Esbjorn Svensson’s death was one of 2008’s great jazz tragedies

In 2008, Calgary’s jazz community was touched by tragic international events as well as new and vigorous changes. Take, for example, the bitter news this summer that the legendary jazz pianist Esbjorn Svensson had died in a scuba diving accident, just prior to his slated appearance at the Calgary Jazz Festival. For jazz fans, Svensson’s death spelled the end of EST (Esbjorn Svensson Trio), a dynamic force in Sweden’s jazz scene of the last decade. There is hope, though: while EST has been a mainstay of Sweden’s scene, it is certainly not the only outstanding jazz outfit in Scandinavia. Extraordinary projects and compositions like those of Norway’s Nils Petter Molvaer, Bugge Wesseltoft and others in the European jazz scene, like Germany’s Frederick Koster Quartet, are earning critical attention in North America.

International talent has become increasingly commonplace in the jazz charts, and it’s also more prevalent in Calgary’s jazz scene, from major summer festivals to regular bookings in our concert venues. Calgary has shown more vigour in its jazz scene, growing in strength and maturity. One indicator of this growth is the thriving number of recording labels here and in Western Canada in general. Simon Fisk’s Plunge Records has explored both the pop and experimental sides of the local scene, while dedicated duo Kodi Hutchinson and Stephanie Wadley at Chronograph Records has released top-notch albums by Sillan & Young, Hutchinson Andrew Trio and others.

Another sign of the scene’s strength is its acclaim outside the city. Jesse Zubot’s amazing independent Drip Audio label, established in Vancouver in 2005, has recruited musicians from Montreal and Toronto to New York, and it has been drawing heavily from Calgary. The label’s recordings span the full range of experimental music, but Zubot’s projects and artists frequently venture into improvisational experiments. If anything, Zubot’s vibrant group of musicians is proof positive that Calgary is a crossroads for artistic pollination, a place where out-of-towners come to influence and are influenced. Calgary has demonstrated in the last year that it has the talent, infrastructure and audience to support a phenomenal scene.

SIDEBAR: The Year’s Best Jazz

• Susie Arioli – Night Lights

• Sheila Jordan — Winter Sunshine: Live at Upstairs

• Lina Allemano – Gridjam

• Hutchinson Andrew Trio – Music Box

• Gerry Hebert Quartet – Constructive Interference

• Brad Mehldau Trio – Live

• Mark DeJong – The Unknown

•Nils Petter Molvaer – Re-Vision

•Dave Holland Sextet – Pass it On