Edward Vesela Sextet Tomasz Stanko,Jan Garbarek/Finland 1978

This must-listen item is the first release for fans, featuring a super sextet of super musicians from Finland, including the incredible drummer/composer/bandleader Vesala, Stanko, Garbarek, Mariano, Aaltonen and Clarke, all of whom are masters of their own country, something that is hard to imagine today. The super sextet performed in Vesala’s native Helsinki, Finland, over 70 minutes in its entirety on a superb high-quality stereo soundboard. Vesala released his first album as a leader in his native Finland in 1970, and from the 1970s until the 1990s just before his death, he released six albums as a leader, including “Nan Madal” and “Satu,” as well as masterpieces with Jan Garbarek, Tomas Stanko and Kenny Wheeler on ECM, and also released other wonderful works on various labels such as Love. Just like the young people in Europe who were obsessed with jazz and thought it was cool in the 1960s, Vesala freely interpreted jazz and naturally took a progressive rock approach that was running parallel in Europe in the 1970s, creating music that was full of originality. Like Vesala, Clark taught himself bass, and performed with Bud Powell as a student in the 1960s. He moved to the US with Don Cherry in 1967, and joined Steve Kuhn’s trio in 1969. He later became famous as part of the Jochaim Kuhn trio, and in the late 1970s he also worked with Masahiko Togashi. The album is dominated by the thick, ground-breaking bass of Clark, France’s greatest bassist, and Vesala’s unconventional, or should I say unique, sense of rhythm in the drums and percussion. The album also features Stanko, Poland’s finest trumpeter, who has produced many masterpieces, mainly on the ECM label, from the 1970s to the present, Garbarek’s tenor and soprano saxophones, whose magnificent tone is instantly recognizable, and the American-born Akiyoshi Mariano, Toshiko’s ex-husband, played in bands such as Charles Mingus, and moved to Europe in the 70s, where he has many fans for his wide range of activities, including not only jazz but also working with the German progressive rock band Embryo and recording for ECM. Aaltonen, a master of tenor sax and flute who represents Finland and has been working with Vesala for many years, unfolds one amazing improvisation after another, and also performs a superb ensemble in lyrical numbers, making this a dream-like performance! This is not just an all-star session, but an ensemble with a sense of unity as if they had been playing together for many years, as each member was a close friend who had performed together on various occasions at the time, and the solo improvisations in which each member generously showed off their abilities, and this spectacular performance, which is at the pinnacle of European jazz, boasting an extremely high level, is a must-enjoy! Live at Kulttuuritalo,Helsinki,Finland 1978 Edward Vesala – Dr,Per Tomasz Stanko – Tp Charlie Mariano – As Juhani Aaltonen – Ts Jan Garbarek – Ts,Ss Jean – Francois Jenny – Clarke – B