Swedish jazz pianist Esbjorn Svensson killed in accident
Last Updated: Monday, June 16, 2008 | 10:39 AM ET
CBC News
Swedish jazz star Esbjorn Svensson died in a diving accident this weekend, his manager announced on Monday.
Police are conducting a routine investigation of the accident that killed the 44-year-old pianist, said Burkhard Hopper, manager of the vibrant, award-winning Esbjorn Svensson Trio.
Svensson died Saturday while diving off a small island near Stockholm.
The composer and pianist was a prominent figure in contemporary jazz. He helped dissolve boundaries between traditional jazz and other genres, with his efforts including the introduction of rock-inspired electronic elements.
Svensson's trio had its international breakthrough in 1999 with the album From Gagarin's Point of View and had recently finished its 12th album, Leukocyte, slated for release in September.
Dubbed e.s.t., the trio often played in rock venues, attracted a host of younger fans and won acclaim and awards across Europe, including in Sweden, France, the U.K. and Germany. In 2005, e.s.t. became the first European jazz band ever featured on the cover of U.S. jazz publication Downbeat magazine.
Svensson is survived by his wife and two children. No funeral details have yet been released.
With files from the Associated PressShare Tools
Top News Headlines
- Dog kills newborn in Alberta community
- Officials in Airdrie are revealing few details about the fatal mauling of an infant by a family dog in the southern Alberta city. more »
- Montreal telemarketers in fraud case still making calls
- CBC News has learned that no government agency has taken legal action to try to stop a Montreal-based telemarketing company accused of defrauding thousands of small businesses. more »
- 7 MPs and their fiery quotes
- The election of a majority government was seen by some as a chance for less acrimonious politics on Parliament Hill. But the past week has seen its fair share of inflammatory rhetoric on both sides of the House. more »
- Underwear bomber sentenced to life in prison
- A Nigerian man who tried to blow up an international flight near Detroit on behalf of al-Qaida has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. more »
Latest World News Headlines
- Honduras prison fire is world's deadliest
- The prisoners who died in the Honduran prison fire had been locked inside an overcrowded penitentiary where most inmates had never been charged, let alone convicted, according to an internal Honduran government report obtained by The Associated Press. more »
- Amnesty accuses Libyan militias of unbridled torture
- Armed militia groups in Libya have turned on one another and now rule most of the country, torturing their opponents with impunity, Amnesty International says. more »
- Iran unlikely to attack 1st, U.S. Senate told
- Iran isn't likely to start or provoke a conflict with its neighbours or the U.S., an intelligence official tells a U.S. Senate armed services committee hearing. more »
- Brian Stewart: The danger in shoving Greece too far
- How much pounding can one country take before it explodes and takes others down with it, Brian Stewart asks. more »
- UN chief denounces Syrian regime
- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accuses the Syrian regime of potential crimes against humanity as activists report fresh violence in Daraa, the city where the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted 11 months ago. more »
Dispatches »
- Syrian refugees' defiance and division Feb. 16, 2012 12:30 PM With the deadly game in Syria changing almost daily, CBC's Derek Stoffel in Turkey met militant refugees who reflect the division in the rebel forces about whether to go it alone or wait for the international community to back them against the current regime.
Connect Newsroom Blog
Toews vs. Twitter, Helping Syria & Misuse of Prescription Drugs Feb. 15, 2012 7:53 PM As violence continues in Syria, we're asking what should the world do about Syria?
- Montreal telemarketers in fraud case still making calls
- Refugee reforms include fingerprints, no appeals for some
- Bully victim's mother tells of 'suicide box'
- Dog kills newborn in Alberta community
- Honduras prison fire is world's deadliest
- Nortel collapse linked to Chinese hackers
- Barefoot girl's icy trek not blamed on babysitter
- 2 small earthquakes rattle Vancouver Island
- B.C. house party trial hears from tearful teens
