Randy Brecker & Mats Holmquist - Together (with Umo Jazz Orchestra) MAMA RECORDS July 24, 2018

Randy Brecker has been shaping the sound of music for decades. His performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Chaka Khan, George Benson and Parliament-Funkadelics to two Grammy winners on Summit & MAMA Records.

These arrangements all have little (and not so little) twists and turns that keep you on your toes at all times. There are 3 Chick Corea tunes, 'Crystal Silence', 'Humpty Dumpty' and 'Windows' masterfully re-worked by Mats, Two Mats 'impressions' or minimalistic versions of so-called "Standards' 'Stella By Starlight' (we both have daughter named Stella by the way), and 'All the Things you Are' which are re-imagined with delightful results, the beautiful Ray Evans- Jay Livingston ballad 'Never Let Me Go' and then three Mats original compositions: 'One Million Circumstances', 'Always Young' and 'Summer and Winter' each quite challenging in their own way.

I think you'll really enjoy this CD there are absolutely no dull moments, you are going to be taken on the ride of a lifetime, so enjoy it and let me know when you come back to Earth!

Randy Brecker

This CD features 3 compositions and one arrangement written in the late eighties; "One Million Circumstances", "Summer and Winter", "Always Young", "Never Let Me Go" - three arrangements of Chick Corea compositions; "Windows", "Crystal Silence", "Humpty Dumpty" -and 2 new re-compositions based on famous standards; "My Stella" (Stellla by Starlight") and "All My Things" ("All the Things You Are"). In other words three different periods are represented; late eighties, beginning of the 2000s (Chick Corea) and the present (re-composition of standards).

UMO Jazz Orchestra is the only professional orchestra in Finland specialised in jazz and new rhythm-oriented music. The big band of 16 musicians plays about 80 concerts every year in Finland and abroad. The orchestra plays a diverse range of modern music that is on the pulse of the times.

One Million Circumstances

Summer and Winter

Never Let Me Go

Windows

All My Things

Crystal Silence

Humpty Dumpty

My Stella

Always Young

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Verneri Pohjola & UMO Jazz Orchestra / Kerkko Koskinen - Agatha (SVART RECORDS 2018)

Kerkko Koskinen’s musical visions have always been ambitious. When he put together what was to become the most popular rock/pop band in Finland in the 1990s, Ultra Bra, the instrumentation of a standard band was just not enough. In addition to four vocalists, the 13-member band included a horn section, two percussionists, and a large-scale string assembly, used in the band’s recordings. Striving to create a “big” sound has always been present in Koskinen’s production, and finally, with Agatha, he has found the orchestra to match his musical vision: a world-class big band, Umo Jazz Orchestra, and a world-class soloist, trumpetist Verneri Pohjola.

Koskinen and Pohjola’s musician personas complement each other in a way that inevitably brings to mind one of the most legendary composer-soloist partnerships in the history of jazz: that of Gil Evans and Miles Davis. Just like Davis created a humane, accessible instrumental contact surface to Evans’ architectural arrangements, Koskinen’s rich and full orchestration is balanced by Pohjola’s trumpetism, full of contrast and intimacy. To mention just a few, Pale Horse, And Then There Was One, and Cats And Pigeons are brilliant examples of Koskinen and Pohjola’s fruitful cooperation.

Crooked Room

Helsinki-Vantaa

Pale Horse

Passenger to Copenhagen

Sparkling Arsenic

Cats and Pigeons

Elephants Can

And Then There Was One

The Pointing Finger

Riemukaare

Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Flute, Flute [Alto], Piccolo Flute, Clarinet – Pentti Lahti, Pertti Päivinen

Alto Saxophone, Clarinet – Jouni Järvelä

Alto Saxophone, Flute, Piccolo Flute, Clarinet – Teemu Salminen

Bass – Ville Huolman

Bass Trombone – Mikael Långbacka

Composed By, Arranged By – Kerkko Koskinen

Conductor – Kari Heinilä

Drums – Markus Ketola

Edited By, Supervised By – Tuomas Kallio

French Horn – Esa Tapani, Joonas Seppelin, Tuomo Eerikäinen

Liner Notes – Olli Virtaperko

Mastered By – Svante Forsbäck

Oboe, English Horn – Keijo Silventoinen

Percussion – Antti Lehtinen

Performer, Orchestra – UMO Jazz Orchestra

Photography By – Terhi Kokkonen

Piano – Tuomo Prättälä

Producer – Antti Lehtinen, Kerkko Koskinen

Recorded By, Mixed By – Miikka Huttunen

Sleeve – Antti Eerikäinen

Soloist, Trumpet – Verneri Pohjola

Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Olli Ojajärvi

Timpani, Glockenspiel, Bass Drum [Gran Cassa], Cymbal, Percussion – Tuomo Lassila

Translated By – Nana Gudmundsson

Trombone [1st] – Antti Rissanen (tracks: 1,3,5,7,8), Jari Hongisto (tracks: 2,4,6,9,10)

Trombone [2nd] – Mikko Mustonen

Trombone [3rd], Tuba – Pekka Laukkanen

Trumpet [2nd] – Timo Paasonen

Trumpet [3rd] – Mikko Pettinen

Trumpet [4th] – Tero Saarti

Trumpet [Lead] – Teemu Mattsson

Eero Koivistoinen & UMO Jazz Orchestra - Arctic Blues (SVART RECORDS 2016)

The saxophonist and composer Eero Koivistoinen, who turned 70 this winter, is going through an exceptionally creative phase in his career. Koivistoinen celebrated his birthday together with the jazz orchestra UMO (Uuden Musiikin Orkesteri, New Music Orchestra), which he took part in founding in the mid-seventies. The orchestra played four concert hall dates with Koivistoinen at the helm both as conductor and solo saxophonist, and decided to join forces in the studio as well.

Arctic Blues was recorded in Helsinki this winter and mixed and mastered in Power Sound Studio, Amsterdam. The album is a showcase of Koivistoinen’s talents as composer, arranger, saxophonist as well as conductor, conducting one of the most remarkable European big bands of today. Arctic Blues is a behemoth of an album, spread over two CDs and three LPs, being the first Finnish jazz record of such magnitude.

After founding UMO 40 years ago together with Esko Linnavalli and Heikki Sarmanto, Koivistoinen has often worked with the orchestra, and also acted as its director for a few years in the 1990s. Arctic Blues consists of mostly new material, recorded in the winter of 2016, but also features three tracks from a live session at UMO Concert House in 2005. The album has big band renditions of Koivistoinen’s past work as well as material written for this record in mind.

“In the 1970s, I studied composition and arranging at the Berklee College of Music, Boston, under the guidance of Herb Pomeroy. It waas an important phase in my musical development. UMO was my second musical college. The orchestra made it possible for me to become acquainted with the best works for big band, guided by the masters themselves. UMO had guest musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Thad Jones, Gil Evans, Joe Henderson”, recalls Koivistoinen and adds, “Since we played a lot of these current numbers live with UMO at the shows this winter, the studio session was an easy and inspirational one.”

Svart Records are proud to release Arctic Blues on double CD, triple LP and digital formats on November 25th. Svart also have an ongoing reissue program of Koivistoinen’s past work, with LP reissues of classics such as Wahoo and 3rd Version.