
07. Cornette
08. In The Face Of Day
09. Subway								play
10. Definition Of A Dog
11. Southwest Loner

Musicians:
Esbjörn Svensson -  piano, keyboards, percussion 
Dan Berglund - bas, percussion 
Magnus Oström - trummor, percussion.

The Esbjorn Svensson Trio is (one of) the best piano-trio's in the world. They prove the statement that it's impossible for jazz to renew itself, without changing it into something completely different to be totally wrong. The trio has been together for a long time, and that you can hear: they really listen to each other. They have to, because they tend to put so much space or silence in their music, that it would be very hard to play when they didn't.

A lot of jazzcombinations change their strength a lot, and not always in their advantage. At jazzfestivals you here a lot of theme-solo-solo-solo-boringdrumsolo-theme-jazz, and that's allright when the individuals are interesting enough, but a lot of times it's simply not good enough. Somtimes the reason of that is that the bands are so good that they can change their personal a lot, but it doesn't always do the music good. And this is one of the differences between E.S.T. and some other jazzbands you could hear live.

And then there's their tendency to use 'classical' or folkthemes in their music. E.S.T. does that right too: they're not trying anything but to make great music. They're not playing Bach on a banjo (wich is nice, but doesn't really get to you), but they just look (or listen!) for good themes as a base for their music. That's what they do best and that's what makes all of their albums since From Gagarin's Point Of View worth bying.

What makes the music even better is that they seem to bring a lot of elements of their own Scandinavian musical culture into jazz. Maybe that's the explanation of the feeling you get when you see them play live: they really feel what they're playing. And that makes it possible for the audience to feel it to.

E.S.T. is a piano-bass-drums trio, but they sound bigger than a normal trio. Together with the great sound of acoustic instruments they sometimes put in some electronic elements, but they never overdo it. Most of the time they use it as a contast, to keep the balance between 'the beauty and the beast'. A slightly distorted piano can sound like a recording from 1920 and that effect should even be a plus for the traditional jazz-audience.

Esbjorn Svensson is a great pianoplayer. He can set a mood; he plays real good solo's; he almost lives his music. He's able to play very quietly and very loud and sometimes he does both thing within one tune but than a few times. He's very divers in his playing.

The drummer always gets to you. Sometimes he starts of unobstrusively but somewhere he likes to take the song over to give the tune a groove that can't be denied. By Thor, it's not all silence and quietness! Once again it's about the contrast.

On the album Strange Place For Snow you can hear a tune that has the bassplayer doing a very fast riddle together with the piano. The man on the bass used a line 6 pod (for guitar) on the two live shows I saw in Den Haag and Amsterdam to get some special effects. Very normal, considering what's being done in popular music. Also a great musician!

If you don't know anything about E.S.T. it doesn't matter what album since From Gagarin's Point Of View you buy. The ingredients are the same: beautifull themes, contrast, silence, some electronics, acoustic jazz, building up to climax etc.

Sometimes it's very irritating to see that good musicians don't get recognised enough for the things they are doing. And most of the time not because of the people being to stupid to recognise greatness or beauty, but because of comercial and not cultural considerations. When a lot of American jazzmusicians have that problem, what about Scandinavian? E.S.T. must be heared. Buy the album (or another one of E.S.T.) and spred the gospel of Scandinavian jazz! --- A.J.H. Woodcount "FJB/O!-music", amazon.com

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01 Somewhere Else Before
02 Do the Jangle
03 Serenity
04 The Wraith
05 Last Letter from Lithuania				play
06 Good Morning Susie Soho
07 Providence								play
08 Pavane 'Thoughts of a Septuagenarian'
09 Spam-boo-limbo
10 The Face of Love
11 Reminiscence of a Soul

Musicians:
Esbjörn Svensson (piano)
Dan Berglund (bass)
Magnus Oström (drums)

Good Morning Susie Soho peaked on the Swedish pop album chart at 15, above the likes of Whitney Houston, Britney Spears and Pearl Jam, yet was named album of the year for 2000 by the critics in the British magazine Jazzwise. At the same time, Svensson was on the covers of two German jazz magazines, was the cover feature, along with Jacky Terrasson, in the French magazine Jazzman and was hailed by the German news weekly Der Spiegel as the future of jazz piano (together with Brad Mehldau). Clearly then it's not unreasonable to suggest that this album is making waves across Europe. That the cutting edge can live on without necessarily inhabiting volatile experimentation is hardly new, and Svensson's trio, while darkly lyrical, is also fiercely contemporary.

Unafraid to do the unexpected-the arresting rhythmic juxtapositions that open "Somewhere Else Before," the intricate jazz-rock of "Do the Jangle" or the sonic electronics swimming through "Last Letter from Lithuania"-reveal how Svensson remains untroubled by our received notions of how the piano trio in jazz is supposed to sound. Using a crafty mix of electronic and acoustic sounds on the title track, the originality of concept never obscures the trio's profound lyricism, a shared responsibility that applies equally to piano, bass and drums. There is great humanity in their music, intense and often unhurried. The trio's version of "Pavane: Thoughts of a Septuagenarian" remains etched in the memory long after it has been played, and reveals in sharp relief how the American preference for prolixity within tried and tested styles and methods of articulation has actually become a bit of a bore. --- Stuart Nicholson, jazztimes.com/articles/

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01 - Ballad for the Unborn
02 - Seven Days of Falling
03 - Mingle in the Mincing Machine
04 - Evening in the Atlantis
05 - Did They Ever Tell Cousteau
06 - Believe Beleft Below
07 - Elevation of Love
08 - In My Garage
09 - Why She Couldn't Come
10 - O.D.R.I.P

    Daniel Berglund – double bass
    Magnus Öström – drums
    Esbjörn Svensson – piano

Available for quite some time as an import before the tiny Philadelphia-based indie 215 Records finally released it stateside, complete with a bonus live DVD, 2003's Seven Days of Falling is every bit the equal of E.S.T.'s earlier records. Misguided American media comparisons to the highly overrated the Bad Plus have done pianist Esbjörn Svensson, bassist Dan Berglund, and drummer Magnus Ostrom a grave disservice, as their music is far more wide-ranging and much less gimmicky. Despite occasional forays into rock influences like "O.D.R.I.P." and a few brief passages that skirt the edges of outside free improv, there's an elegance and shapeliness to the trio's work that has more in common with the cerebral cool of Bill Evans (particularly on the quietly gorgeous opener "Ballad for the Unborn") or the effortless melodic grace of the Vince Guaraldi Trio ("Evening in Atlantis," "Believe, Beleft, Below"). Seven Days of Falling is a ravishingly beautiful, musically captivating album. Bonus track alert: hidden after the nervy "O.D.R.I.P." is the Sinatra-like ballad "Love Is Real," featuring guest vocals from Josh Haden, son of Charlie and brother of Petra. --Stewart Mason, Rovi

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1. Calling Home           
2. Winter in Venice           
3. At Saturday           
4. Semblance Suite in Three or Four Movements, Pt. 1           
5. Semblance Suite in Three or Four Movements, Pt. 2 		play          
6. Semblance Suite in Three or Four Movements, Pt. 3           
7. Semblance Suite in Three or Four Movements, Pt. 4           
8. Don't Cuddle That Crazy Cat           
9. Damned Back Blues										play           
10. In the Fall of Things           
11. As The Crow Flies           
12. Second Page           
13. Herkules Jonssons Lat

Personnel:
Esbjörn Svensson -piano;
Dan Berglund -bass;
Magnus Öström -drums.

Esbjörn Svensson Trio (or e.s.t.) was a Swedish jazz piano trio formed in 1993 consisting of Esbjörn Svensson (piano), Dan Berglund (double bass) and Magnus Öström (drums). Its music has classical, rock, pop, and techno elements. It lists classical composer Béla Bartók and rock band Radiohead as influences. Its style involves traditional jazz and the use of electronic effects and multitrack recording.

e.s.t. was renowned for its vibrant style, often playing in rock venues to young crowds. It achieved great commercial success and critical acclaim throughout Europe. Its 1999 release From Gagarin's Point of View started its international breakthrough, being the first e.s.t. album to be released outside of Scandinavia through the German label ACT.

Svensson died in a scuba diving accident on 14 June 2008.

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