Singer Emma Salokoski's band Emma Salokoski Ensemble released an album called “Kaksi mannerta” (Two Continents) in 2005 with influences from brazilian music and finnish songs. The band, formerly called Emma Salokoski Trio released an EP in 2003, that reached the top-20 on the Finnish singles charts and stayed there for the duration of two months.

The group started as a trio in 2001, concentrating mainly on bossa nova standards and brazillian music. The guitar-player Mikko Kosonen and the bass-player Lauri Porra where in from the start, with keyboard-player Tuomo Prättälä hopping in from time to time on a gig or two. At that time the band was mainly a therapeutic hobby for the musicians, who were all very busy touring and recording with other projects. In 2003 the trio released an EP "Puutarhassa" in all stillness, and it was a surprise when it suddenly jumped up on the singles top 20-list.

The demand for more music made the group think more seriously about the project, and in 2005 it finally released a full-length album, "Kaksi mannerta". Most of the songs were sung in Finnish, and the band had increased to a quintet, adding the percusssionist Marko Timonen and making Prättälä a full-time member. "Kaksi mannerta" rocketed up to nr 4 on the charts and sold so much that the records went out of print.

The music of "Kaksi mannerta" (Two Continents) is a mixture of mellow finnish moods and the "joie-de-vivre" of brazillian rhythms. The combination may sound odd, but is in fact a fascinating mix where two continents, the arctic and the tropcal meet.
The members of the band are not only successful in the Ensemble, but also active in the most unlikely genres of music. Lauri Porra tours the world with the heavy-metal group Stratovarius, and has a strong fan-base especially in south-America, making no exeption in Brazil. (www.lauriporra.com) Mikko Kosonen is the guitar-player and producer of one of Finlands best-selling rock-artists, Maija Vilkkumaa, and tours the country most of the time.

Marko Timonen is Finlands greatest expert on brazillian rhythms, but has also played with prestigious jazz- and folkbands such as Zetaboo, Perko-Pyysalo Poppoo and Värttinä. At the time he is also playing with one of the countrys most legendary long-time rockstars, Ismo Alanko. Tuomo Prättälä works with Emma in many projects, one of them being Quintessence. He is also part of the jazzgroup Ilmiliekki Quartet, that won the "Young Nordic Jazz Comets" -competition in 2003 and got the Teosto-prize of 20.000€ in 2004. Tuomo is not only an outstanding pianist, but also a composer, producer and singer, of which you get proof on the albums of Quintessence´s side-project "The Q-Continuum". (www.q-continuum.fi). In 2006 Tuomo is releasing his first solo album, on wich his talent in composing, arranging, producing and singing finally can blossom at their fullest. The album is called "My Thing", and will be released on Texicalli Records/Jupiter.