Esa Pietilä Trio

Try the BEST MySpace Editor and MySpace Backgrounds at MySpace Toolbox !The new Esa Pietilä Trio from Helsinki Finland, navigates and explores new and fresh improvisational fields of scandinavian freejazz expression with every angle of communication, ranging from straightforward energetic free playing to colours, ambient sceneries and soundscapes, by using also every possible duo combinations within the group members. They have lately been performing with succes in almost every scandiavian and european countries.-------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------All members of the group are internationally acclaimed artists, and have been performing with names like Tomas Stanko, Anders Jormin, Odean Pope, Ron McClure, Mike Nock, Arve Henriksen, Eric Vloiemans, Lars Danielson, Tim Hagans, Trygve Seim, Edward Vesala, Mathias Eick,Hilmar Jensson, Anders Bergcrantz... in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Italy, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Spain, England, Usa, Australia, Iceland, New Zeeland, Brazil, Cuba...----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------The latest reviews quoted below enlighten more of this very strong and unique group´s interplay: ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------Don Williamson, Jazzreview.com:--------------------------------------------- -------Bounding into “Mind Hunt,” the first track, with buoyancy and immediate claim to the listener’s attention, Pietilä’s trio puts forth its strengths up front that carry it through the remainder of the album: the group’s engaged absorption in the music, the members’ interest in the infinite potential of the sounds they can create, their openness for free improvisation and the elaboration upon the conventional roles of their instruments. The result is a recording by matured and explorative musicians whose enjoyment in the process of playing jazz comes through in each of the12 tracks. Pietilä injects immediacy and surprise into his playing by going for unplanned gems that like-minded interaction can discover through spontaneous playing. Pietilä doesn’t include any chorded instruments in his trio, and with good reason: His interests are as much about implication—the spaces between the dots he punches out—as about literal adherence to pre-written composition.Although Esa Pietilä is an always explorative saxophonist, accessible though with a personal perspective toward the music he plays. And "Direct" is the work of a jazz artist worth the search. ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------------------Robert Spencer, Cadence: ----------------------------------------------------------- Esa Pietilä, the leader of "Direct", has a tenor tone suitable for framing, partaking of the Coltrane and post-Coltrane stream but also icily ruminative a la Jan Garbarek, without dipping into any untoward ECMism. The rhythm section alone on this trio date would prevent that. Take "Mind Hunt," for example: bassist Krokfors quotes "Milestones" (the second one) while drummer Ounaskari plays with as many hands as Elvin Jones at his most ferociously exuberant, and Pietilä manages to evoke this highly-charged Sixties atmosphere while never resorting to the tired bag of tricks that so few have been able to resist before him. Even his reentry after a bass/drum solo on "Headway" strongly recalls the Master's reappearance after a similar interlude on "Alabama," he doesn't allow himself to fall into any of the more obvious traps. Also, throughout this disc he seems to decline to take the bait offered by Krokfors and Ounaskari in particular, although the choices he does make complement their goading and churning just fine without making this into an outright Aylerfest. And his tone is gorgeous, particularly on the ringing "Direct" and the resonating "Point Zero". ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------ALL ABOUT JAZZ, Matthew Wuethrich:------------------------------------------Like its predecessors, the Esa Pietilä Trio peels away jazz's conventions to reveal its basic sound elements, but its efforts on Direct are leaner and more refined. With a minimum of song structure but a maximum of group interaction, they deliver a visceral gut-punch with both urgency and subtlety.The group does not rigidly define each player's role, thereby freeing them to delve deeper into their instruments' potential. On "Purple Jungle" they merge into one instrument, with Krokfors' bowing sounding like a horn, Pietilä's throaty growls scraping like an arco bass, and Ounaskari's percussion evoking plucked strings."Bumpy Down" showcases how the trio often assumes different duet forms. Krokfors generates a frenetic pulse around which Pietilä on soprano prods the melody along. With only two players they aggressively explore yet still retain a vast silence.While much free jazz often climaxes in cataclysmic peaks, this trio prefers to let silence and resonance build. A delicious tension emerges on "Headway" as Pietilä's tenor stretches compact phrases into winding passages while Krokfors and Ounaskari string out the pulse until it nearly disintegrates. By putting texture and interaction over harmonic development and song structure, they highlight a larger goal: creating a unified group identity. Direct offers a subtle blend of melodic sketches, rhythmic boldness and intense interaction-a quiet storm of noise.