AHMOO

Finnish fusion group, based around the violin playing of Juhani Poutanen. In spite of the heavy use of violin, the style reminds me less of Mahavishnu or Jean-Luc Ponty than it does Return to Forever or Weather Report. Very American sounding.

High point of the album is probably "Two for Eeva", which contains a mesmerizing, sawing violin hook throughout. Low point is definitely the title track, the bulk of which is made up of a simply interminable drum solo.

Rare the only album from Finnish band "Jupu Group" . Recorded very in atmosphere of it's time (mid 70-s) , it demonstrates better than average jazz-rock fusion in the key of Return To Forever. Main difference is all music on this album is strongly based around electric violin sound. But if you can imagine Return To Forever combination with Jean Luc Ponty, or early Michal Urbaniak, you will understand , what this music is about.

Very competent in playing technique, the only album's problem is luck of compositional originality. You will hardly recognize the band's sound, but quite easy could mix it with one of great jazz fusion names of that time. What in fact is very big complement - unknown musicians' debut album is musically and technically strong enough to sound as music, played and recorded by greatest genre's musicians of the moment.

It's nice to note, that not only violin, but guitar and bass lines are very competent, and drumming is on the good level too. It's quite difficult to recommend this album, mostly because it is almost collectors rarity. If you find it by chance, and you like jazz-fusion from mid-70-s , than take it. Nothing too much outstanding, but really very good evidence of genre's golden age. But I don't think it worth to search it as special target .

My rating for this album is 3,5.

Ahmoo (the word means nothing, I think) is the sole album by a Finnish fusion sextet, recorded in August/September 1975. It hasn't yet appeared on CD, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Rocket Records to do the job anyday.

The first two tracks are much funkier than I expected, giving the lead role to Janne Louhivuori's electric guitar. 'The Seeker' is written by drummer Upi Sorvali and 'Ennystymätön' - another nonsense word! - , with its groove reminiscent of Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition', by violinist Juhani Poutanen. The 10- minute title track is quite different: a serene and a bit aimlessly wandering arty-farty focusing on piano and percussion. The A side is a disappointment for me as I expected airy & melodic fusion in the style of Jean Luc Ponty (foir the presence of violin). Technically this group is excellent, however.

'Moment' (by Poutanen) finally features the awesome violin virtuosity. Especially this 8-minute highlight track is on the level of the American fusion of the time (Weather Report, Return To Forever...).The bassist Ilkka Hanski has composed 'Two for Eeva', which starts rather boringly with the bass taking the solistic role. Usually bass solos in jazz always bore me, by the way. Little by little the track grows to be more interesting, including various phases. I like the lively piano in it. The closing track 'Drops of Rain' (by keyboard player Jukka Linkola) begins quietly in a meditative manner, and it also remains very delicate and impressionistic, evoking images of soft summer rain.

Even though I was mildly disappointed at first, due to my own expectations, I believe this unique album is a grower, definitely it's full of original and fine musicianship.

Jupu Group was a Jazz Fusion band from Finland. They were centered around violinist and percussionist Juhani "Jupu" Poutanen (Hence the name) and released their first and last album (for around 50 years) "Ahmoo," in 1975. This album gives off very heavy Jean Luc-Ponty vibes, with the violin style very similar to his. The technique is pretty advanced and typical for Jazz Fusion of this style with lots of fast soloing coupled with occasional melodicism.

The album opens with "The Seeker," which is a quintessential Jazz Fusion number. Very funky chords, and synth from Jukka Linkola. The guitarist (Janne Louhivuor) has some really good solos on this track. I actually quite like the soul interludes during the song where the horns come in and they show off their melody more. Overall one of the better songs on the album and a good extended jam for an opener. From the beginning you can tell "Ennystymätön" is gonna be an interesting one. The song starts with some high-intensity clav and bass backbeat over assorted violin and electric piano solos. Janne Louhivuor has another pretty nice solo here in an odd signature as the beat picks up. Towards the end, the song has a buildup back into the bass and clav undertones as the song comes to an end. Definitely not my favorite but not horrible. Side 1 closes on the 10-minute "epic" "Ahmoo," which is hella disappointing. The song opens very ambiently before eventually going into a really nice piano part around the 2:00 mark. This section actually sounds beautiful, but the band does absolutely nothing with it and the song goes into a 5-minute drum solo before ending mediocrely. This track had the most potential on the album but alas, it underperformed.

The second side opens with my personal favorite track, "Moment." This is easily Jupu's best violin work on the album and gives off total Mahavishnu Vibes. The song opens on an upbeat note with screeching guitars and high octave phased Wurlitzer. The song is another one of those jams that this band does often, except this one actually has character, musicianship, and variation opposed to some of the less bright songs on here. After the highlight we get, "Two for Eeva." The song opens with heavy upright bass, and ambient violin. Around the 4:30 mark the song takes a much needed turn for a more upbeat sound after 4-minutes of nothingness. This song is by far the jazziest on the album and during the second half it seamlessly switches from awesome Fusion, to melancholy piano interludes. The last track on the album, "Drops of Rain," opens with classical violin that set the mood. After about a minute, the drums begin to build up along with phased keys and bass. Unfortunately, the band doesn't actually drop the beat for minutes, so the song is stuck in a perpetual buildup with mediocre ambience. Finally at the 6:00 minute mark of the 7:00 minute song, the band introduces the beat which makes for by far the best sequence on the entire album that only lasts for 45 seconds, before the album ends.

To be honest, this album had so much potential to be a 4-star if the band had cut on some things. For example, the title track is by far the weakest due to it pretty much being a drum solo for 10 minutes. If the band had just developed the song instead of getting lazy I believe that track alone could've at least pushed the album from a 3 stars to a 3.5. Jupu Group actually released their first work in decades in 2016 (which was a little live album), but in 2022 they came back with their first full length studio effort in half a century (Which is quite good). Over all, I would recommend tracks such as "The Seeker," "Movement," and possibly "Two for Eeva," to fans of jazz fusion but not too much else.