Dan Berglund, the former bassist for the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, arguably the most influential jazz group of the last decade, on Friday launched his first new project since pianist and bandleader Esbjörn Svensson died tragically in a diving accident in June 2008.

At a special "secret" midnight show Berglund returned to the London Pizza Express Jazz Club the venue he played many times with EST and where the trio launched Strange Place For Snow. The new group goes under the name Tonbruket and, in addition to Berglund’s highly distinctive bass style and sound, features musicians he played with in the pre-EST era including keyboardist Martin Hederos, whose credits include work with alt.rock band The Soundtrack of Our Life; pedal-steel guitarist Johan Lindström, who was previously in Per Texas Johansson’s band, and drummer Andreas Werliin, who has played with cult group Wildbirds and Peacedrums.

The band’s debut album, Dan Berglund’s Tonbrucket, which has just come out, features many of Berglund’s and the band’s own compositions drawing on a tantalising diverse range of influences from jazz and drum ‘n’ bass to trance and prog-rock with distinctive pedal steel and organ voicings.

The band’s UK tour continues tonight at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London (15 March) followed by Band on the Wall, Manchester (25 March); Lakeside, Nottingham (26 March); Sage, Gateshead (27 March); The Stables, Milton Keynes (29 March); CBSO Centre, Birmingham (30 March); The Queen’s Theatre, Barnstaple (31 March) and St George’s, Bristol (1 April).