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Verneri Pohjola – Monkey Thoughts
(Version EDN1225. Album evaluation by Patrick Hadfield)
Launched in direction of the top of final 12 months, trumpeter Verneri Pohjola‘s newest report includes a quartet drawn from the cream of European jazz expertise, with Jasper Høiby on bass, Package Downes on piano, and Olavi Louhivuori on drums. Høiby and Downes shall be acquainted to most listeners; maybe much less so could also be Louhivuori, a Finnish improvising percussionist with whom Pohjola has labored for greater than 20 years.
Pohjola himself appears to try for brand new sounds with every launch: whereas the quartet format could be commonplace, Pohjola is breaking new floor, and Monkey Thoughts is a departure from his latest Version albums, Animal Picture and The Lifeless Don’t Dream. As he says, the title refers to “the uneasiness or restlessness of the thoughts, a state when it’s burdened with chaos and extreme stress.”
Following the quick, hectic opener, ‘Get together in The Attic’, the album maintains a principally stately tempo. There’s a spacious grandeur to this music which permits the gamers to essentially stretch out and develop their concepts.
A lot of Pohjola’s breathy enjoying is within the decrease register and typically brings Kenny Wheeler to thoughts. When enjoying greater, he soars, bringing a searing readability to his solos. Package Downes’s enjoying is superbly understated, at occasions seeming to echo a Bach fugue. Høiby’s energetic bass is usually to the forefront, typically accompanied solely by Louhivuori’s insistent, double-time rhythms.
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There are extra textures with digital programming from Tuomo Prättälä, and on a few tracks, baritone sax (Linda Frederiksson), guitar (Raoul Björkenheim) and flute (Jusu Berghäll). These are at all times unobtrusive, whereas including steadiness and floor the sound.
Monkey Thoughts is but extra proof of Pohjola’s burgeoning abilities as a composer and trumpeter. The 9 items collectively create a vivid panorama, and the musicians are great firm during which to discover it.
Patrick Hadfield lives in Edinburgh, often takes pictures, and typically blogs at On the Beat. He’s @patrickhadfield@mastodon.scot on Mastodon.
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