Forging ahead

Jonas Hellborg

Who says that great jazz is an American preserve? This Swede, who turned 50 this year, has been browbeating the world jazz fraternity for the last 20 years by turning out daring improvisational work. A stylist who transcends both fusion and jazz, his melodic facility with the instrument has already drawn favourable comparisons with the late bass master Jaco Pastorius.

Hellborg began as a rock musician in the late ‘70s, at least until he discovered fusion—particularly John McLaughlin and The Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Following many different lineups, he actually joined the reformed Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1984, where he started matching McLaughlin note for note and riff for riff.

His greatest work to date, however, has been with the late guitar whiz Shawn Lane—with whom he produced adventurous and intricate albums like Abstract Logic (1995), Time Is the Enemy (1997) and Good People in Times of Evil (2000)— and Indian percussionist V. Selvaganesh. Look out for his new album Art Metal, with Selvaganesh and Heavy Metal shredder Matthias Eklundh.

Visit www.hellborg.com

Pat Metheny

Along with John McLaughlin and Lenny Breau, Pat Metheny has been the greatest voice of the modern electric jazz guitar for the last quarter century. An omnivorous musician whose brilliance increases with every passing decade.

He burst onto the jazz scene in 1975, at the age of 21, recording one of the greatest albums of the era, Bright Size Life with Jaco Pastorius and drummer Bob Moses. Rooted in the risk taking hard bop of Ornette Coleman, as well as the swing of Wes Montgomery, Metheny showed that he was as adept at handling any number of styles and still able to dazzle with his virtuosity and restraint. In the Pat Metheny Group, he released hit albums as American Garage (1980), Offramp (1982), and First Circle (1984). Then, Geffen Records snapped him up—such was his crossover appeal—and he released Still Life (Talking) (1987) and Letter From Home (1989).

Metheny has been nothing if not prolific, collaborating with Joni Mitchell, bassist Dave Holland and pianist Chick Corea, among others. And he hasn’t let up. His latest was 2005’s The Way Up, in which he shows just why he has been as influential on jazz players as on rock gods like Eddie Van Halen.

Visit www.patmetheny.com

Esbjörn Svensson
One of the most exciting modern jazz pianists, the 44-year-old Svensson, tragically passed away earlier this year in a scuba diving accident. With him died a great Trio that was coming into its own, stunning jazz lovers everywhere with its synthesis of swing, rock and electronica.

The son of a classical pianist mother and a jazz-loving father, Svensson founded his jazz combo in 1990 with his friend Magnus Öström on drums. The Esbjörn Svensson Trio finally came together three years later following the inclusion of Dan Berglund on bass. Influenced as much by pop and rock ‘n’ roll as by jazz greats like Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, E.S.T distilled some of that approach in their highly innovative and original compositions.

A string of classic albums followed their third long player E.S.T Plays Monk (1997). Thanks to their incendiary shows and albums like From Gagarin’s Point of View (1999) and Good Morning Susie Soho (2000), not only did the Trio become the best loved jazz group in Europe but cracked the notoriously snooty American market. Playing large, daunting rock venues and influencing the musical field from jazz purists to the likes of Radiohead, E.S.T pioneered a revival of interest in jazz.

Mixing up Bach fugues with Hendrix-like power chords might be daunting to most, but the Trio made it not just plausible but thrilling. Sadly we’ll hear no more from this impossibly talented musician, but E.S.T’s body of work remains. Their last album Leucocyte was released early this year.

Visit www.est-music.com