Helsinki Soundpost is a strong debut from the trumpeter's stellar outifit. The album is released by German label Ozella Music on 16 September.
Captained by the eponymous leading younger generation trumpeter, Martti Vesala Soundpost Quintet release their debut album, entitled Helsinki Soundpost, on 16 September. Comprising some of the finest Finnish jazzers of their generation – saxophonist Pope Puolitaival, pianist Joonas Haavisto, drummer Ville Pynssi and double bassist Juho Kivivuori – the group imbibes inspiration from the rich heritage of the 1960s: they list the dynamic groove of Miles Davis’s quintet; the experimental American jazz of the era; and saxophonist-composer Wayne Shorter’s elegant musical language among their major influences. The debut effort is released by renowned German label Ozella Music whose previous Finnish signees include pianist Kari Ikonen. The outfit will celebrate the album on the 9th Flame Cruise, hosted by the cruise ship Viking Grace, on 24 September, and in January they will hit the road on an extensive Finnish Jazz Federation -produced tour.
Founded in 2011, this stellar quintet performs Vesala’s original music that falls into the loose category of modern jazz. Helsinki Soundpost records a tight-knit outfit that tackles their leader’s compositions with grace, effortlessness and a flare for nuanced use of dynamics. Before even starting writing, Vesala knew that he wanted to work with a classic quintet line-up that would have a tenor saxophone and a trumpet: “I wanted to challenge myself as a composer and see what I could produce for this line-up – how to bring out different nuances, for example,” Vesala describes the gestation of the album.
Thematically, the album is a tribute to the trumpeter’s home city, Helsinki, painting a vivid musical cityscape that incorporates the spirit, the seasons and the people of the capital. Instead of leaning on the so-called Scandinavian sound, Vesala has gone to the urban American jazz tradition for inspiration. On the album, his special aim has been to pen such arrangements that make the most of the classic jazz quintet – the basic unit of modern jazz.
Martti Vesala (b. 1981) belongs to the most sought-after names of the rising Finnish jazz generation. A graduate of Sibelius Academy’s MA programme, Nordic Master in Jazz, he has established himself not only as a trumpeter but a skilled composer, arranger and conductor. Vesala studied under the tutelage of such notable trumpeters as Tim Hagans, Gerard Presencer, Laurie Frink and Peter Asplund; as his biggest influences he names Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis and Woody Shaw. In addition to the Soundpost Quintet, he leads and composes for Maratone Quartet – a group that, unlike the Soundpost Quintet, nods strongly to the Scandinavian jazz tradition.
Martti Vesala Soundpost Quintet: Helsinki Soundpost
Ozella Records 2016 (OZ065CD, release date 16 Sep 2016)
Distribution: Eclipse Music / Supersounds Music, Finnish release 23 Sep 2016
1. Smoke / 2. Decline / 3. Lumi / 4. Headfirst / 5. Carvings / 6. A Blessing is Disguise / 7. Soundpost / 8. Yamal
All compositions: Martti Vesala
Martti Vesala, trumpet & flugelhorn / Petri "Pope" Puolitaival, tenor saxophone & flute / Joonas Haavisto, piano & rhodes / Juho Kivivuori, double bass / Ville Pynssi, drums & percussion
MARTTI VESALA SOUNDPOST QUINTET LIVE
24 Sep Flame Jazz Cruise, Viking Line Grace
http://www.marttivesala.com
http://www.facebook.com/soundpostquintet
Photo: Tero Ahonen.