30 Years Of E.s.t. at Jazzfest Budapest at Erkel Theater

Love Endures...

In 1993, three Swedish musicians—Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, and Magnus Öström—formed the iconic band e.s.t. (Esbjörn Svensson Trio). Svensson and Öström had known each other since childhood when they first embarked on their musical careers. Neither of them could have imagined that e.s.t. would become one of the most influential jazz bands of the 1980s European jazz scene. And when the band was formed, they probably didn’t think of themselves as particularly "jazzy"; they simply wanted to play the music that united their passions: rock, pop, classical, folk, and improvisation…...

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Love Endures...

In 1993, three Swedish musicians—Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, and Magnus Öström—formed the iconic band e.s.t. (Esbjörn Svensson Trio). Svensson and Öström had known each other since childhood when they first embarked on their musical careers. Neither of them could have imagined that e.s.t. would become one of the most influential jazz bands of the 1980s European jazz scene. And when the band was formed, they probably didn’t think of themselves as particularly "jazzy"; they simply wanted to play the music that united their passions: rock, pop, classical, folk, and improvisation…

Over the next 15 years, e.s.t. performed thousands of concerts worldwide, released ten studio albums and numerous live recordings, won awards, and earned gold records. We all know how the story ends.

Or does it really end? And will it ever end? To mark e.s.t.'s 30th anniversary, Magnus Öström and Dan Berglund, together with their close musical friends—Joel Lyssarides, Magnus Lindgren, Verneri Pohjola, and Ulf Wakenius—gave two grand concerts: one at the Cologne Philharmonie and the other at the Stockholm Philadelphia Church. They performed a selection from the timeless e.s.t. repertoire, but in a way we’ve never heard before. The six musicians—each an internationally renowned soloist—approach the melodies and rhythms with tenderness and love. The iconic melodies and rhythms are all there, but we also hear how they unfold again and again, as the musicians infuse them with unexpected warmth and light. These musicians react to each other in captivating ways, with a palpable buzz in the air, as the audience listens in pin-drop silence, before erupting in wild applause at the end.

“e.s.t. 30” zooms from the broadest panoramas to intimate close-ups. And from the complete silence and the weightlessness of space in the opening track "From Gagarin’s Point Of View" to the closing "Believe, Beleft, Below", or in its later vocal version, as it’s called with heartfelt sincerity: "Love is Real."

"If we were to meet again, I would tell you how I feel, I would tell you from the beginning, I would tell you that love is real."

Love Endures.

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