EST Symphony album review: Life after Svensson

Pianist Esbjorn Svensson's death in 2008 brought an abrupt end to the remarkable rise of his eponymous trio, leaving open the question of what new sounds EST might have made if Svensson had lived.

EST Symphony is one answer. The influential Swedish pianist had frequently expressed a desire to recast the trio's epic, cinematic music for a larger ensemble, and here, arranged for the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra by Hans Ek, are such EST favourites as When God Created the Coffee Break and Serenade for a Renegade.

The surviving EST members, bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Öström, are joined for an album that is more celebration than elegy, by a roster of front rank Scandinavian guests, including saxophone prodigy Marius Neset and virtuoso Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala.

[ est-symphony.com ]