Helsinki Soundpost Martti Vesala Soundpost Quintet

• 1 Smoke 06:17
• 2 Decline 05:59
• 3 Lumi 06:38
• 4 Headfirst 04:46
• 5 Carvings 06:23
• 6 A Blessing In Disguise 05:24
• 7 Soundpost 04:20
• 8 Yamal 09:58
• Total Runtime 49:45

Info for Helsinki Soundpost

Finland’s capital Helsinki is the home base for trumpet player and composer Martti Vesala and on „Helsinki Soundpost“ we can see it through his eyes or rather hear it through his ears. He uses musical means to create certain atmospheres, like in the song „Smoke“ that evokes scenes from a pale lit Finnish spring morning. In „Lumi“ – snow – Martti Vesala paints a picture of Helsinki in the first snow, including some happy people in the background. After all it is the people who make a city what it is. Marrti Vesala acknowledges this with „Carvings“, an intimate musical portrait following the skilled hands of a wood carver.

Song by song and bar by bar he pieces together a very personal jazz photo album that makes you want to get on a plane to see and hear Helsinki yourself. For the actual sound of the album Martti Vesala doesn’t feed on the Skandinavian Jazz tradition but takes the more urban American style as an inspiration. He lists the elegance of Wayne Shorter, the groove of Miles Davis and the Avantgarde-Jazz of the 60s as reference points.

„Helsinki Soundpost“ can be described as a concept album and even the Martti Vesala Soundpost Quintet with saxophonist Petri Puolitaival, pianist Joonas Haavisto, bass player Juho Kivivuori und drummer Ville Pynssi goes back to a concept of Vesala’s. Before the album was even written he knew what would be the ideal formation: a classic Jazz quintet with tenor saxophone and trumpet. „I wanted to challenge my composition skills“, Martti Vesala explains, „my aim is to keep experimenting with this formation to see how many different nuances and musical structures I can come up with for this all acoustic setting.“ It sounds like Helsinki might only be the staring point of a long journey.

Martti Vesala, trumpet & fluegelhorn
Petri Puolitaival, tenor saxophone, flute & alto flute
Joonas Haavisto, piano & Fender Rhodes
Juho Kivivuori, double bass
Ville Pynssi, drums & percussion

Recorded in Finnvox Studios, Helsinki between September 21st and 23rd 2014 by Miikka Huttunen
Mixed by Miikka Huttunen at Neomusic, March 2015
Mastered by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers West, March 2015
Produced by Martti Vesala

Martti Vesala
Helsinki-based jazz trumpeter and composer Martti Vesala (b. 1981) is an acclaimed instrumentalist, composer and pedagogue.

Vesala is a Sibelius Academy graduate, having studied in the Nordic Master in Jazz programme under the instruction of today’s leading jazz trumpetists, such as Tim Hagans, Gerard Presencer, Laurie Frink and Peter Asplund. A creative and experienced composer, Vesala has written original music for nearly two decades for ensembles of all sizes, ranging from quintet to big band. His original compositions contain catchy melodies supported by lush harmonies and the rhythmic layers of Afro-American heritage of jazz. As a trumpet player, Vesala’s style is influenced by Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw, in addition to the more modern stylings of Dave Douglas and Kenny Wheeler.

Vesala is the leader of Martti Vesala Soundpost Quintet, a group comprised of crème de la crème of finnish jazz musicians. The group’s music consists entirely of Vesala’s compositions, reflecting his long time admiration of Wayne Shorter’s music and the groove of the 1960’s Miles Davis Quintet. Signed to German Ozella Music label, the group has two albums in the market, “Helsinki Soundpost” and “Stars Aligned”. Their third album will be released November 4th 2022.

Other ensembles include the nordic jazz group Maratone Quintet, active years 2007-2014. With Maratone Quintet, Vesala performed extensively in Finland and Estonia, playing at numerous jazz-clubs, concert halls and jazz festivals. The quintet appeared at the Dølajazz 2010 festival, organized in Lillehammer, Norway. In 2010, they represented Finland in the finals of the Getxo International Jazz Group Competition in Spain. Maratone Quintet produced and recorded two albums: Setting Out (Free Agent Records 2008) and Finding the Way (Prophone 2012).

Vesala’s big band compositions have been performed by UMO Jazz Orchestra, Klüver’s Big Band (Aarhus, Denmark), The Big Band of The Royal Academy of Music (Stockholm, Sweden) and Jyväskylä Big Band. He has been a finalist of the Esko Linnanvalli Big Band composition competition 3 times: in July 2011 with an original composition “Subconstellation”, in November 2013 with “Rhododendron” and in 2015 with “Piper’s Park”.

Vesala also works actively as a freelance musician with such groups as Njet Njet 9, The Soul Investigators and Josu Mämmi trio. He also performs occasionally in the ranks of UMO Jazz Orchestra, Espoo Big Band, Sibelius Academy Alumni Big Band, musicals produced by the Helsinki City Theatre and numerous other projects.

Booklet for Helsinki Soundpost