Alba Records’ new digital release is Masa Orpana Honk with Johnny Gideon’s EP The Big B. The EP is released in digital music streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal. This EP will get a sequel in the fall when another EP Shakin is released in digital platforms as well.
Masa Orpana is a Finnish multi-instrumentalist whose main instrument is tenor saxophone. He has previously released several albums through Alba Records under his own name. In addition, he has performed on numerous jazz, blues and rock recordings of different bands as well as being a guest musician on album releases of many different artists of different genres. Orpana has worked as a versatile professional musician for nearly three decades with a special interest in rhythm and blues, other roots music, jazz and improvised music.
Masa Orpana Honk was founded in 2012. The band used to perform as a quartet, Orpana as the only saxophonist in the band, but in the winter 2020 they decided to add two more saxophones to the ensemble to achieve the same rich sound on stage that you can hear on the recordings. Now the band’s strength is in the section of three saxophones and the rhythm group that is playing in the spirit of New Orleans. The band likes to combine African American musical roots and the language of jazz with their own compositions, long improvisational parts and well-trained arrangements.
The BigB features two new Orpana’s instrumental compositions that embody his style of combining rhythm and blues and jazz. Orpana has made his new songs specifically for his band, now expanded with the two saxophones. The arrangements emphasize the role of the wind section in the band and the rhythmic and phonetic possibilities of the various saxophones. During 2020, the new line-up was heard at the Lahti Jazztori and Tampere Jazz Happening. In addition to the instrumentals, the EP includes Honk’s version of J.J. Cale's song Crazy Mama, which features strong vocals and surprising guitar playing by the band's guitarist Jonni Seppälä (aka Johnny Gideon). In I Always Think of You, the solo guitar is played by Orpana himself.
Masa Orpana Honk with Johnny Gideon: The BigB
Alba ABDEP 03 (Digital Ep)
Bar code: 6 417513 300031
FIABA 2100019 ... 2100021
Johnny Gideon a.k.a. Jonni Seppälä; guitar on #1 & #2, vocals on #2
Masa Orpana; tenor saxophone, lead guitar on #3 Tuomas Heinonen; alto saxophone
Aino Heikkonen; baritone saxophone
Ville Vallila: bass, backing vocals on #3
Juppo Paavola; drums
Guest musician: Jukka-Pekka Berg; rhythm guitar on #3
1. The BigB (Orpana)
2. Crazy Mama (J.J. Cale)
3. I Always Think of You (Orpana)