THE LOST 1971 STUDIO SESSION

Among the several recent archival (and mostly live) TASAVALLAN PRESIDENTTI releases of Svart records, this one is special. At first I categorized it as a compilation, but on second thought, "studio album" is a bit more adequate category, despite the fact that the results of the 1971 studio session never materialized as an album release back then, not even to a degree of having a proper album name. Nevertheless, this very set of four progressive jazz-rock pieces could have been the legendary Finnish group's third album -- if only the circumstances within Love Records would have been slightly different, according to the lengthy liner notes.

After Otto Donner, one of the three founders of Love Records, moved over to the Finnish Broadcasting Company, Atte Blom and Chrisse Schwindt continued working full-time, with quite opposite ideas of the release strategy. Schwindt wanted to avoid financial risks by producing one record at a time, which led to a situation that Blom produced albums behind his back. Around the time of this TP studio session in the fall of 1971, Blom had been secretly working on the debut album Tolonen! of the band's enigmatic guitarist and main composer Jukka Tolonen. "Schwindt didn't take this well but agreed to finish the project. Presenting Tasavallan Presidentti's session to him could have been too much at this point." Another reason for the TP studio session becoming eventually forgotten was within the group itself. They were going through line-up changes, and in the spring of 1972 they started recording Lambertland with the new vocalist Eero Raittinen.

Now to the music. Three tracks of the four are instrumentals. Tolonen, reeds player Pekka Pöyry, bassist Måns Groundstroem and drummer Vesa Aaltonen are all in a terrific shape as musicians, bravely stepping into improvisational expression that approaches free jazz, comparable to the way KING CRIMSON did in e.g. Red (1974). Had the session been released as an album, it surely would have been both "challenging for the pop- oriented audience" and "an artistic success. The release would have revealed what the band sounds like at their best live performances, with the difference that the session was recorded in studio with top quality equipment". The sonic quality is indeed very good.

'Impressions of India' later appeared on the guitarist's second album Summer Games (1973), but as a very different version. Here it is an energetic 4-minute jazz-rock piece highlighting on guitar and flute, perhaps less poetic compared to the solo album version. The nearly 17-minute 'Falling Deeper', the sole track to feature Frank Robson's vocals, became part of Lambertland, retitled as 'The Bargain', as well as Pöyry's composition 'Celebration of the Saved Nine'. I'm not a big fan of this kind of thick and complex jazz-rock featuring saxophone and extended structures leaning towards improvisation, but it's the very essence of Tasavallan Presidentti and what they were/are so highly respected for. The latter piece extends into a lengthy improvisation. The mutual work of the quartet is impressive.

The fourth track 'Hills and Dales' (7:41) is an improv-based group effort. What makes it exceptional as a TP piece is that Tolonen shifts to piano and Pöyry to organ. The piece lacks a traditional theme but IMHO maintains its musical fascination better than the preceding longer pieces.

My subjective rating for this album is only three stars. Without a doubt, for the dedicated fans of TP's intensive jazz- rock this release is a worthy addition to their relatively sparse studio output of their halcyon days. Add a fourth star if you wish.