The Swedish Jazz band known as Esbjörn Svensson Trio / E.S.T. is led by the world renowned pianist Esbjörn Svensson. Their album "Winter In Venice" was released in 1997, and awarded the Swedish Grammy in 1998 for Best Jazz Album.
Unlike most E.S.T. albums, "Winter In Venice" starts off in an overall more reflective mood, with gorgeous near classical after hours tunes that remind one more of a Chet Baker or solo Stanley Turrentine session than the ground-breaking post-jazz E.S.T.'s so well known for. Even the recording has a more acoustic feel, with Svennson's Thelonious Monkish jazz-groans, Ostrum's hand-played drums and Berglund's stand-up bass slaps more noticeable than on any other album. While 'Calling Home' and "At Saturday" move a bit, even the uptempo "Semblance Suite II" has an unusually 'laid-backing', if you will. It's not until more than half-way through the set that the ambiance shifts back to that familiar E.S.T. vibe. 'Semblance Suite IV' heats up in the middle, while '...Crazy Cat' opens the windows to let a tempo-shifting disonant wind blow through; before 'Damned Back Blues' stomps out any melancholy left in the room. But even 'In The Fall...', 'Second Page'& 'Herkules Jonssons Låt' explore subtleties rarely heard on other E.S.T. albums. An overall quite nice turn, much appreciated in your 10-disc CD changer, sandwiched between their earlier hard-bop and later genre-stretching works.
