Esbjörn Svensson Trio | Plays Monk

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Esbjorn Svensson Trio, Jazz, Post-bop

Esbjörn Svensson Trio | Plays Monk – [Diesel Music, 2007]

Until the untimely recent death of pianist/namesake Esbjorn Svensson in a scuba diving accident, the Esbjorn Svensson Trio was known to its fans for its imaginative compositions and virtuoso execution. On this remarkable early effort, the Trio tackles the music of legendary jazz man Thelonious Monk with an alacrity that belies the difficulty of the music and manages to imbue it with a touch that makes the music their own.

I lay no claim to being an expert on Monk’s music, but I have heard most of these tunes before and can tell you that you will likely be pleasantly stunned on hearing the Trio’s renditions.

Esbjorn Svensson Trio | From Gagarin’s Point Of View

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Esbjorn Svensson Trio, Jazz, Piano

Esbjorn Svensson Trio | From Gagarin’s Point Of View – [Diesel Music, 2007]

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 jazz combs change their strength a lot, and not always in their advantage. At jazz festivals you here a lot of theme-solo-solo-solo-boring drum solo-theme-jazz, and that’s alright when the individuals are interesting enough, but a lot of times it’s simply not good enough. Sometimes 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 jazz bands you could hear live.