1. Decade
2. Preminition - I. Earth
II. Contorted
4. Jazz
5. Still
6. Ajar
7. Leucocyte - I. Ab Initio
II. Ad Interim
III. Ad Mortem
IV. Ad Infinitum
Esbjörn Svensson - Piano
Dan Berglund - Bass
Magnus Oström - Drums
The death of Swedish pianist
Esbjörn Svensson from a diving accident
at the age of 44 came as a shock to the jazz
world. His trio might be said to have made
minimalism popular with jazz fans and the
group had become famous worldwide (so much
so, that many people knew them simply by their
initials: e.s.t. or EST). The trio actually
made this album several months before Svensson
died. It was recorded at Studios 301 in Sydney
during the trio's Australian tour and is the
result of two days of informal jamming. The
trio had been together for 15 years and developed
a virtually telepathic understanding. Their
playing seemed to have classical and pop dimensions,
as well as jazz.
This last album may come
as a surprise, even a shock, to those who
think of e.s.t. mainly as a subtle, often
minimalistic piano trio. The first track is,
indeed, a quietly thoughtful piano solo, but
the second track includes an unsettlingly
high-pitched noise which comes in and out
of the music several times. The sleeve gives
no indication of what causes this (it may
be made by drummer Magnus Oström or bassist
Dan Berglund) but it and other weird noises
certainly distract from Svensson's playing
over repetitive double-bass patterns. As Premonition
- Earth continues for seventeen minutes,
it grows louder and then more disjointed,
with the drums taking an increasingly prominent
role until the whole thing dissolves into
a battle between drums and ambient noise.
The following Contorted is aptly named,
since the strange sounds again intrude on
the gentle piano and bass.
Jazz is a swinging
four-four improvisation, disfigured at the
start by further bizarre sounds, which thankfully
disappear to let the trio get on what it does
best. Still has similar noises, which
sound like a stomach digesting a heavy meal,
with Svensson's piano in the background maintaining
some glimpses of sanity. Ajar is a
short but delectable piano solo, unhindered
by extraneous noise.
The title-track, Leucocyte
(which means a white blood-cell, by the way)
is a four-part piece, whose first movement
sounds like a heavy-metal outing. The second
part, Ad Interim, is a minute's silence
(at least, on my copy of the CD). Ad Mortem
has a welter of discordant, fuzzy noises,
with agonised shouts in the background (could
this be a portent of Svensson's death?). The
closing Ad Infinitum resembles the
tolling of church bells - another ominous
sound, with a wordless choir holding a single
note.
As the trio's final album,
this will doubtless be snapped up by fans,
but I can't say it is as appealing as some
of their other recordings. The Esbjörn
Svensson Trio has given us much cherishable
music, distinguished by its inventive togetherness
and laudable clarity, but I'm afraid this
is a flawed epilogue to the trio's career.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Act
ACT 9018-2
