Available for quite some time as an import before the tiny Philadelphia-based indie 215 Records finally released it stateside, complete with a bonus live DVD, 2003's
Seven Days of Falling is every bit the equal of E.S.T.'s earlier records. Misguided American media comparisons to the highly overrated
the Bad Plus have done pianist
Esbjörn Svensson, bassist
Dan Berglund, and drummer
Magnus Ostrom a grave disservice, as their music is far more wide-ranging and much less gimmicky. Despite occasional forays into rock influences like "O.D.R.I.P." and a few brief passages that skirt the edges of outside free improv, there's an elegance and shapeliness to the trio's work that has more in common with the cerebral cool of
Bill Evans (particularly on the quietly gorgeous opener "Ballad for the Unborn") or the effortless melodic grace of the Vince Guaraldi Trio ("Evening in Atlantis," "Believe, Beleft, Below").
Seven Days of Falling is a ravishingly beautiful, musically captivating album. Bonus track alert: hidden after the nervy "O.D.R.I.P." is the
Sinatra-like ballad "Love Is Real," featuring guest vocals from
Josh Haden, son of
Charlie and brother of
Petra. ~ Stewart Mason