Bror Fredrik "Esbjörn" Svensson (16 April 1964 – 14 June 2008) was a Swedish

jazz pianist Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instru ...

and founder of the jazz group

Esbjörn Svensson Trio 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 had classical, rock, pop, and techno elements. It listed c ...

, commonly known as e.s.t. Svensson became one of Europe's most successful jazz musicians at the turn of the 21st century before dying, at the age of 44, in a

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

accident.

Early life and work

Svensson was introduced to both

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

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 Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

and started a few

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

bands with classmates, before going back to classical music and finally making his way towards jazz. At the age of 16, Svensson went to a music college, where he took piano lessons. He later studied at the

Royal College of Music, Stockholm The Royal College of Music, Stockholm ( sv, Kungliga Musikhögskolan i Stockholm) is the oldest institution of higher education in music in Sweden, founded in 1771 as the conservatory of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The institution was mad ...

, for four years. In 1990, Svensson established his own jazz combo with his childhood friend

Magnus Öström Magnus Öström (born 3 May 1965) is a Swedish drummer, and known for being part of the first Esbjörn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.). Biography Öström was the son of an artist couple, and was influenced by the musical tastes of his older brothe ...

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 Dan Berglund (born 5 May 1963) is a Swedish musician who mainly plays the upright bass and is known within jazz and fusion. Biography Berglund was familiar with Swedish folk music as well as with pop and rock music. At the age of ten he start ...

joined the duo, and the Esbjörn Svensson Trio was born. The trio released its debut album, ''When Everyone Has Gone'', in 1993, and in the following years established itself in the Nordic jazz scene. Svensson was nominated for Swedish Jazz Musician of the Year in 1995 and 1996.

Rise to prominence and death

The trio'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 United States audiences. In 2002, they toured Europe, the U.S. and Japan over 9 months. Their subsequent albums, ''

Seven Days of Falling ''Seven Days of Falling'' is a studio album by the Swedish group Esbjörn Svensson Trio that was recorded and released in 2003. The album had the unusual distinction charting on both the top jazz and popular music albums charts. Reception The ...

'' (2003), ''Viaticum'' (2005), and ''Tuesday Wonderland'' (2006), were equally well received by critics 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 ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' (May 2006 issue). Their last live album, ''e.s.t. Live in Hamburg'', a recording of their fall 2006 concert in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany, as part of the Tuesday Wonderland Tour, was released in November 2007. Before Svensson's death, the trio had already finished the work for what became their album "Leucocyte", which was posthumously released in September 2008. The music to the album was recorded during a 9-hour jam at 301 studios in Sydney and in 2012 another album was released with music from that same recording entitled ''301''. e.s.t.'s last performance took place in Moscow, Russia, at the

Tchaikovsky Hall Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

, on 30 May 2008. In addition to his work with e.s.t., Svensson recorded albums with Nils Landgren,

Lina Nyberg Lina Nyberg (born 27 February 1970) is a Swedish jazz singer and composer. She has composed works for string quartet, big band, and symphony orchestra. She is married to the Swedish jazz clarinettist and saxophonist Fredrik Ljungkvist. Career ...

and

Viktoria Tolstoy Louise Viktoria Tolstoy (born 29 July 1974) is a Swedish jazz singer of Russian ancestry. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Russian writer Leo Tolstoy and the daughter of Erik Kjellberg. Tolstoy was a regular studio guest in season one o ...

. On 14 June 2008, Svensson went missing during a scuba diving session on

Ingarö Ingarö is an island in Värmdö Municipality, Stockholm County. The chief settlement is called Brunn. With an area of 63.26 km2, it is the 16th biggest island in Sweden. Petroglyphs indicate that the island has been inhabited since the No ...

outside

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden. His diving companions, including an instructor and his then 14-year-old son, eventually found him lying unconscious on the seabed. Having sustained serious injuries, he was rushed to

Karolinska University Hospital The Karolinska University Hospital ( sv, Karolinska universitetssjukhuset) is a teaching hospital affiliated with Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, with two major sites in the municipalities of Solna and Huddinge. The hospital network is ...

by helicopter, but could not be saved. He was 44 years old, married and the father of two sons.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Studio albums * ''When Everyone Has Gone'' (1993)

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

* '' Winter in Venice'' (1997) Superstudio GUL * ''EST plays Monk'' (1996) Superstudio GUL * ''From Gagarin's Point of View'' (1999) Superstudio GUL * '' Good Morning Susie Soho'' (2000) Superstudio GUL * '' Strange Place for Snow'' (2002) Superstudio GUL * ''

'' (2003) Superstudio GUL * ''Viaticum'' (2005) Spamboolimbo * '' Tuesday Wonderland'' (2006, Recorded and mixed by Åke Linton at Bohus Sound Recording Studios, Gothenburg, Sweden, in March 2006) * '' Leucocyte'' (2008, recorded by Åke Linton at

Studios 301 Studios 301 is an Australian recording studio and is both the longest-running professional recording studio in the southern hemisphere and the largest studio complex in Australia. History The studio was founded in 1926 under the Columbia Gra ...

, Sydney, Australia) * '' 301'' (2012, recorded in January 2007 at Studios 301, Sydney, Australia) ACT Live albums * ''E.S.T. Live '95'' (1995, released in Sweden as ''Mr. & Mrs. Handkerchief'') ACT Music + Vision * ''Live in Stockholm'' (2003) DVD, recorded 10 December 2000 – including videos and an interview * ''Live in Hamburg'' (2007, recorded 22 November 2006) * ''

E.S.T. Live in London ''E.S.T. Live in London'' is an album by the Esbjörn Svensson Trio recorded at the Barbican Centre in 2005 and released on the ACT Music, ACT label in 2018 to mark the tenth anniversary of Esbjörn Svensson's death. Reception All About Jazz rev ...

'' (2018, recorded 20 May 2005) Compilation albums * ''Somewhere Else Before'' (U.S. compilation from ''From Gagarin's Point of View'' and ''Good Morning Susie Soho'', 2001) * ''Retrospective - The Very Best of E.S.T.'' (2009) Compilation with other artists * ''Solo Flights'' (Solo performances by Steve Dobrogosz (3 tracks), Bobo Stenson (2 tracks), Anders Widmark (5 tracks), Esbjörn Svensson (4 tracks). Scandinavian Songs Music Group, 1997) Solo * ''Home.S'' (posthumous release, ACT Music, 2022)

As sideman

With Lasse Lindgren * ''To My Friends'' (Dragon, 1992)Comiskey, Ray (4 March 1994) "Jazz". ''Irish Times''. p. 10. With Lina Nyberg * ''Close'' (Prophone Records, 1993) With Nils Landgren * ''Swedish Folk Modern'' (ACT Music, 1998) * ''Layers of Light'' (ACT Music, 2004)

Early life and work

Rise to prominence and death

Discography

As leader/co-leader

As sideman

See also

References

External links