Tomasz Stańko - Balladyna (1976)

As per last week's post, Tomasz Stańko's TWET lineup was mostly retained for his first appearance on ECM, with only Peter Warren switched out for Dave Holland.  And it's the legendary bassist who sparks this album into life, with the propulsive riff that kicks off the aptly named First Song.  Stańko and Szukalski are united on a catchy theme, before going off on some incendiary solos.

The more atmospheric Tale follows, giving Edward Vesala his first feature on his signature range of percussion.  Then there's a Vesala composition, Num - it's a bit more spidery and exploratory as per the darker-hued material on TWET, but never fully loses sight of the great melodic theme that it sets out.  The album's first side concludes with a brief duet between Stańko and Holland.

Side Two comprises three tracks, all composed by Stańko.  The title track is the kind of solemn dirge that would become Stańko's stock in trade when he returned to ECM almost two decades later.  Last Song is more free and firey again - but it's not the actual last song: that's the closing Nenaliina, another great atmospheric feature for Vesala to star in.

Original LP cover

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pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:
Jazzmessage From Poland
Purple Sun

TWET
Freelectronic in Montreux
Bluish
Bosonossa And Other Ballads
Matka Joanna 

Wolność W Sierpniu - Freedom In August
Dark Eyes
Wisława
Polin

Tomasz Stańko - TWET (1974)

Dark and skronky free jazz from Eastern Europe at its most inspired.  Tomasz Stańko assembled a great band here with American bassist Peter Warren, Finnish percussion wizard Edward Vesala and fellow Polish jazz avant-gardist Tomasz Szukalski on saxes and bass clarinet.

The first of two lengthy tracks, Dark Awakening features Warren either clunking ominously or bowing a deep drone, whilst Vesala adds several odd sounds (and even occasional vocals) to his unique drumming style, giving the horn players the perfectly bizarre backing to take flight against.  The title track is in a similar vein; loads of space, especially for Szukalski to bounce off of Stańko, and Warren mostly sticking to an ominous upward plod like a jazz Geezer Butler.

There's lighter material on TWET too, with Mintuu Maria featuring Stańko at his sweetest and most melodic for this period, and the closing Night Peace featuring little bell sounds from Vesala.  In between those is Man From North, another lengthy exploratory vehicle.  All in all, one of the most satisfying albums of Stańko's early career.  He'd land his first ECM date not long after with almost the same lineup - that's coming up next week.

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pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:
Jazzmessage From Poland
Purple Sun
Freelectronic in Montreux
Bluish
Bosonossa And Other Ballads
Matka Joanna 

Wolność W Sierpniu - Freedom In August
Dark Eyes
Wisława
Polin

Sermilä, Honkanen, Vesala, Helasvuo, Hauta-aho - Ode To Marilyn (1974)

A very welcome first time on CD (plus a vinyl reissue) for this legendary chunk of Finnish weirdness.  Copies can be bought directly from the label at svartrecords.com, who specialize in reissues of Finnish prog, metal and jazz - definitely got my eye on that release of two Vesala live sessions.  But for today, let's listen to the sound of two composers and a bunch of jazz musicians letting their ideas run wild in the Finnish Broadcasting Company's experimental studio.

This mindwarpingly bizarre hybrid of electroacoustic music and free jazz was the brainchild of Jarmo Sermilä, a composer/trumpeter who had been leading an Experimental Music Group into sound research at the studio.  Electroacoustic composer Antero Honkanen, who was working at the studio as an engineer, was also involved.  Between them, the plan was hatched to hire some of Finland's most interesting jazz musicians - drummer Edward Vesala, fresh from one of ECM's most out-there sessions and albums of his own, bassist Teppo Hauta-aho and flautist Mikael Helasvuo - and see what happened.

After 160 hours of recordings, and poaching of some further sound effects from the studio archives, a tape of eight finished tracks was sent to Scandia Records.  The label released seven (the eighth, Awakening, is now restored on this reissue) tracks under the name Ode To Marilyn, from the poem by Marilyn Monroe sung by guest soprano Pirkkoliisa Tikka on A Doll's Cry.  And what an album it was.

Dominated by Honkanen's dark, swirling and swishing ambience (especially on his three solo tracks, Nightmares, Awakening and Midnight), the result is nothing less than proto-Nurse With Wound - in 1973 Helsinki.  The sometimes extreme dynamics of the experimental studio create an unearthly, unsettling dreamscape, with the flute, trumpet, bass, drums and organ/synth used sparingly, sometimes hanging in mid-air or subjected to other processing.  Vesala's reversed voice can also be heard on The Waves, apparently requesting further takes.  A beyond-essential cult classic.

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Jan Garbarek w. Arild Andersen & Edward Vesala - Triptykon (1972)

This is probably my favourite Jan Garbarek album.  His playing style was becoming more distinctive with each release, coming well and truly out of the shadow of Albert Ayler, and he was still a couple of years away from starting to become Jan Garbarek™, ECM ice king extraordinnaire.  That said, there's already evidence of him starting to mellow, in the goregous Selje (a fjord region on the west coast of Norway) where he switches to flute, and the understated Sang.  For the vestiges of early, skroning Garbarek at his freest, head straight for the 12-minute title track.

It can't be stressed enough however that this isn't just Garbarek's album - what I love most about Triptykon is that I can sit down for a listen through this album and focus solely on Edward Vesala snaking his way around the kit like no other jazz drummer on earth.  Or indeed, spend the duration listening to Arild Andersen putting in a phenomenal rock-solid performance on bass, taking a great solo on the title track and a memorable switch to the bow in the closing track.  One my favourite expressions of the trio format in jazz, up there with Money Jungle; Triptykon is a true team effort.  Should further evidence be required, just check them out in a rare French TV recording (below).

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Previously posted at SGTG: Afric Pepperbird

Edward Vesala - Satu (1977)

Vesala's follow-up to Nan Madol might only have one lengthy (14 minute) track this time, with all its other tracks being in the 6-7 minute ballpark, but Satu is no less bracing or engrossing an album.  This one is also a bit harder-edged than its predecessor, cranking up the volume courtesy of ECM stalwart Terje Rypdal, whose lightning streaks of Fender Strat make Star Flight particularly memorable.  My personal favourite jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stanko is on fine form as well, building on the chemistry he'd already worked up with Vesala on Stanko's albums Balladyna  and Twet, which are both essential.  Will post some Stanko in a wee while.

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P.S. couldn't resist posting this picture of Vesala looking like a total boss.

Edward Vesala - Nan Madol (1974)

One of ECM's all-time masterpieces, and long out of print.  There's no easy entry point into Vesala's unique sound-world and colourful personality, so you might as well start at the pinnacle.

Taking its name, which means 'space between', from an ancient lost city in Micronesia, Nan Madol was originally released in 1974 on ECM's sister label Japo.  Manfred Eicher was clearly struck by this record enough to take the rare step of re-releasing it on ECM proper, and with starker, monochromatic artwork (I've gone with the original cover here just out of personal preference).

The pieces on this album comprise a few shorter, scaled down tracks alongside some of the greatest extended examples of Vesala's 'Finnish Mingus' compositional genius - Areous Vlor Ta in particular sounds beamed in from some medieval nordic pagan rite, and The Way Of... finds plenty of room to showcase his legendary drumming.  Any in-depth descriptions I could add would pale in comparison to Tyran Grillo's writeup at his ECM review site Between Sound And Space, so just head straight over there once you've downloaded this.  Be forewarned though, that if you love ECM as much as I do, you can easily end up staying there for hours at a time.

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