Esbjorn Svensson Trio - E.S.T. Symphony (2016) [Hi-Res]

With their all-embracing vision of jazz, Esbjörn Svensson Trio (pianist Esbjörn Svensson, bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Oström) was without doubt one of the most widely admired and influential European instrumental ensembles in the first decade of the new millennium. e.s.t., as they came to be known, rode the crest of a wave with their combination of highly singable themes, mesmerizingly chilled grooves and visually stimulating, high energy live performances. They filled large rock stadium venues and reached out to non-jazz audiences in a way that has not been equaled previously in the history of homegrown European jazz. e.s.t. regularly topped pop as well as jazz album sales charts and became the first band from Europe to make the front cover of the illustrious US jazz journal Downbeat. Esbjörn Svensson had considered a symphonic setting for his music in the years before his tragic death in 2008. Eight years on and this striking new release E.S.T. SYMPHONY fulfils that wish. The esteemed Swedish arranger-conductor Hans Ek has arranged an outstanding selection of Esbjörn s compositions from the band's rich 13 album catalogue for a widescreen orchestral canvas. Performed exquisitely by the 90-piece Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Ek s orchestrations integrate organically with solo contributions from a handful of Scandi-jazz superstars of today and tomorrow. Featured are the saxophonist Marius Neset, trumpeter Verneri Pohjola, pianist Iiro Rantala and the unique pedal steel guitarist Johan Lindström, a member of Tonbruket, a band led by the innovative ex-e.s.t. bassist Dan Berglund who s clearly the lynchpin of this project alongside his ex-bandmate/drummer Magnus Öström. By both imaginatively expanding upon and saluting the broad-based contemporary sonic universe created by e.s.t. in the first decade of the new millennium, Hans Ek has created on E.S.T. SYMPHONY an enduring and entirely fitting monument to a muchmissed and highly inspirational contemporary jazz trio.