| 03 August 2011
The tragic death of his E.S.T. bandmate made Swedish jazz musician Magnus Öström all the more determined to keep his vision alive. Magnus Öström likes visiting Edinburgh. It was just after they played their first Edinburgh gig, at Henry’s Jazz Cellar in May 2001, that E.S.T., the group he played drums in at the time, became jazz’s hottest property in the Noughties.
From tiny venues like Henry’s the group progressed to playing in rock and pop arenas. They were, comparatively speaking, making the sort of impression internationally that their fellow Swedes ABBA had made decades before.
“We were very conscious that there had been great jazz musicians from Sweden before us,” says Öström, who brings his new band to Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival to headline its Jazz from Sweden strand. “The saxophonist Arne Domnérus and pianist Bobo Stenson, for example, both had international reputations and we knew that we were standing on the shoulders of giants. But I think E.S.T.’s success did show the younger generation that it was possible for Swedish musicians to make an impression on the world at large.”
E.S.T. had become the familiar shorthand name for what had begun life as the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, originally a conventional piano, bass and drums trio that then embraced electronica, drum ‘n’ bass and influences ranging from Thelonious Monk to Bach and Radiohead. Öström’s highly-detailed drumming was central to the E.S.T. sound. America had been conquered, a huge achievement for a European jazz group, when, in June 2008, Svensson died in a diving accident.
For Öström, who had been friends with Svensson since they were four-year-olds growing up together, it was like losing a brother. “We were preparing for a tour of America and Canada,” he says, “and I got a phone call from Esbjörn’s sister. It was like life stopped, a terrible shock.”
Like his E.S.T. bandmate Dan Berglund, Öström didn’t know what to do. For six months he sat at home, wondering if he should change career. Then a friend, bassist Lars Daniellson, called and asked if he would join his group for gigs in Poland and Hungary. Öström decided he should try to get back into the saddle. Swedish singer Jeanette Lindström then asked Öström’s opinion on some songs for her next album – and Öström ended up co-producing the sessions.
Meanwhile, the ideas that Öström had been working on at his piano at home, as much to help him cope with Svensson’s death as to plot a new future, were beginning to coalesce into “proper compositions”. He played them to E.S.T.’s record company, ACT, and the response was immediately positive.
“I invited some of the musicians who had worked on Jeanette’s album to get involved, and we ended up jamming in exactly the same way that E.S.T. used to at rehearsals,” he says. “Then we worked on the tunes and it came together very fast.”
The resulting album, Thread of Life, was released earlier this year to favourable reviews and features a guest appearance from guitarist Pat Metheny on Ballad for E, Öström’s tribute to Svensson.
“I’m really pleased with the way things are going with the band,” says Öström. “There’s no way of knowing how long it’s going to last but I hope we can develop in a way similar to E.S.T. I’m particularly looking forward to bringing the band to Edinburgh because E.S.T. always did well there, and it’ll also allow me to investigate some good malt whisky.”
Magnus Öström Band,
The Hub, 24, July, 8.30pm
From £20, Tel: 0131 473 2000
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