Edward Vesala - Lum (1987)

This album marked Vesala's return to ECM a decade after his last release for the label, Satu. Only one musician remained from his last appearance, Pentti Lahti. However, the aesthetic remains the same: a sensuous kind of free jazz with an air of ritual, and one tune from long ago reappears in a new guise ("The Wind" off the Nan Madol album). Most of the tracks here have something very distinctive about them, even if the instrumental lines wildly proliferate in the free jazz fashion. "Frozen Melody" opens with a beautiful introduction from Lahti that sounds like mid-period Coltrane. "Calypso Bulbosa" suddenly turns things electric and slightly funky with its electronic drums. "Fingo" bizarrely alludes to marching band music. The closing "Together" puts Björkenheim's electric guitar in the spotlight.

Tracklist:

1. The Wind (8:59)
2. Frozen Melody (4:18)
3. Calypso Bulbosa (4:51)
4. Third Moon (2:52)
5. Lumi (6:35)
6. Camel Walk (4:55)
7. Fingo (3:21)
8. Early Messenger (2:27)
9. Together (6:14)

Personnel:

Esko Heikkinen: trumpet, piccolo trumpet
Pentti Lahti: alto and baritone saxophones, flutes
Jorma Tapio: alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute
Tapani Rinne: tenor, soprano saxophones, clarinets
Kari Heinilä: tenor, soprano saxophone, flute
Tom Bildo: trombone, tuba
Iro Haarla: piano, harp
Raoul Björkenheim: guitar
Taito Vainio: accordion
Häkä: bass
Edward Vesala: drums, percussion