Helsinki jazz scene mainstays Timo Lassy & Teppo Mäkynen
present a strong body of work on their new LP which updates the sound of an
acoustic sax+drums combo in a highly inspiring way.
'Dark Cyan' is their new single, following 7" 'Dark
Magenta / Zomp'.
Lassy plays sax, Mäkynen plays drums and handles production
duties. Consisting of 13 focused tracks each clocking in at around three
minutes, the album's sound ranges from spiritual-tinged free playing all the
way to delicious 4/4 groove hard-hitters, showcasing producer "Teddy
Rok" Mäkynen's love for electronic music. That being said, the sound here
is that of an acoustic jazz band, placed left of the timeline and thinking
ahead of what this instrumentation could achieve. The overall sound is warm and
inviting, with the various delicious details inspiring repeated listening.
‘Timo Lassy & Teppo Mäkynen’ is their first LP as a duo,
but actually crowns years of collaboration between them - The Five Corners
Quintet, Teddy Rok Seven, Jo Stance, Timo Lassy Band: the two friends have been
playing together and experimented different forms of collaboration for more than
a decade now.
Mäkynen has in fact produced a lot of Lassy’s work,
including his first album ‘The Soul & Jazz of Timo Lassy’ in 2007, which
features Timo's most successful track so far, ‘African Rumble’.
As far as the term "award-winning" goes, here we
have two of the latest "Finnish jazz album of the year" winners
joining forces and doing what they do best.
Both Lassy and Mäkynen are tried and tested stars of the
vibrant Finnish jazz scene, and artists who have time and again proven to be
highly inventive when moving forward.
‘Timo Lassy & Teppo Mäkynen’ adds a significant new
chapter to their collaboration, and presents a new formation which will surely
be a force to be reckoned with on the live circuit.
No comments:
Post a Comment