Aliseen
577, 2020
8/10
The Finnish legend Jorma Tapio is in fine company here, as his band Kaski and him bring folk, jazz and many other ideas into a landscape where nods to John Coltrane, Albert Ayler and Don Byas are in attendance.
The album leads with the percussion of Janne Tuomi before Tapio’s alto sax prowess enters the experimental “Reppurin Lalu”, and “Henkays” continues the innovative landscape with a darker setting where wooden flute and restrained drumming help cultivate some mystery.
Further along, “Lost” manipulates space and tension well with bare moments of adventurous, almost cinematic sounds where Ville Rauhala’s plucked bass is subtle yet effective, while “Manner” displays Tapio’s incredible sax playing alongside strategic percussion. “Way Off”, one of the best tunes, then takes a more straight forward approach to free jazz, where all 3 musicians work dynamically with unconventional rhythm in the moody interplay.
Near the end, “Nukunuku” benefits greatly from flute in the dreamy climate, and “Aliseen” exits the listen with plenty of oddities in the exploratory and hypnotic mashing of truly creative song craft.
A very unique listen that explores post-bop, free jazz, traditional folk and countless other avenues, Aliseen is not a listen that’s easy to describe, but it’s quite easy to absorb as the trio find a very unorthodox place to reside.
Travels well with: The Nels Cline 4- Currents, Constellations; Guido Spannocchi- All The Above