A Life Electric

Renowned Finnish jazz innovator and band leader Iro Haarla takes a detour towards progressive rock. Known for her large number of works in the field of acoustic free jazz, Iro Haarla is a notablek Finnish pianist, composer, arranger and band leader. Now, having inked a deal with Finnish cult label Svart Records, Haarla takes an eye-opening sidestep towards progressive rock. Her new band consisting of renowned Finnish musicians, Iro Haarla Electric Ensemble weaves a vastly colourful world of sound around Haarla’s peculiar melodies, and welcomes us to new sonic territory: a vibrant world where black music influenced rhythms, acoustic instruments, analog synthesizers and spacelike, valiant electric guitars converge.

The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters-multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.

90 years young Jimmy Johnson returns to the recording studio for the first time in over a decade. It has been precisely forty years since his Delmark debut 'Johnson's Whacks'. Delmark celebrates Jimmy's homecoming by releasing 'Every Day of Your Life', an album comprised of four original songs and Jimmy's unique take on five other tunes including a solo performance of Jimmy singing and playing piano on the Bobby 'Blue' Bland hit 'Lead Me On'. Two different stellar Chicago bands back Jimmy throughout this album. Johnson was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi. He has playing professionally in Chicago since 1959 and has worked with Freddy King, Albert King, Magic Sam and Otis Rush among many others. Jimmy has always had an R&B style of blues and he brings it to this new album, his fourth for Delmark.

Julian Sas stepped into 2005 with a brand-new album, a brand-new band and a brand-new sound. “Twilight Skies Of Life” is Julian’s sixth studio album and a giant leap forward for the axe-man from the Dutch Delta, the ‘Land van Maas en Waal’, that part of the lowlands where rivers Maas and Waal (a branch of the Rhine) are trying to emulate their big sister Mississippi. Julian spent four weeks on “Twilight” in the studio with producer Jos Haagmans, who is best known for his work with multi-platinum Dutch-language bards Boudewijn de Groot and Frank Boeijen. The sound got heavier, muddier, fuller. That has a lot to do with the fact that ten years of experience led to a truly international four-piece.