From Gagarin's Point Of View [Import]

Esbjorn Svensson Trio | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 5, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Sony / Bmg Japan
• ASIN: B00008PT62
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #579,064 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Dating

2. Picnic

3. Chapel

4. Dodge The Dodo

5. From Gargarin's Point Of View

6. Return Of Mohammed

7. Cornette

8. In The Face Of Day

9. Subway

10. Definition Of A Dog

11. Southwest Loner

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pricey But Worth It, April 4, 2008

By 

Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Gagarin's Point Of View (Audio CD)

If you are into downloads, that seems to be the cheapest way to get all the songs on From Gagarin's Point of View. If you want to own the physical copy though, you are going to pay and pay dearly unless this is remastered and released on a domestic label. But because of the quality of the music, I don't mind. From Gagarin's Point of View may be pricey, but its worth it.
While this is not my favorite E.S.T. recording, hence only four stars, there is a lot to like. This CD starts very mellow with an even flow, then starts to get interesting with Dodge the Dodo. That is followed by the dreamy title cut which you can also get as a very nice bonus video on another E.S.T. CD/DVD set. Next comes what I consider the album's best cut, The Return of Mohammed, the style of which is very reminiscent of the work of Joe Sample. Beyond that, there is nothing that really stands out until the ultra laid-back final cut Southwest Loner that eases the listener into a state of utter relaxation.
Whatever you might think about the trio's avant-garde proclivities, you have to admit that they are one of the finest jazz piano trios on the international scene. On this CD, those proclivities come to the fore in only a few places so the listener can expect a fairly uninterrupted stream of mostly very melodic jazz. If you are new to E.S.T., I certainly recommend From Gagarin's Point of View but let me also recommend So Long Susie Soho as well. You'll be glad you bought them both.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MUSIC FOR ADICTIONAL PURPOSES, October 21, 2005

By 

A.J.H. Woodcount "FJB/O!-music" - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Gagarin's Point Of View (Audio CD)

The Esbjorn Svensson Trio is (one of) the best piano-trio's in the world. They prove the statement that it's impossible for jazz to renew itself, without changing it into something completely different to be totally wrong. The trio has been together for a long time, and that you can hear: they really listen to each other.
They have to, because they tend to put so much space or silence in their music, that it would be very hard to play when they didn't.
A lot of jazzcombinations change their strength a lot, and not always in their advantage. At jazzfestivals you here a lot of theme-solo-solo-solo-boringdrumsolo-theme-jazz, and that's allright when the individuals are interesting enough, but a lot of times it's simply not good enough. Somtimes the reason of that is that the bands are so good that they can change their personal a lot, but it doesn't always do the music good. And this is one of the differences between E.S.T. and some other jazzbands you could hear live.

And then there's their tendency to use 'classical' or folkthemes in their music. E.S.T. does that right too: they're not trying anything but to make great music. They're not playing Bach on a banjo (wich is nice, but doesn't really get to you), but they just look (or listen!) for good themes as a base for their music. That's what they do best and that's what makes all of their albums since From Gagarin's Point Of View worth bying.

What makes the music even better is that they seem to bring a lot of elements of their own Scandinavian musical culture into jazz. Maybe that's the explanation of the feeling you get when you see them play live: they really feel what they're playing. And that makes it possible for the audience to feel it to.

E.S.T. is a piano-bass-drums trio, but they sound bigger than a normal trio. Together with the great sound of acoustic instruments they sometimes put in some electronic elements, but they never overdo it. Most of the time they use it as a contast, to keep the balance between 'the beauty and the beast'. A slightly distorted piano can sound like a recording from 1920 and that effect should even be a plus for the traditional jazz-audience.

Esbjorn Svensson is a great pianoplayer. He can set a mood; he plays real good solo's; he almost lives his music. He's able to play very quietly and very loud and sometimes he does both thing within one tune but than a few times. He's very divers in his playing.

The drummer always gets to you. Sometimes he starts of unobstrusively but somewhere he likes to take the song over to give the tune a groove that can't be denied. By Thor, it's not all silence and quietness! Once again it's about the contrast.

On the album Strange Place For Snow you can hear a tune that has the bassplayer doing a very fast riddle together with the piano. The man on the bass used a line 6 pod (for guitar) on the two live shows I saw in Den Haag and Amsterdam to get some special effects. Very normal, considering what's being done in popular music. Also a great musician!

If you don't know anything about E.S.T. it doesn't matter what album since From Gagarin's Point Of View you buy. The ingredients are the same: beautifull themes, contrast, silence, some electronics, acoustic jazz, building up to climax etc.

Sometimes it's very irritating to see that good musicians don't get recognised enough for the things they are doing. And most of the time not because of the people being to stupid to recognise greatness or beauty, but because of comercial and not cultural considerations. When a lot of American jazzmusicians have that problem, what about Scandinavian? E.S.T. must be heared. Buy the album (or another one of E.S.T.) and spred the gospel of Scandinavian jazz!

4.0 out of 5 stars Not about the music, but the title, July 15, 2005

By 

Zamboni Gustavo Dante "nirvanistic traveler" (Cordoba, Argentina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Gagarin's Point Of View (Audio CD)

A very nice record of the swedish trio. But the name is "Gagarin" (the Russian astronaut, or better, the first one that came back from outer space), not "Gargarin". I look for "Gagarin" about this album but couldn't find it in Amazon site, then I look through the Esbjorn Svensson Trio listing and I found it. Please correct the misspelling.