LAULU LAINEILLA

Sad to see how few reviews this Finnish world/jazz band has received here, and only for their first and second album from mid-seventies. No doubt they are the most classic ones, but Piirpauke has continued through the decades to produce good and original music that bravely crosses musical borders. Fusion, jazz and World Music are the main keywords. With this album they take art music as the starting point: twelve of the 14 tracks are originally Franz Schubert's compositions - lieds, to be more precise. The front man Sakari Kukko (flutes, tenor saxophone and tambura) is accompanied by pianist Joonas Ahonen, bassist Ville Herrala and percussionist Ismaila Sane, and the arrangement credits are shared by the quartet.

Those who know Piirpauke well, know what to expect from this music. One really doesn't need to be a fan of Schubert or lied music to enjoy this instrumental third stream jazz. It's far from any rock attitude, instead there's romantic and even pastoral feeling, and I'll always welcome those moods in the jazz context. Ahonen's piano is a great partner to Kukko's reeds that here and there add some World Music flavour. Also some funk and blues ingredients can be heard on some tracks, but the album manages to be totally coherent. This music only gets better with multiple listenings. As a Piirpauke album however I wouldn't pick it up as one of the most recommendable starting point.