Biography

The debut album of Raoul Björkenheim's new eCsTaSy ensemble was released on 21 January 2014.

"Björkenheim has been well regarded since his 1980s work...but his recent releases have been particularly memorable." 
– Stereophile 

Guitarist and composer Raoul Björkenheim emerged from Finland in the 80s with Edward Vesala's band, then started his own group, Krakatau, who recorded for ECM and Cuneiform. 

He is probably best known for his work with Scorch Trio and with Bill Laswell and Morgan Agren in Blixt, but he has been a busy, active player for the last 30 years. 

Ecstasy is his new electric, ecstatic jazz band, which features some of the younger talents on the Finnish jazz scene and which was designed to be an ensemble that will regularly go out and tour. The group consists of Raoul, Pauli Lyytinen (saxophones), Jori Huhtala (contrabass) and Markku Ounaskari (drums) in a repertory of original compositions painting swirling polyrhythms with a free-tonal palette. 
With influences ranging from Korean and African music to contemporary chamber music, new jazz and free rock, Ecstasy's mission is to elevate its audiences with their high energy and dedication to adventurous sound. 

"The band name Ecstasy refers to a music that is so fluid and intelligible that it flows around and past obstacles, and attains the listener by surprise and joy. The listener finds himself outside of his self, transported. I firmly believe that music does have a mission to elevate the spirit, to remind the listener about the ecstasy of being alive. I'd love our band to play so much together that we'd be able to communicate on a high level of ESP, and make our group interplay truly virtuosic in the positive meaning of that word. Then we could communicate to any audience, regardless of whether "jazz", "rock" or "contemporary". 
-Raoul Björkenheim 

Ecstasy brings together new and established names from the Finnish scene into a compact powerhouse of an ensemble. 

Tracklist

1. El Pueblo UnidoRaoul Björkenheim
2. SosRaoul Björkenheim
3. DeepereCsTaSy
4. No DelayRaoul Björkenheim
5. Through The Looking GlasseCsTaSy
6. As Luck Would Have ItRaoul Björkenheim
7. Subterranean SambaeCsTaSy
8. ThresholdRaoul Björkenheim
9. The Sky Is RubyRaoul Björkenheim