Just a quick note to mourn the passing of Swedish jazz pianist Esbjörn Svensson, who has died at the appallingly young age of 44. I saw EST twice, once at the Barbican in London and once at the Dome in Brighton. They were awesomely strong both times, with Svensson’s piledriving piano leading the jazz trio into wholly unexpected and joyful places.
Svensson did a huge amount to bring jazz to a younger and wider audience, using the framework of the rock concert to make jazz sound fresh, raw and accessible. His trio were pretty damn unique, and he has left us far too soon.
Viennese Waltz 
Yes, and I’m one of the younger andw winder people who started listening to jazz after buying Viaticum and seeing EST at the Coventry Jazz festival – just because they sounded interesting – and this has lead onto discovering a whole new world of music. EST were special to me in this respect – like a first girlfriend. Sad news indeed.