16.6.08
Swedish jazz pianist Esbjörn Svensson dies in diving accident at 44
«STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Swedish jazz star Esbjörn Svensson was killed at the weekend in a scuba diving accident off Stockholm, his manager said Monday. He was 44. 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. 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 Esbjörn Svensson Trio. 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. Their 2001 record "Good Morning Susie Soho" was voted best album of the year by Britain's Jazzwise Magazine, while their 2002 "Strange Place for Snow" won numerous awards.» - AFP.
Notícia do Público de 16.06.2008 [última hora]: «O músico de Jazz sueco Esbjörn Svensson morreu este fim-de-semana quando fazia mergulho de profundidade no arquipélago de Estocolmo, anunciou hoje o seu agente. Segundo os media suecos, Svensson mergulhava no Báltico com um grupo, acompanhado por um instrutor, quando desapareceu repentinamente. Foi encontrado gravemente ferido e transportado por helicóptero para o hospital mas não pôde ser salvo. Esbjörn Svensson, que tocava um público bem mais vasto do que o dos amantes de Jazz, era a “figura mais importante do Jazz desta década”, sublinhou Burkhard Hopper, agente do Esbjörn Svensson Trio (E.S.T.), a partir de Munique, que compara a sua influência à de Miles Davis. “De todos os pontos de vista, ele era um dos maiores músicos europeus. Era um artista de Jazz com a dimensão de uma ‘pop star’”, acrescentou Hopper. O E.S.T., formação lançada em 1990 e liderada pelo pianista e compositor Esbjörn Svensson, gravou uma dezena de álbuns».
