Record Reviews

EERO KOIVISTOINEN ~ MUUSA JA RUUSA SVART 049 (Barcode: 6430050666866) ~ FINLAND ~ Jazz & Poetry Recorded: 1971 Released: 2016 This is a reissue of a delightful and little known Jazz & Poetry project (this time intended for children) by Finnish composer / saxophonist Eero KoivistoinenFind albums by this artist who wrote the music to poems by Finnish poetess Kirsi KunnaksenFind albums by this artist. He enlisted a group of great vocalists and musicians to realize this album, which include vocalists Vesa-Matti LoiriFind albums by this artist and Eero RaittinenFind albums by this artist, bassist Pekka SarmantoFind albums by this artist, guitarist Hasse WalliFind albums by this artist, drummer Esko RosnellFind albums by this artist, pianist Eero OjanenFind albums by this artist, saxophonist / flautist Juhani AaltonenFind albums by this artist and many others. The album presents thirteen tracks, three of which are instrumentals and ten have poems as lyrics. All the music and arrangements are by Koivistoinen. This remastered edition offers also the texts of the poems and exact lineup of all the tracks as well as a nice (bilingual) article about the whole project. Although obviously not a bona fide Jazz project, this album is a great document of Koivistoinen openness and diversity as a musician and composer. Exposing young children to quality music is a crucial part of their Cultural education, a fact that is almost completely neglected today with children being fed absolute infantile rubbish in the media. This album, almost fifty years old, is better and more challenging than most of what passes al children´s music today. In retrospect this stuff sounds fresh and exciting today, completely contemporary. Even listeners not familiar with the Finnish language should be able to enjoy these fabulous musical stories and get intuitively what they are all about. Overall this is a wonderful example of the ingenuity of Koivistoinen and the entire Finnish Jazz scene at the time, full of love and understanding of the young souls. Still delightful!

Updated: 09/07/2020Posted: 09/07/2020

CD 1 Digipak Remastered Recommend To A Friend