Too often tribute concerts can end up like syrup poured on old pancakes. Not so this one, with a band comprising the elite of European jazz as part of the Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic series. From the very first notes of ‘Tears for Esbjorn’, something special is in the air. Pianist Iiro Rantala grips the mood of the moment and stays there throughout this remarkable album. It’s quite a transformation from his Trio Toykeat days when depth had not yet replaced bravura virtuosity. With age has come maturity and on this night everything he played was just right. Viktoria Tolstoy, who hired the Esbjorn Svensson Trio in their early days as her backing band, moves from passion – Svensson’s ‘Love is Real’ – to grace on ‘Waltz for the Lonely Ones’; this girl is a real singer with the power to transfix audiences – one cavail, her voice was perhaps not recorded as well as it might have been. Wakenius is a remarkable accompanist, his solo on the ‘Love is Real’ a harbinger of things to come. He’s accompanied by just bass and drums on ‘Seven Days of Falling’ where he unreels endless supple and imaginatively constructed lines that demand only one possible response – wow. On ‘Shining on You’ Tolstoy succeeds in being both discreet and dramatic – no easy task – when a perfectly calibrated mood change takes the concert to a new level with the instrumental ‘Dodge the Dodo’. If you want to ramp up the excitement, Rantala is your go-to man but even he takes a back seat when Wakenius decides he’s going to embarrass 95 per cent of the guitar playing community into another line of work. Here his solo perfectly balances the aural-emotional context of the occasion; this kind of stuff is not captured on record often. Rantala does not seek to compete but compliment, his playing an exercise in controlled passion that finds eloquent voice in a remarkable solo on ‘Dodge the Dodo’. Tolstoy continues to shine by rounding out proceedings with John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ to bring an end to what stands as a great concert in it’s own right that also happened to be a tribute. It’s an album that needs to be played in its entirety to get its effect; in an age of downloading individual tracks, the overall arc of this performance will be lost since it assumes its musical power by gradually building track by track. In a concert you don’t play all your aces right away since enjoyment is heightened by delayed gratification. Only then you realise this event must have been quite something to experience live.

Jazzwise spoke to Iiro Rantala about the album

Lost Hero – Tears for Esbjörn is an impressive album in its own right that also happens to be a tribute. Can you sum up Esbjöm’s significance in European jazz?

Yes, I think they were the biggest thing in European jazz ever. It was such a shame we lost him. I watched the rise of e.s.t. very closely because at the same time I had my own piano trio [Trio Toykeat]. The groups met several times, often sharing the stage when promoters wanted two Scandinavian trios on the same night, and once we met in Tokyo, at some jazz festival. We also had some plans with Esbjörn, I wanted to play Mozart’s ‘Piano Concerto No.10’, for two pianos with him, there was a mutual respect… he was a colleague and a friend.

Could you speak about Esbjöm's influence here in Europe, as you see it?

Esbjörn was an inspirational composer and bandleader. He had an enormous sense of style that was magical to me. I really admired the way he committed to his trio, he was 100 per cent committed to e.s.t and didn’t play with anyone else. I know that he was asked to be in Michael Brecker’s Quartet, and he said ‘no’ to that. There are not too many jazz pianists on the planet who would say ‘no’ to Michael Brecker, but he did.

Can you talk about how the material was chosen for the concert?

I think we were lucky, because we got together just a day before in Berlin. It was put together really fast, but sometimes these things, when the stars are aligned, go very well.

Having seen you play several times with Trio Toykeat, your playing on this album is a revelation – your ability to create a mood with this controlled passion, for a pianist who is so naturally exuberant as you, must have been a challenge

If you listen to Trio Toykeat and my playing today in a blindfold test many people wouldn’t believe it’s the same pianist. I’ve really changed my style over the past five years.

You’ve calmed down!

Yes, I have. I think it’s the mid-life crisis! Something happened when I turned 40, I met Siggi Loch and he signed me to ACT and we did the Lost Heroes album, and that has become my best selling album and ‘Tears for Esbjorn’ appars on that album. You mentioned mood, you’re absolutely right, mood is now much more important to me – the sound, mood and the beauty of music.

Can you talk about how the musicians were chosen for the concert? Everyone works so well together, making it a real statement.

It was Siggi Loch who selected the musicians and, yes, it works very well. The last few years I’ve been working more and more with Lars Danielson and I would say I admire his writing a lot. If I ever need a drummer Morten Lund is the guy I’d call, so I was very happy when I heard he would be on this album. Actually, everybody loves to play with everybody on the album, and you can really hear that.