Home.S. (ACT)
Esbjorn Svensson
Released November 2022
All About Jazz Best Jazz Albums Of 2022
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k1fkKu_NwjVEWWeitOOoPO2xrRuraN8pI
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/intl-pt/album/1GgqGyaOFzCy80a0kDXVmt?si=eQj79-vQQreYOxmWDtWJcQ
About:
The release of HOME.S., the only previously unreleased solo album by pianist Esbjörn Svensson, is nothing short of a sensation. The recordings were made at Svensson’s Swedish home just a few weeks before his tragic death on June 14, 2008. Afterward, they remained undiscovered for nearly ten years on a hard drive in the personal archive of his wife, Eva Svensson. HOME.S. consists of nine focused piano songs, ranging from composed fragments to Svensson’s unique, melodious style of improvisation. It is an intimate, soulful, and deeply personal work.
Track Listing:
1. Alpha 04:01
2. Beta 03:35
3. Gamma 06:08
4. Delta 02:48
5. Epsilon 04:36
6. Zeta 03:19
7. Eta 07:06
8. Theta 02:29
9. Iota 02:20
Personnel:
Esbjorn Svensson: piano
Music composed, recorded, mixed and produced by
Esbjörn Svensson in spring 2008
Executive Producer: Eva Svensson
Mastered by Åke Linton, Eva Svensson and Classe Persson at CRP Recording AB
Artwork design by Stockholm Design Lab
Review:
In 2022, it has been more than a decade since the
influential Swedish pianist/composer Esbjorn Svensson passed. The
measure of his impact can be calculated in the ongoing comparisons of
up-and-coming piano trios to his groundbreaking Esbjorn
Svensson Trio. Several weeks before Svensson’s untimely death his wife Eva
heard him recording solo piano pieces in their home. She backed up his files
for posterity but would not return to those recordings for more than ten years.
She teamed up with e.s.t. sound engineer Åke Linton and the end product
is HOME.S.
Svensson has rarely been heard without the accompaniment of bassist Dan
Berglund and drummer Magnus Ostrom and, in that, the temperament
of HOME.S. is not just warmer, but in retrospect, moving. Eva
Svensson titled the album’s tracks after letters in the Greek alphabet, in
recognition of her husband’s interest in wide-ranging historical and mythical
influences. “Alpha,” “Beta” and “Gamma” are each
plaintive but always with some cerebral element that pulls the ear in. Within
the nine compositions, there are blueprints that could have been the foundation
for the most challenging work of e.s.t. on Leucocyte (ACT, 2008).
“Delta” and “Theta” in particular have boisterous intensity
and rock-influenced energy that would be at home in the trio repertoire.
For the most part, HOME.S. is an affecting offering for the fans of
the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, one that his wife describes as “getting a
message smuggled over the border.” It is also a different perspective of
the deft composer/pianist, with everything else stripped
away. HOME.S. is the only complete solo recording project
from Esbjorn Svensson, though it does not represent the pianist’s only
recorded solo work. Svensson contributed four tracks to Solo
Flights (Fairground, 1997). That Swedish release also featured the pianist
on five duo tracks. HOME.S. is neither a collector’s item nor a
novelty; it is an exceptionally insightful, and relevant collection from
Gagarin’s or anyone’s point of view.
Karl Ackerman (All About Jazz)
