FAIRYPORT

Speaking about early 70-s, there was only leading prog band from Nordic countries - and it was Finnish Wigwam. Fairyport is their best album, so if you still din't listen them and are interested in North European prog history, there is a place you must to start.

Band's sound is based on keyboards, but differently from many UK bands of that time, band's music is airy, never over-produced, even ascetic (in Northern manner). There are melodies in the songs, and there are that tasteful beauty, when you can hear pure song tune and musicianship didn't covered by tons of (often bombastic) arrangements. Shortly speaking, this is early prog rock as it was before producers invented multi layered studio tricks for making not very good (or not very well played ) music more attractive to sell.

Besides of some bluesy jazz-rock another important component of this album's music is neo- classics (this tradition is still alive in music of many modern Finnish prog bands). But again, classical influences there could be found in a form of some piano arrangements more then any form of orchestration.

Many Finnish best rock musicians play on this album: keyboardist Jukka Gustavson , one of the best known Finnish multi instrumentalist Pekka Pohjola, guitarist Jukka Tolonen, well- known in jazz circles sax player Eero Koivistoinen.

Just to imagine the music think about ascetic pre-Third Soft Machine combined with bluesy jazz-rock of some early Zappa's works. Absolute classic, and must have release for every serious jazz-rock collection.