Retrospective: Very Best of Est

Description

Product Description How to sum up the legacy of e.s.t. in words? As a jazz band, they created some of the most popular, enduring, forward-thinking and simply enjoyable music the genre has seen for many years. Over the course of a dozen albums released through ACT, both studio and live sessions, Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström captured the hearts and minds of jazz fans with their innovative and imaginative approach to the classic piano trio setting. The first ever European band to feature on the front cover of US jazz bible Downbeat, they were undoubtedly one of the most popular groups to have come out of the genre. Esbjorn's tragic death in June 2008, at the age of just 44, shocked the music world. Jazz had lost an ally, an ambassador and a friend, but greater still was the loss to music as a whole. Unwilling to squeeze themselves into a particular box or niche, e.s.t.'s was a universal sound that had something any listener could connect with, regardless of where they'd come to it from. Retrospective - The Very Best Of e.s.t. is a fantastic and reflective insight into this extraordinary band, an excellent starting point for newcomers to their music and a definitive signpost along the way for those who have already begun their journey into the world of e.s.t. This collection brings together their finest pieces taken from their various releases on ACT; from 1999's From Gagarin's Point Of View to Leucocyte, recorded just weeks before Esbjorn's death and an audacious reinvention of their sound that was even more of a departure from their jazz origins than anything heard before. Writing in the booklet for Retrospective, Dan and Magnus write, His music is his legacy and will stay with us forever. Perfectly documented on this album, Esbjorn's playing still says more than any words ever could. Review A posthumous gift in music. Leucocyte shows Esbjörn Svensson s trio at its most exploratory. This is acoustic jazz that rocks rather than swings. --The Boston Globe