Helsinki's on fire, Gonkyburg is ready to put out some nice music again and there' some fine stuff forthcoming from the Hifi Terapi camp too ... We don't believe in coincidence. Last tuesday we had a special radioshow with lots of new music from our friends up north, and now we complete the special with some words for you to read.
Jupiter
Last year some guy called cukipapa whispered 'Jupiter' in my ear. Who?! Jupiter?! I was told they just released the album of the year and it was only late January. We all still had a lot of listening to go, and one's gotta admit: he was very close to predicting the truth.
At that time this small label from Helsinki was releasing 'Universal Four' by Teddy Rok Seven in their homecountry. Universal Four has hardly left our cd players and has been a constant source of listening pleasure ever since.
If you've been keeping an eye on Beyondjazz, you've already heard us raving about how much we love that cd. If you did not get to hear this wonderful little gem of an album this year, you seriously missed out on an extraordinary and exceptional CD album. This is your time to catch up with one of the most interesting new labels around ...
Jupiter Records is run by Martti Heikkinen who's also doing Toolon Musiikkitukku distribution in Lahti, Finland and this spring they come with no less then four fine albums: a stunning debut album from Antti Hynninen and Jose Mäenpää as 'Fly', the pure classiness of Quintessence, Q-Continuum and Korpi Ensemble. We had interviews with Antti & Jose from Fly and with Tuomo from Q-Continuum and Quintessence.
Helsinki
Fly's not the only label from Helsinki that's amazing us ... Re-read the interview we had with The Five Corners Quintet so you're warmed up again for their album that's gonna be released soon on the fine Ricky Tick imprint. The Five Corners Quintet are now touring around Finland with their new material. We were there at the Jazz Bar in Jyväskylä. Jukka Eskola, who recently had a 12" on Ricky Tick, is coming with his own debut solo album too; he gives you an introduction. And then there's Present Sense aka Jarno and Sampo who recently had their first ever live gig, exciting days for the guys and we want to know all about them ...
Gonkyburg
When Beyondjazz was founded, 2 years ago, we must have posted a new release from the Gothenburg family like every other day. Swell Session, Plej, Hird, Stateless, ... their music was all over this board. Since then it has been quiter though, but now It seems they're ready to strike back ... Swell Session is working on new material, we had a fantastic 12" titled 'Winter Nights' from Cloud recently, and there's remix material from Hird coming. We spoke to Hird about his debut album and the forthcoming music ...
From the archives:
Teddy Rok Seven
Last year we already had a chat with Teppo Makkynen about his little masterpiece. Check out this interview from the archives. By now his album has already been released worldwide through Soulseduction, and a UK release (+ vinyl version) on What Music.
The Five Corners Quintet
What is there to say about The Five Corners Quintet? Well, they are the most talked about club jazz outfit this millennium. We had the pleasure of hearing them live twice earlier this year in Bergen, Norway, and couldn't let a chance for an interview pass us by. Matti Nives also wrote us a review of their latest live gig, promoting their upcoming debut album at the Jazz Bar in Jyväskylä.
Fresh news:
Fly
Of the four releases Jupiter comes with this spring, Fly is my personal favourite and right now I'm really sucked into this album. I wake up singing 'Skip', I go to bed humming 'Satellite'. Meet Jose and Antti.
Jukka Eskola
The fans of Ricky Tick have already met Jukka by his excellent 1974/Buttercup 12" on the label some months ago and now Free Agent Records releases the young man's debut album. Jukka introduces us to the tracks and tells us the story behind them ...
Hird
It's been some months now since this 22 year old Swede released his album, but it's never too late to discuss good music, is it? Hans had a phoner with Christopher Berg and he - as his music reflects - turned out to be one of the scene’s warmest and most passionate artists.
Quintessence
It started out as a three-person project in a Helsinki basement-studio. Today it's a six piece band, releasing their second album through Jupiter.
Soon come:
Wait a few more days and we'll add another two interviews to this special. A chat with Jarno and Sampo from Present Sense and with the two Horntveth brothers from Norwegians most impressive live band: Jaga Jazzist. To keep you happy in the meantime, Jarno sent us his latest chart. Check back in a few days.
