Early spring 1999 after numerous jam sessions with various drummers the first line-up of Gypsy Eyes was formed. The core of the band was a three- piece. Tomi Christiansson on guitar and vocals, Larissa Raudas on bass and Jarmo Pääskysaari on drums. In addition there was occasional blues-harp from Ville Mehto. Playing in smoky pizza-bars 4 to 5 hours on a gig the inter- play within the members quickly got to the point where it no longer was necessary to play any cover material. In 2001 the first attempt to record original material was organised but the sessions were not considered good enough for a demo let alone a real record release. More gigs followed: still in low-class joints but some also in jazz-and rock bars. Suddenly out of the blue Jarmo told us he is gonna quit, so in comes new drummer Reijo Juntunen and two saxophonists (Selja Raudas, alto and Ari Ilo, tenor) in order to play soul music. After a short while Ari leaves and with the remaining quartet the first Gypsy Eyes album is made in 2004. Two years later a second album(Soul Testify)is recorded this time with additional help from Jani Häggblom on electric piano. Early winter 2009 recording the third album was completed much to our relief, having done unfruitful sessions during 2008. So in July 2009 our third album was released, samples of it can be heard on this site.
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