Verneri Pohjola

Blood Red, composed by Mikko Hassinen, is a kind of soundtrack to a fictional story taking place in late 16th-century Istanbul.

Love remains…In 1993, three musicians from Sweden, Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström formed the band e.s.t.. Svensson and Öström had known each other ever since their first steps into music as children. Neither of them could have anticipated that e.s.t. would become the most influential band in European jazz of the noughties. And when the band formed they probably didn't think they were particularly ‘jazz’ either; all they wanted to do was to play the music which united their passions: rock, pop, classical, folk, improvisation. In the following 15 years, e.s.t. would play thousands of concerts worldwide, release ten studio albums and several live recordings, win awards, gold discs. We all know how the story ends.

Verneri Pohjola Quartet with Aki Rissanen - Ancient History (2012) {ACT 9517-2}
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© 2015 ACT Music | ACT 9517-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Contemporary Jazz / Trumpet / Piano

Finland's Verneri Pohjola got five stars in these pages last year for his sumptuously colourful big-band album Aurora. Ancient History is for the trumpeter's quartet with the daring pianist Aki Rissanen, and though it isn't as atmospheric, it has a comparable thematic strength and plenty of compelling improvising. The only cover is of Björk's lyrical Hyperballad, which Pohjola explores in half-valve slurs and sighs (he has affinities with Norway's Arve Henriksen and America's Ambrose Akinmusire) mingled with hints of postbop phrasing against a scramble of free percussion.