TUESDAY WONDERLAND - E.S.T.
While historically European jazz leaned toward a classical music sensibility or avant-improv excess, these days a pop-infused aesthetic is re-energizing the genre. Sweden’s e.s.t. (Esbjorn Svensson Trio) is prominent among the forward-forging groups, applying its collective genius to meld jazz’s lyrical tradition with a fetching sonic palette of electronica, rock and Bartokian chamber music. Opener “Fading Maid Preludium” is a prelude to what transpires throughout the CD, with Svensson’s gentle piano overture getting energetically slashed by Dan Bergland’s gripping arco bass. Svensson plucks inside the box for textural variety, Ostrom often drums with a rock edge that trumps swing, and Bergland occasionally channels Jimi Hendrix. e.s.t. exercises its own distinctive style of renegade jazz, morphing at will from a standard jazz trio to a rock band to a classical chamber group. Billboard
