VERNERI POHJOLA – Pekka
EDITION: EDN1092
Verneri Pohjola: trumpet; Tuomo Prattala: Fender Rhodes; Teemu Viinikainen: guitar; Mika Kallio: drums: Antti Lotjonen: bass.
This is a follow-uo to Pohjola’s atmospheric and critically acclaimed ‘Bullhorn’ album from 2015. This album is named after Pohjola’s late father, a multi-instrumentalist (bass, violin, piano) who came to fame in the prog-rock band Wigwam. The set takes some of Pekka’s tunes and works them into highly effective jazz-prog workouts.
All compositions run the gamut that one might expect of prog-rock tunes, from wistful folksy to thumping rock, but always developing a fine melodic and harmonic line. In these compositions you feel a closer kinship to the more experimental end of the prog-rock spectrum; so I felt echoes of King Crimson in the ways that several of the pieces built, developed and shifted their focus. On many of these tunes, the Fender Rhodes moves between a lilting accompaniment to more atmospheric sounds that lie behind the soloing trumpet (in places, the electric guitar played through effects pedals also adds to the wash of sound that laps the background).
What distinguishes this set from what you might expect on prog-rock tunes is the gracefulness of the rhythm section, with the drumming being less about thumping bass drums and crashing cymbals (although, Kallio shows that he can thrash with the best of them when required) and more of a skittering post-bop groove that is picked up by the bass. On ‘Madness Subsides’ (track 5), the lead is taken by Viinikainen who plays a perfectly judged guitar solo over the shifting accompaniment, capturing the feel of a prog-rock solo but keeping things very much in the jazz idiom. Following this, Pohjola’s trumpet is played through delays, loops and effects like a rushing wind chasing the guitarist.
Pohjola’s trumpet sound has a pleasantly other worldly tone to it, partly from his use of vibrato and partly from the slight use of reverb and effects on its sound. At times, he plays with a deeply emotional, yearning feel so that, at times the richness of his playing creates a visceral response to the delicacy of the tunes. At other times, his playing responds to a humorous, bouncy line of melody. Not only does this CD emphasise that Pohjola is a force to be reckoned with in the world of jazz trumpet playing, as the critical acclaim of his previous albums amply show, but also that he has produced a fitting and rewarding tribute to his dad.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
EDITION: EDN1092
Verneri Pohjola: trumpet; Tuomo Prattala: Fender Rhodes; Teemu Viinikainen: guitar; Mika Kallio: drums: Antti Lotjonen: bass.
This is a follow-uo to Pohjola’s atmospheric and critically acclaimed ‘Bullhorn’ album from 2015. This album is named after Pohjola’s late father, a multi-instrumentalist (bass, violin, piano) who came to fame in the prog-rock band Wigwam. The set takes some of Pekka’s tunes and works them into highly effective jazz-prog workouts.
All compositions run the gamut that one might expect of prog-rock tunes, from wistful folksy to thumping rock, but always developing a fine melodic and harmonic line. In these compositions you feel a closer kinship to the more experimental end of the prog-rock spectrum; so I felt echoes of King Crimson in the ways that several of the pieces built, developed and shifted their focus. On many of these tunes, the Fender Rhodes moves between a lilting accompaniment to more atmospheric sounds that lie behind the soloing trumpet (in places, the electric guitar played through effects pedals also adds to the wash of sound that laps the background).
What distinguishes this set from what you might expect on prog-rock tunes is the gracefulness of the rhythm section, with the drumming being less about thumping bass drums and crashing cymbals (although, Kallio shows that he can thrash with the best of them when required) and more of a skittering post-bop groove that is picked up by the bass. On ‘Madness Subsides’ (track 5), the lead is taken by Viinikainen who plays a perfectly judged guitar solo over the shifting accompaniment, capturing the feel of a prog-rock solo but keeping things very much in the jazz idiom. Following this, Pohjola’s trumpet is played through delays, loops and effects like a rushing wind chasing the guitarist.
Pohjola’s trumpet sound has a pleasantly other worldly tone to it, partly from his use of vibrato and partly from the slight use of reverb and effects on its sound. At times, he plays with a deeply emotional, yearning feel so that, at times the richness of his playing creates a visceral response to the delicacy of the tunes. At other times, his playing responds to a humorous, bouncy line of melody. Not only does this CD emphasise that Pohjola is a force to be reckoned with in the world of jazz trumpet playing, as the critical acclaim of his previous albums amply show, but also that he has produced a fitting and rewarding tribute to his dad.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
