E.S.T.: Leucocyte
EmArcy, 2008

POSTMODERN JAZZ – E.S.T. (the Esbjörn Svensson Trio) built up a huge following in Europe by combining hushed modern jazz with electronics and elements of both classical and rock. This recording, taken from a 2-day jam retreat in 2007, is much more daring than their other material and suggests a more experimental direction for the band. But Svensson was killed in a diving accident in June 2008.

Fo’s Picks: jazzy: 2, 3 | rocking: 7 | just weird: 9, 10

1. 01:17 – melancholy solo piano etude
2. 17:07 – cool bassline vs. moody atmosphere: fuzzed-out piano moves from scattered phrases to straight jazz; electronic textures build up, flow and stall; drums kick it up into a very thick, insistent postrock jam…
3. 06:18 – slow, spacious jazz ballad, with radio static & odd electronic swirls
4. 04:17 – strange electronics drop out for a straightahead modern-bop romp
5. 09:55 – enigmatic, reptilian, gloopy effects. Slowly becomes ethereal, tinkly
6. 01:36 – pensive piano interlude
7. 08:51 – loud, sluggish instrumental rock, dense, tense and sinister
8. 01:00 – silence.
9. 13:08 – experimental soundscape: fuzzed instruments, monotone bass, then tweaked-out piano noodling in a strange churning beat, turns quiet & spacey, then a lengthy, repetitive ballad-like section
10. 04:38 – unsettling: a loop from track 9 continues, with space synth tones (or are those sampled voices?)… additional layers come and go

[ Fo ] 14-Dec-08