Editor Reviews:

Amazon.com:
E.S.T. like to play with expectations, and they begin Tuesday Wonderland as you might assume, with a spare solo piano line hinting at a delicate baroque counterpoint. It's the kind of feather-stroked chamber jazz they've been working for a few years now. But just as you settle in, crushing drums and fuzzed arco bass drop in a groove from the apocalypse. This ominous track, "Fading Maid Preludium," and its second half, "Fading Maid Postludium," frame Tuesday Wonderland, setting in bas-relief an album of careening, intuitive improvisation. E.S.T. are frighteningly varied in their technique and deep in their understanding of jazz lore. You can hear echoes of Keith Jarrett and Ahmad Jamal in pianist Esbjörn Svensson, from whom the trio take their name, but he also embraces a more modern vocabulary, hinting at Cecil Taylor while dancing gospel vamps and dropping rock power-chords. Drummer Magnus Öström can lay down the shuffling brush strokes of "The Goldhearted Miner," pour out a progressive rock fusillade, or do a ballet of polyrhythmic shadings and colors that recall the late Steve McCall. The real chameleon of the group is bassist Dan Berglund. He plays soulful, muscular double bass lines, but he also triggers a synthesizer for both subtle shading and the hellion roar heard on that opening track. E.S.T. remain a group exploring the edges of jazz improvisation, managing to be free and intuitive while also maintaining melodic and rhythmic touchstones. Tracks like "Brewery of Beggars" are multipart journeys shifting from gentle lyricism to electric storms. E.S.T. have evolved from being the most ECM-like band that wasn't on ECM into their own natural and thoroughly modern hybrid. --John Diliberto

Rating : - Surreal Wonderland
Overview:
Tuesday Wonderland takes everything e.s.t. has been doing to the next level. Here they have crafted a complete album with a totally unique mood, texture, and sound that flows beautifully from start to finish. What differentiates album this from other e.s.t. albums is that this is not a collection of great songs, it is a conceptual album. Each song is a crafted composition and fits the overall theme of the album perfectly. It reminds me a great deal on a conceptual level of Pink Floyd's the Wall. While e.s.t. has always been creative with the sounds they employ they've really integrated them well here. Dan Berglund's distorted bass and bowing opens the album and sets the tone. Immediately you are lost in Wonderland. Svensson's use of a piece of paper in the piano strings creates a tinny ghost town effect on several tracks. It is easy to drift off in this surrealistic soundscape. While I love all e.s.t. albums I've heard, this one grows on me with each successive listen, and I think it is the most unique performance they have done.

Song Highlights:

Fading Maid Preludium - This song opens with a haunting piano line. Berglund then comes crashing in with a bomb of a distorted bass bowed line. Immediately you are transported to Wonderland.

Tuesday Wonderland - This is reminds me of "dodge the dodo" from an earlier e.s.t. work. It is instantly accessible, and the most catchy of all the tunes on the album. The song starts with a really snappy intertwined section consisting of a cool piano riff, bass line, and drum line. This song shows off everything great about e.s.t. Perhaps this is e.s.t.'s best song of all time.

The Goldhearted Miner - This song features soft brush strokes and a shuffle beat on the drums. Svensson has a piece of paper in the piano strings which creates a tinny piano sound and conjures up images of an old western saloon piano.

Brewery of Beggars - This song is all about insane bass lines. Both Berglund on the bass and Svensson on the low piano keys are just tearing up. The song is played at an absolutely frenetic pace and has a nice bridge section that features Berglund's bow work.

Tuesday Wonderland is hands down my favorite e.s.t. album. It is a little bit of a departure from previous albums, but I think it is a big step forward.