Love Is Real was not intended as a memorial to Esbjörn Svensson-the disc was recorded in 2007-but it takes on added poignancy since the brilliant Swedish pianist died in a diving accident this past June. As it happens, the first album celebrating his music comes from a countryman, the guitarist Ulf Wakenius, whose previous album paid tribute to Keith Jarrett.
The tragedy and the timing of this release affect how we receive it. Much of the music floats along softly, as though it were intended for a Windham Hill compilation or as background music for the Weather Channel. Fans of Svensson’s work may find it hard to accept this idea. Yet, curiously, Love Is Real works. It’s pleasant, it’s enjoyable, and it’s appropriate.
Five-day forecasts come to mind immediately with the group’s handling of “Seven Days of Falling.” Drummer Morten Lund and bassist Lars Danielsson never waver from their sheet music-Lund is downright metronomic, in fact-and pianist Lars Jansson subjugates himself to Wakenius, who turns in a nifty solo. The awkwardly named radio.string.quartet.vienna makes a few guest appearances, most forcefully on “Dodge the Dodo,” where its members scratch and claw at their strings while Wakenius plucks the theme. Wakenius’ son, Eric, sits in on the tune; his style veers toward metal, and his distorted guitar threatens to thrash and then fades out, perhaps too soon. (Could have gone for another minute of that.) Elsewhere there are guest turns from trumpeters Till Brönner and Paolo Fresu and trombonist Nils Landgren.
Wakenius’ arrangements illustrate how talented a composer Svensson was, because his songs work as swing, balladry, country-folk and acoustic rock-jazz. “When God Created the Coffeebreak”-one of the greatest song titles in all of jazz-becomes a romp fueled by frenetic, electronic-style drumming. Most of the album, however, is refined and restrained. One could almost call it easy-listening jazz. But it brings forth the beauty of Svensson’s writing. Clearly Wakenius heard something in Svensson’s music that some of us missed, until now. - Steve Greenlee
While the recent proliferation of piano trios has proven the pop/rock world can provide plenty of grist for jazz exploration, few are as successful as e.s.t. in writing instantly (and consistently) memorable original material that's rife for reexamination by others. The democratic trio attributes its writing to the group, but pianist Esbjorn Svensson is clearly its main ideas man.
Ulf Wakenius mined iconic pianist Keith Jarrett for the sublime Notes from the Heart (ACT, 2005). But this virtuoso Swedish guitarist, who worked with Oscar Peterson for ten years near the end of his life, took a sparer approach to Jarrett's material. Notes was strictly a trio outing, with Wakenius focusing solely on acoustic guitar. Bassist Lars Danielsson and drummer Morten Lund are both back for Love is Real, but on this tribute to the music of Svensson, Wakenius adds pianist Lars Jansson to the core group, and expands his own palette to include electric guitar.
In the interest of even greater expansionism, Wakenius enlists the remarkable radio.string.quartet.vienna—whose Celebrating the Mahavishnu Orchestra (ACT) was a 2007 sleeper hit—to color five of Svensson's songs. Trombonist Nils Landgren, and trumpeters Till Bronner and Paolo Fresu, guest on one song each.
Wakenius' reinvention of e.s.t.'s "Dodge the Dodo" highlights Svensson's strength as a writer of instantly unforgettable melodies. e.s.t.'s version combined a rock-edged rhythm section and edgy arco solo from bassist Dan Berglund, but Wakenius turns it into an epic, string-driven arrangement, incorporating a Middle Eastern vibe, a nylon string guitar solo of mind-bending facility, and a metal-edged turn by Wakenius' son Eric.
Wakenius proves capable of matching any guitarist chop-for-chop with his solo on the fiery "When God Created the Coffee Break," featuring Jansson's most exciting playing of the set. At his core, however, he's a lyrical player, concerned more with speaking to the heart than the mind. "Believe, Bereft, Below"—perhaps Svensson's most covered tune, with five other ACT artists covering it since Seven Days of Falling (ACT, 2003)—becomes a ballad redolent of the same Midwestern folksiness as the title track to guitarist Pat Metheny's redoubtable Travels (ECM, 1983). "Shining on You" exists in similar territory, Danielsson's unmistakable tone featured both as Wakenius' melodic partner and elegantly spare soloist.
The intimacy of the string quartet's contribution to "Viaticum" is blended with Paolo Fresu's muted trumpet, turning its deceptive simplicity into a closer of nuanced beauty and understated power. Wakenius' bluesy steel-stringed acoustic guitar intro to "Good Morning Susie Soho," on the other hand, defines a mid-tempo groove bolstered by the rhythm section, the perfect backdrop for Funk Unit leader Nils Landgren's warm-toned, but groove-heavy trombone solo.
With Love is Real, Wakenius disproves the belief that there are plenty of great players today but few writers who can reach the high bar of those responsible for the hallowed Great American Songbook. Every song here is a winner, not just for Svensson's inestimable writing, but for Wakenius' ability to interpret the songs with the perfect mix of reverence and ingenuity. - John Kelman
Tracks
01. Seven Days Of Falling
02. Dodge The Dodo (Esbjörn Svensson)
03. Believe, Bereft, Below (Love Is Real)
04. Tuesday Wonderland
05. Elevation Of Love
06. Pavane "Thoughts Of A Septuagenarian"
07. Good Morning Susie Soho
08. Eighthundred Streets By Feet
09. When God Created The Coffeebrack
10. Shining On You (Esbjörn Svensson)
11. Viaticum
ULF WAKENIUS acoustic and electric guitars
LARS DANIELSSON double bass, cello
MORTEN LUND drums, percussion
LARS JANSSON piano
Radio.string.quartet.vienna
Special Guest:
TILL BRÖNNER trumpet (1)
PAOLO FRESU trumpet (11)
NILS LANDGREN trombone (7)
ERIC WAKENIUS electric guitar (2)
Music by E. Svensson / D. Berglund / M. Öström
Recorded at Nilento Studios, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2007
ACT Records - ACT 9459-2