THE GROUP

This is obviously going to be a well played record but honestly the bass really does sound a class above the rest except for maybe Vesa on drums. Pekka just has the skills and experience but also the vision when it comes to his music. This would be a rare slip in my opinion, at least I would never consider going past 3 stars and man I've been listening to almost nothing but Jazz related music since last September. This doesn't rise anywhere close to the top but it was worth it to hear Pekka Pohjola take command of a song with his bass one more time.

The group was no exception, members from Uni Sono, Wigwam, TP, Made in Sweden.

Jazz rock and Fusion are genres that i explore deeply, and The Group delivered a fantastic album that will appeal to those that find the jazzier part of Pohjola interesting. We should not call the album groundbreaking and innovative, however the album is really good, showcasing the enormous talent the band had and making me wonder if they left some unreleased material laying around

The discovery of the Liisa archives already delivered few great albums, more expected, maybe we get lucky and have the opportunity to discover some unreleased recording.

The album is a somewhat lighter approach than what would have been expected. Not quite airy as in boring, but more like less dense in comparison. At times it reminds of Pat Metheny's works of the corresponding period, well if only as far as compositions are concerned. Still, it comes across as very European.

A rather relaxed and unforced play offers pleasant listening. Considering that at the time of it's release, international Jazz-Rock greats were getting tired, losing inspiration, The Group has made a good effort to keep things going and for that they deserve due recognition.

The music is closer to jazz than rock. But it's not so lively in a jazzy way; the longish compositions have a lot of repetitiveness and the melodies are not very good ones. I could almost say it's a bit boring album, as "professional" and well-done as it is. Pekka Pohjola definitely composes better music by himself than together with Ahvenlahti. After two listenings I don't remember much of anything of this music; it didn't touch my feelings really. Not that there were any bad, irritating things, maybe it just was too surpriseless and safe. For example guitar playing is more or less in the same style throughout the album, and on the keyboards there aren't much variety either. Anyway I wish someone here have enjoyed this more than I did and writes a more favourable and detailed review.