Jukka Perko, one of Finland’s leading jazz artists, made his first outing with his new trio Tritone in April 2017. Featuring a rhythm section from the vanguard of Finnish jazz – Antti Lötjönen on the bass and Teppo Mäkynen on the drums – Tritone issued their debut album on We Jazz Records. Entitled, Dizzy, the effort came out on CD and in digital format on 28 April and on vinyl on 26 May.

As the title suggests, Dizzy is a tribute to the great Dizzy Gillespie – the first of its kind for Perko and a long-awaited return from him to the bebop tradition. As a young star, Perko toured in Gillespie’s big band in 1987-88 and will now tell the whole story in the cover sleeve, which contains scraps from newspapers and other previously unreleased material.

“This album is not about what Dizzy’s music means to us; rather, it’s about what we can bring to it from our lives,” Perko says. “We add a new little piece – our voice, our vision – to the vast mosaic of jazz. Dizzy’s music lives within me so it was important to have Antti and Teppo involved in creating and shaping this album with me. Of course I could have postponed this project forever, but then I thought it’s now or never: this year, 100 years has passed from Dizzy’s birthday and 30 years from my debut in his orchestra.”