Search - Est :: Strange Places for Snow

Triangulated Cold Fusion

loce_the_wizard | Lilburn, GA USA | 02/17/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The triangle is the simplest geometric figure, one with properties that make it useful, stable, strong, and versatile. R. Buckminster Fuller used triangles as the core building block in his geodesic domes because they evenly distribute stress and provide a high strength-to-weight ratio for further expansion.



I'm not versed in music theory or skilled in playing anything more than a CD (my piano instructor in college encouraged me to quit), but I know enough to appreciate a generous does of talent and creativity permeates "Strange Place for Snow." E.S.T., short for the Esbjörn Svensson, Trio, exploits all the strengths of a trio, allowing each member opportunities to take the lead role, to play the sideman, to function equally.



Pianist/keyboardist Esbjörn Svensson, bassist Daniel Berglund, and drummer Magnus Öström create a sensational melding of sound that taps into experimental tones, right-on improvisation, and layers of sound and melody. Sometime the music seems to be going two directions at once, like an icicle freezing on one side and melting on the other. What seems a facile melody evolves (or devolves depending on one's perspective) into a complex interplay, a weaving together of what might sound unconnected in the hands of lesser performers.



The songs sometimes startle in their starkly different tones, leaving one not quite ready to let go of the fading chords of one song as the next begins to unfold. (The bonus track here, like the one on E.S.T.'s 2001 release Somewhere Else Before is a bit odd, some of like a thumb in your ear.)



There is something of the bright, cold north infused in this jazz, but nothing like a sluggish complacency. E.S.T. takes the possibilities of what a trio can accomplish and delivers a well-burnished montage. This is a trio of equals, each able to handle the stress and joy that comes with cutting edge creativity.



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