Edward Vesala appreciation

1945-1999

Three albums from Edward Vesala

For number one, his first and only solo album from 1973, the beautiful I'm Here.

A great big thanks to a friend who ripped this one!

info:

Edward Vesala: I'm Here (Blue Master SPEL 311)

all compositions and arragements by Edward Vesala

recorded in 1973.

Edward Vesala, drums, percussion, gong, cymbal, cylophone, marimba, vibes, chimes, sitar, clockwork, etc.







The second one is Vesala's American all star band outing, Heavy Life.

info:

Edward Vesala: Heavy Life (Leo Records 009)

Recorded may 1980 at Right Track Studios, New York.

Bob Stewart, tuba; Reggie Workman, bass; Howard Johnson, baritone saxophone; Edward Vesala, drums; Tomasz Stanko, trumpet; J. D. Parran, tenor and soprano saxophone; Chico Freeman, tenor saxophone; James Spaulding, alro saxophone; Joe Daley, tuba.

All compositions by Edward Vesala, except b3 by Tomasz Stanko.





... and for the third and final record, we have a big band disc, Good Luck, Bad Luck, which Vesala made with UMO.

info:

Edward Vesala & UMO: Good Luck, Bad Luck (Leo Records 015)

recorded at finnvox studios december 1983

Tomasz Stanko: trumpet; Juhani Aaltonen: alto and tenor saxophones; Edward Vesala, percussion; UMO: Heikki Haimila, Esko Heikkinen, Olli Högström, Markku Johansson, trumpet; Pentti Lahti, alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flutes; Pepa Päivinen, soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, flute; Teemu Salminen, soprano and tenor saxophones, clarinet, flute; Unto Haapa-aho, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Juhani Aalto, Petri Juutilainen, Mircea Stan, trombone; Tom Bildo, tuba; Raoul Björkenheim, guitar; Iro Haarla, piano, harp; Pekka Sarmanto, bass; Esko Rosnell, drums; Esko Linnavalli, conductor.

all compositions by Edward Vesala.








That's all folks, for now.

Pierre Favre Quartet

Here's another rarity.

Although I can't myself get really into Favre's playing, it's still a nice disc with some fierce playing. And finally, I managed to take a couple of photos.

Here's the info:

Pierre Favre Quartett: s/t (WERGO WER 80004)

Lineup:

Evan Parker - saxophone
Irene Schweizer - piano
Peter Kowald - bass
Pierre Favre - drums

dload here

Musica Sacra Nova with Wolfgang Dauner & Reinhold Finkbeiner

Well now, back again with another rarity, this time a bit different than the other posts. The record is Musica Sacra Nova II on Schwann, and it could be classified as modern music, new music or whatever; so not the usual bun I serve here, but it does have some free improv parts.

And what's most interesting here is that this is one of the more obscure recordings of Wolfgang Dauner.

Here's more info:

Wolfgang Dauner/Reinhold Finkbeiner: Musica Sacra Nova II (Schwann 602)

A. Dauner: Beobachtungen für Stimmen und Instrumente
B. Finkbeiner: Epiphanie für Sopran-, Alt- und Baritonsolo, drei Schlagzeuggruppen und Orgel

recorded circa 1969

personnel on side A:

Albert Mangelsdorff, trombone
Wolfgang Dauner, prepared piano, electronic instruments
Eberhard Weber, cello, bass
Fred Braceful, percussion
Vocal Ensemble Kassel, conducted by Klaus Martin Siegler

personnel on side B:

Dorothea Förster-Dürchlich, Margret Reuter-Edzard, Eric Stumm, voice
Reinhold Finkbeiner, organ
Percussion Ensemble Kassel, conducted by Klaus Martin Siegler

Get it HERE

Lauri Nykopp: Y

Here's some more Finnish goodies from the 1980's:

The only LP from Lauri Nykopp. A track from this came out on the More Arctic Hysteria collection, so if you liked that, get the whole album here.

Here's the info:

Lauri Nykopp: Y (Nosferatu FNL-1001, 1983)

Lauri Nykopp: alto, soprano, tenor, sopranino saxophones, didgeridoo, contrabass clarinet, saw, breath

Tracks:

Side A: I-III
Side B: IV-VII

Download HERE

oh BTW, my copy is pristine, but it still plays with considerable distortion and crackle. It's probably due to the pressing, but in case you have a copy that plays better, do drop a line.

Finn Free

Sorry for the silence, I've been occupied by other interests.

To make up for the long absence, I'm this time posting two LP's at the same time. They're both Finnish Free Jazz from the early 1980's and both essential.

The first one is Prana by Juhani Aaltonen, Reggie Workman and Edward Vesala, which is by all accounts one of the (if not THE) shiniest gems of pre-2k Finnish free jazz. Finland has always had a dry, hard soil for this kind of improvised greatness to flourish, so only a handful of records have ever come to existence. This is one of the few.

Here's the info:

Juhani Aaltonen: Prana - Live at Groovy (Leo Records LEO 013)

Juhani Aaltonen: tenor saxophone & flute
Reggie Workman: bass
Edward Vesala: drums

Recorded live at the club Groovy, Helsinki, 2th of August, 1981. Engineered by Jouko Ahera.

Download HERE

The other one I'm posting is the debut leader date of Krakatau and Sound & Fury saxophonist Jone Takamäki. It's free jazz with some "shamanistic" aspects, of which I myself am not so fond of, but nevertheless when things pick up, it's some totally worthwhile stuff. Excellent even. Do check it out.

Here's the info:

Jone Takamäki: s/t (Johanna JHN 2030)

Jone Takamäki: tenor and soprano saxophone, flutes, percussion, voice
Antti Hytti: bass, African thumb piano, Indian harmonium, voice
Samppa Salmi: drums, accordion, voice

Recorded by Tom Vuori , 15. - 20. 12. 1980.

Download HERE


Enjoy and do comment. I'll try to post more soon.

Lokomotiv Konkret - Stockholm Augusti, 1978 (Urspår URS 1)

Here's an interesting piece of Swedish free jazz. It's weird that this hasn't been reissued, since Dror Feiler is a bit of a Name these days. I picked a copy of this on my trip to Stockholm, never seen it before.

Some info:

Cello, Piano - Sören Runolf
Drums - Tommy Björk
Alto and soprano saxophone, clarinet, contra bassoon, synthesizer - Dror Feiler
Bass trombone - Lars Liljeholm
Bass trombone - Pär Nordfält

HERE

Quintet Moderne: Ikkunan takana (BEAD 26)

Some Finnish (well, mostly) free improv, rare shit that.

Quintet Moderne: Ikkunan takana from 1987.

A nice disc, if not entirely essential. Somebody asked for some BEAD's, and here's one.

The players are

Harri Sjöström, soprano saxophone & mouth organ
Teppo Hauta-aho, bass & cello
Jari Hongisto, trombone & recorders
Philipp Wachsmann, violin & electronics
Paul Lovens, percussion & saw

dload from HERE

and again, do comment.