Former EST drummer Magnus Öström returns this September with new album ‘Searching For Jupiter’ and a string of UK tour dates.
Released on 2nd September ‘Searching For Jupiter’, the second solo album from former EST drummer Magnus Öström, reunites Magnus with guitarist Andreas Hourdakis, pianist Daniel Karlsson and bassist Thobias Gabrielson, for a set full of strong melodies whilst rigorously pursuing a jazz-rock and progressive-rock leaning. As Jazzwise Magazine puts it, “the quartet very much pick up where EST’s now legendary collaboration with Pat Metheny left off with compelling results”.
The title refers to the king of all the Roman Gods, Jupiter, the bringer of light, usually invoked when the goddess of fate had unexpectedly intervened in your life. For Öström, fate dealt an unexpected hand five years ago when close friend and bandmate Esbjorn Svensson died in a scuba diving accident. As EST they had revolutionised the jazz world since 1993 and naturally this loss hit Öström hard, he didn’t reappear on the music scene until 2010, releasing his first solo recording ‘Thread Of Life’. A work of mourning adorned with melancholy the album was critically well received, earning Öström the 2012 ECHO Jazz Award for Best International Drummer, whilst BBC Radio 3 said of the album: “What an utterly beautiful and compelling album this is. The playing is immaculate, the compositions truly inspired, the arrangements magical.”
‘
Searching For Jupiter’ then, is a metaphor for Öström’s journey in coming to terms with the death of Esbjorn Svensson, his loss still palpable in heavy, yearning tracks like “Mary Jane Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” or “Hour Of The Wolf” (which you can listen to on the Soundcloud player above), but major-key cheerfulness shines through on “Happy And The Fall”, and on the anthem of hope, “At The End Of Eternity”. Title track ‘Searching For Jupiter’ explores the multi-faceted response to loss; shock, denial, despair, hope and acceptance all conveyed over a sumptuous, emotionally charged 9 minutes.
With this album, Östrom takes a step closer to making his peace with the bringer of light, Jupiter.
Magnus Östrom is on tour in the UK & Ireland in September:
13th – Birmingham Conservatoire, Adrian Boult Hall
14th & 15th – Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival, Islay, Scotland
16th & 17th – Ronnie Scott’s, London
18th – The Capstone, Liverpool
19th – Band On The Wall, Manchester
20th – Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Co. Meath, Ireland
21st – The Dock, Carrick On Shannon, Ireland
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