»e.s.t. Symphony«

Description

»Europe invades!« warned the May 2008 title of the American Downbeat Magazine, the defining medium of jazz music. On the cover: Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström, the three founding musicians of the Swedish jazz trio e.s.t., at that time at the peak of their success. A European band had never before made it on to the cover page of Downbeat. e.s.t. became one of the most sought-after jazz acts in the 2000’s, with over one million albums sold and countless celebrated concerts; e.s.t.´s sound, relaxed and easygoing, influenced by Scandinavian folklore music, revolutionised the genre – until Esbjörn Svensson, the pianist and head of the band, had a fatal diving accident one month after the Downbeat headline. The two remaining band members, Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström, are now completing a project that Svensson had himself begun: the performance of e.s.t.´s music with a large orchestra. Musical partners for this project are the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and distinguished surprise guests. They are conducted by Hans Ek, who also wrote the arrangements. And even the setting is perfect: The last live CD of e.s.t. originated here in the Hamburg Laeiszhalle.