Eero Koivistoinen, one of the pioneers of Finnish jazz and popular music, turns 70 on 13 January 2016. The anniversary year brings some great news to fans of Koivistoinen, as Svart Records, the publisher of Koivistoinen’s latest release Hati Hati, will embark on an ambitious venture: to release all Koivistoinen's albums on vinyl in chronological order. First in the pipeline will be, naturally, the 1967 debut, Valtakunta.
Recorded in 1967, Valtakunta was the first solo recording for Koivistoinen who had established himself in the rock group Blues Section. ”I was eager to explore new ways of crossing music with poetry. As a composer I was a rookie but what was lacking in experience was made up for by enthusiasm.” The music is based on lyric texts written by such greats of Finnish literature as Pentti Saarikoski, Tuomas Anhava, Hannu Mäkelä and Jarkko Laine, and the album features Eero Raittinen, Seija Simola and Vesa-Matti Loiri on vocals. All compositions came from Koivistoinen’s very own pen. Stylistically a very diverse piece, the album anticipates Koivistoinen’s more mature works.
Valtakunta came out on Otava, a book publishing house that had begun to release so-called literary records towards the late 1950s. On CD the album was released as late as in the early 1990s and after that it has not been available in any form. The reissue by Svart Records will hit the shops on 15 January, making Valtakunta available in its original vinyl format for the first time in almost half a century.
Next up, at the turn of February and March, will be albums For Children, The Day Is Over and Odysseus.
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