Hot Heros featuring Iro Haarla

“Vodjanoi” 

(Karkia Mistica Records – Karmi-101)

Sami Sippola- tenor saxophone, Ville Rauhala – double bass, Janne Tuomi – drums
Iro Haarla – piano

This album was forwarded to me directly by saxophonist and composer Sami Sippola of the Finnish trio Hot Heros, so my thanks to him for that.

The trio was formed in 2014 for a US tour and took its name from an old, obsolete sign for a sandwich shop that the group members spotted in New York.  Based in Tampere the group has released three previous albums, “Fill Up With Old Time Salvation” (2015), “Folkjazz From Finland” (2018) and “Days After The Rodeo” (2019). They also collaborated with the Finnish rapper Hannibal on the album “Tassa ja Nyt”.

This latest release finds the trio linking up with pianist and composer Iro Haarla, one of the leading figures of Finnish jazz. She is the widow of Edward Vesala (1945-99),  the great Finnish drummer, composer and bandleader who recorded a series of albums for ECM during the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s.

Also an accomplished harpist Haarla appeared on her husband’s records and since Vesala’s premature death has also released a number of albums for ECM under her own name. These include the quintet recordings “Northbound” (2005), “Vespers” (2011) and the semi-orchestral “Ante Lucem” (2016).

Sippola was previously a member of the long running trio Black Motor, a group that also included bassist Ville Rauhala, plus drummer Simo Laihonen. It was as members of Black Motor that Sippola and Rauhala first worked with Haarla, one of the many guest musicians with whom that trio has collaborated.  Sippola has also worked with Haarla’s quintet, all this combining to make her a natural addition to the Hot Heros line up.

Meanwhile Black Motor continues, with Sippola’s place now filled by saxophonist Jouni ‘Tane’ Kannisto, who joined the group in 2014.

Featuring compositions by Sippola, Haarla and Rauhala the music to be heard on “Vodjanoi” was inspired by the band member’s visits to Northern Finland, and particularly the Sami regions, inhabited by the indigenous people of Lapland. This longing for the North has also informed the music of both Vesala and Haarla and finds new expression in the sounds to be heard on “Vodjanoi”.

The album takes its title from a mythical ‘merman’ figure who lives deep within a lake, or at the bottom of the sea. He can be a guardian or an enemy, depending upon how he is treated or what he is offered. Sippola, who hails from a coastal town, is well versed in Finnish folklore and often utilises it as a source of musical inspiration.

“Vodjanoi” was recorded at Haarla’s country mansion at Tervakoski, a location very much in keeping with the album’s themes of nature, wilderness and folkloric myth and legend. The album packaging includes a quote from the Finnish author Sakari Topelius (1818-98), which translates as
“Nature must stay as wilderness, because it says what we are and what we must be.” 

Hot Heros describe the music to be heard on this album as “the sound of the deep woods” and this is something that very much translates itself to the listener. There’s an unmistakably Nordic quality about the music, with Sippola sometimes sounding like a more rough hewn Jan Garbarek. Indeed there’s something of a link here, Vesala played with Garbarek on the unexpectedly boisterous (for Garbarek) 1972 ECM album “Triptykon”, an uncompromising trio set that also featured the Norwegian bassist Arild Andersen. Now we hear Haarla, specialising on piano throughout, performing with Sippola and effectively completing the circle.

That “sound of the deep woods” first finds expression in the Sippola composition “Kuulin Suden Ulvovan”, the first single from the album with a title that translates as “I Heard the Wolf Howl”. Introduced by piano, bass and brushed drums the piece features the deep, slightly melancholic sound of Sippola’s tenor. Tuomi’s insistent brushed drum groove brings a contemporary aspect to the proceedings with its wry hip hop allusions, but the melodies are rooted more deeply in the mysteries of Finnish folklore. There’s less improvisation here than on some earlier Hot Heros or Black Motor releases as the group place a greater emphasis on both composition and mood building. However both Sippola and Haarla are given the latitude to stretch out on subtly probing, highly evocative solos. There’s also a melodic bass cameo from the excellent Rauhala. The group describe their music as “beautiful, melodic and often calm but with a fierce inner flame”, and these qualities are very much in evidence here. As befits its title this is a piece that combines a feeling of apparent tranquillity with an underlying sense of unease or threat. Effectively, it smoulders.

Also by Sippola “Karhuntanssi” maintains that mood. The wording on the album packaging itself is entirely in Finnish, so I’m unable to shed any further light on the individual titles, unless they are specifically mentioned in the English press release.
Here the restless keening of Sippola’s tenor is underpinned by a floating drum groove, complemented by Rauhala’s melodic bass variations. The bassist also solos at greater length, his explorations complemented by Tuomi’s filigree cymbal work and Haarla’s sympathetic piano chording.

Haarla takes up the compositional reins for “Kullankaivajan Blues”, introducing the piece with a passage of unaccompanied piano. It’s a composition that evolves slowly, but which passes through several distinct phases and with Sippola’s tenor taking on a definite blues tinge. The piece incorporates an extended solo drum passage from Tuomi, carefully constructed and with the drummer very much occupying the role of colourist or ‘sound painter’. Bowed bass, piano and eventually tenor sax are added as the piece evolves through a loosely structured passage that features some of the most fiercely interactive improvising of the set. The piece then resolves itself with a restatement of the glowering main theme and ends with Haarla at the piano.

Next we hear a trio of compositions from bassist Rauhala, sequenced back to back. There’s a sense that we are journeying even deeper into the forest with the modally based “Niin On Kehto Tyhjillaan”, with Sippola’s huge tenor sound evoking memories of John Coltrane. Haarla’s piano solo features dramatic chording, before Sippola returns to probe even more deeply as the quartet continue their quest.

The composer’s eerie, melancholic bowed bass introduces “Por Que Tu Sonrisa Me Mata”, subsequently supplemented by glacially lyrical piano and shimmering cymbals. This atmospheric introduction is followed by a stately, but still melancholic theme, led by Sippola’s tenor. Melodic passages are punctuated by episodes of more loosely structured playing, again featuring the sound of arco bass, as Rauhala joins Haarla and Tuomi in thoughtful musical conversation. Sippola then returns to probe in more forceful fashion, but that sense of melodic melancholy is never entirely abandoned, with the dialogue between bowed bass and piano returning at the close.

“Murmansk” at least has a title that English listeners can understand. Again the sound of arco bass is featured on a sinisterly atmospheric introduction that also embraces piano and the rustle of percussion. Rauhala’s grainy bowed bass sound conjures up images of ship’s hulls being crushed in the ice, the rustle of percussion the flapping of ropes against masts. Sippola’s tenor keens mournfully on this most evocative of pieces, while Haarla’s underpinning piano arpeggios constitute the glue that holds it all together.

Sippola’s title track is more obviously melodic, almost anthemic, with his tenor leading the way and taking the first solo. There’s also a melodic bass solo from Rauhala, this time plucked, rather than bowed.

The album concludes with Sippola’s “Vedenneito”, which features the group at its most lyrical, with Haarla’s piano setting the mood, complemented by Tuomi’s adroit cymbal embellishments and colourations. There’s a wistful, yearning sound to Sippola’s tenor, even when the music takes a more exploratory turn. Haarla’s piano solo finds her probing subtly, accompanied by simpatico bass and drums, with Rauhala and Tuomi eventually taking over with an absorbing dialogue of their own -one that again emphasises the subtleties and nuances of the drummer’s playing. Sippola returns for a reprise of the theme, plus a series of variations.

“Vodjanoi” is an absorbing and often beautiful album that holds the listener’s attention throughout.
The contrasts between the writing styles of the three composers is fascinating and there is a real sense of having been taken on a journey. The rapport between the members of the quartet is excellent throughout and the balance between composition and improvisation just about perfect.

The quartet succeed in creating a real sense of place. There is an unmistakably Nordic quality about the music, and a distinctive Finnish sensibility. Fans of Scandinavian jazz in general will enjoy the music of this excellent quartet.

 

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