VISITATION

Review Nº 898

Jussi Pekka Pohjola was a Finnish multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer that was born in Helsinki. Despite he is best known as a bass player, Pohjola was also a classically trained pianist and violinist. Pohjola belonged to one of the most prominent musical families in Finland. Pohjola is, without any doubt, one of the greatest electric bass players in Europe. He studied classical piano and violin at the Sibelius Academy, in Helsinki, all the while allowing his natural instincts to lead him to a career in rock'n'roll. He rose to fame as the bass player of the Finnish progressive rock band Wigwam, but he soon departed on a solo career, initially releasing Frank Zappa influenced progressive rock albums. As his career progressed Pohjola developed a more novel musical style that could best be described as fusion jazz style.

After leaving Wigwam, Pekka did a lot of studio work and played in some other bands. In 1977 Pekka formed The Group, recording their eponymous debut album in the same year. But most important, Pekka recorded his first solo studio album "Pihkasilma Kaarnakorva" in 1972 during his Wigwam days, his second "Harakka Bialoipokku", internationally known as "B The Magpie" in 1974 and the third one, "Keesojen Lehto", internationally known as "The Mathematician's Air Display2" in 1977. Pekkas fourth solo album, "Visitation", which was released in 1979, was a big critical success.

So, "Visitation" is the fourth studio album of Pekka Pohjola and was released in 1979. Besides Pekka Pohjola (grand piano and bass), "Visitation" had also the participation of Seppo Tyni (guitar), Olli Ahvenlahti (electric and grand piano and bass), Pekka Poyry (saxophone and soprano saxophone solo), Juhani Aaltonen, Eero Koivistoinen and Teemu Salminen (saxophones), Tom Bildo (tuba and trombone), Markku Johansson (trumpets), Aale Lindgren (oboe), Vesa Aaltonen (drums and percussion), Esko Rosnell (percussion) and even also the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (woodwinds and strings), all as guest artists.

The music of his most successful album, "Visitation", was a major step forward for Pohjola, the first major pinnacle that all the early albums led up to. It has come to represent the standard of Finnish music to a foreign audience with its portentous sound and fantasy themes. However, it equally strikes for its variety of moods and styles. Still operating essentially in the melodic jazz rock mode, yet driven by many other new influences, he pulled together the best of his compositional skills surpassing anything he had done up to this point. There are stronger classical elements, more use of dissonance, dynamic shifts and general stylistic adventurism. "Visitation" is the best place to start getting familiar.

"Strange Awakening" opens with an elegant piano playing and a restrained clanging of cymbals building an enigmatic atmosphere. Starting from a motivated piano tune, Pohjola erects a truly breathtaking fusion structure, where there's a place for both his melodious bass passages and a massive polyphonic bombardment. The atmosphere changes in the second song "Vapour Trails". It's a lively and fast tempo jazz-rock song that brings Tyn's electric guitar, who paints the playing space with speedy and extremely precise solos, and maestro Peyri, who polishes the rhythmic foundation with no less sophisticated passages. On "Image Of A Passing Smile" the instrumentation expands even further in the song as the woodwinds and cellos of the orchestra are brought in. The first half of the song, which contains very beautiful melodies, is mostly acoustic, except for Pohjola's bass guitar, while the second half is more energetic. "Dancing In The Dark" is a hit progressive fusion with some funk elements. It's perhaps the most playful part of the album, where Tyn's electric guitar gets plenty of space and Pohjola's bass lines are delicious to hear. The trumpet solo by Johansson adds to the scope of the album's soloist spectrum. With only three minutes long, "The Sighting" starts lightly, but quickly grows into a more dynamic performance, which once again features the album's entire saxophone quartet. There's a new instrument, Lindgren's beautifully played oboe. The album ends with a great orchestral piece, "Try To Remember". It begins humbly like a hymn and slowly grows bigger. The orchestra plays in addition to the woodwinds. The entire string section is included in the orchestra. The woodwinds sound beautifully, especially in the beginning of the song.

Conclusion: "Visitation" is only 32 minutes long but it's an amazing album that is almost perfect that doesn't contain idle time. The musicality on it is simply superb. Here we have music that could be described as symphonic jazz rock and its bold and majestic sound is quite unique. Pekka was an amazing musician as a composer and performer. He was able to build something that is really very difficult to do in music, which is to join the complexity to the beauty of the melody. Besides, he was an amazing bassist and multi-instrumentalist. I love the interplay between the bass and the guitar. The album also has an amazing rhythm section. Besides that, the orchestration and the use of the brass section, strings and woodwinds are simply amazing. All of this made "Visitation" a terrific ambitious album, almost unique.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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