RIP Esbjoern Svensson

According to Swedish media reports, Svensson had been diving with a group and an instructor in the Stockholm archipelago when he suddenly disappeared. The married father of two had been found badly injured on the sea bed and had been transported by helicopter to a Stockholm hospital, where he died shortly before midnight (2200 GMT) on Saturday. This event is still under investigation. Svensson, a genre-defying musician who reached audiences far beyond the traditional jazz crowd, was “the most important figure in jazz in this decade,” said Burkhard Hopper, manager of the Esbjoern Svensson Trio (E.S.T.). E.S.T., formed in 1993 by pianist and composer Svensson, drummer Magnus Oestroem and base player Dan Berglund, have released a dozen records that have enjoyed critical acclaim and commercial success in Europe and the United States. The group, which has won a string of other Swedish and international awards and was in 2006 the first European jazz band to grace the cover of US jazz bible Down Beat, released its last album “e.s.t. live in hamburg” at the end of 2007.