Question and Answer

Dear Pat, I have been a huge fan of your musical work for the past decade now, and as a musician myself, I particularly relate to the deep melodic process omni-present in your music. I also have always admired the natural melodic flow in pianist Esbjörn Svensson’s playing. However, it wasn’t until I saw a video of the two of you playing together (I believe at "Jazz Baltica" in 2003) that I realized just how different your two melodic senses were from each other. This left me with the impression that, had the two of you had more time to work on a collaboration together and to really get accustomed to each other musicianship, it could have resulted in material with a very original and ground breaking new sound. Since I don’t think I have ever heard you comment on your musical relationship with Esbjörn, I was wondering if you could shortly elaborate on your experience collaborating and sharing the stage with him. Thanks for all the music, and everything else too.

Pier Luigi

Hi Pier,

Esbjörn was fantastic. And also an amazing person. We had a great connection and there was no question that we had a special rapport as players too. I am certain we would have gone on to do a full blown collaboration. I feel so lucky that I was able to play with E.S.T. a few times over the years. It really was one of the best bands of recent times for a bunch of reasons. I also felt really proud and happy that those guys often acknowledged the influence of my different projects on their development along the way and it was great to hear how they took whatever that was and made it all their own. Since Esbjörn's passing, I have enjoyed seeing and playing with Dan and Magnus occasionally over the past few years. They both have really excellent bands going now that have continued their own contributions to the scene in a great way too. But I know we all miss Esbjörn a lot. He really left behind a great feeling and lots of great music.