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Eero Koivistoinen Quartet

  • Balloon 360° / FRI 14.8.

Eero Koivistoinen stands among the central figures of Finnish jazz in the most precise sense. Around his career, it is possible to write part of the domestic history of the form itself. He began in the mid-1960s and, within a few years, had already received his first Yrjö Award and led his quartet to victory at the Montreux Jazz Festival competition in 1969, a moment widely seen as the first major international breakthrough for Finnish jazz.

His discography includes several albums that remain part of the core conversation around Finnish jazz. Odysseus from 1969, Wahoo! and 3rd Version from the early 1970s, and the later Ultima Thule trace the work of a musician who has been, at once, a modern-minded composer, a commanding bandleader, and a tenor saxophonist with an unmistakable sound. The labels matter, too. Love Records, his own Pro Records, and later Svart’s reissues all point to the same thing: Koivistoinen’s work has not been left behind in its own era, but has remained part of the living canon of Finnish jazz.

In the current quartet, Koivistoinen is joined by pianist Alexi Tuomarila, bassist Jori Huhtala, and drummer Jussi Lehtonen. The line-up features three strong contemporary jazz musicians. That alone says enough. This is not simply an extension of history, but an active group in the present tense.