The Five Corners Quintet

The Five Corners Quintet is a Helsinki-based postmodern jazz outfit influenced by early sixties straight ahead and latin jazz. Led by producer Tuomas Kallio the Five Corners Quintet is a new extension of the highly acclaimed Nuspirit Helsinki collective.

The two innovators behind Five Corners Quintet, composer, producer and arranger Tuomas Kallio and the band's benevolent svengali and record label manager Antti Eerikäinen initially were simply set out to release a few vinyl singles of stylish jazz music tailored for the dance floor. As the first three vinyl single releases received a huge response among the press and taste makers such as Gilles Peterson, Norman Jay, Rainer Truby, Jazzanova and Mr. Scruff and at the same were all sold out selling over 12000 copies in total, the Five Corners Quintet project slowly evolved into an established and more serious phase. This meant two things: setting up a live band and a CD-album project.

In musical terms the goal of the FCQ is to set an example of how dance floor-friendly contemporary production can fruitfully meet the musical craftsmanship of the past, creating music that sounds as hip as the classic jazz records but is at the same time structurally polished and easily accessible music of today. Not housey nu-jazz, but jazz in the classic modernist spirit.

Studio production

In studio the Five Corners Quintet is a contemporary project gathering separately the right people for each song from a pool of musicians that are some of the very best players of the Finnish and international jazz scene. Musical production is utilizing both the analog and digital domain, drawing on tools from tape recorders to samplers and sequencers. Even though the final sound and feel is a lot alike, the production approach of FCQ is thus entirely different from a mid-20th century studio setting.

Live

The Five Corners Quintet performing live is another story. The live band is a phenomenal jazz quintet - or at times a sextet or even bigger - that can appeal both to a critical seated jazz audience and a dancing club crowd. On stage The Five Corners Quintet is a real band featuring real musicians: no machines, no samplers, no DJ's but instead a lot of energy, interaction and world class level of musicianship. The live band consists of the very cream of the Finnish jazzmen. Eero Koivistoinen is a tenor sax heavyweight who has been around since the sixties. Jukka Eskola is a young trumpet phenomenon and the Finnish equivalent for Freddie Hubbard. Severi Pyysalo on vibes is a Blue Note recording artist and the drummer Teppo Mäkynen, who is voted as the number 1 drummer among the Finnish jazz press year after year, is internationally known for Nuspirit Helsinki and his solo project Teddy Rok Seven.

The debut CD-album

The debut album "Chasin The Jazz Gone By" was released the 1st of September via a serious network of record label and distribution partners worldwide. The album features two world-class guest vocalists, the other one being none other than the 6 time Grammy nominee, "Jazz singers' jazz singer", Mr. Mark Murphy. The female voice on the album is Paris-based Okou who is a versatile vocalist and has been working with a lot of different kind of people from Mick Jagger to Keziah Jones.

We hope you dig it!

Praise for the Quintet:

"Three Corners"-track was selected as one of the Gilles Peterson's Worldwide All Winners Cuts of 2004 on BBC Radio One.

"Wonderful stuff, pure genius. This super fresh Helsinki based five piece once again show why Scandinavia seems to be leading the way when it comes to all things jazz" - DJ MAGAZINE

"Doper than dope" - STRAIGHT NO CHASER MAGAZINE

"Stunning" - BLUES & SOUL MAGAZINE

"This is heavy, real jazz for the future. Search out!" - BREAKIN POINT MAGAZINE

"Debut album "Chasin' the Jazz Gone By" is out now. 12 tracks of dancefloor jazz for your hi-fi featuring the jazz singers jazz singer, Mr. Mark Murphy. On their new album, "Chasin'; the Jazz Gone By", the band play stylish jazz tailored for the dancefloor using samplers and sequencers; live, they play dynamic, danceable acoustic jazz. Powered by drummer Teppo "Teddy Rok" Makynen and trumpet prodigy Jukka Eskola, they have the potential to become a major draw on the European Jazz Circuit."
-Stuart Nicholson, THE OBSERVER (UK), 28.8.2005

"These 12 tracks could easily be a triumph of style over substance - but instead they update the past with panache."
-John Bungey, THE TIMES (UK), 1.10.2005

"Oddly enough, Finland enjoys a remarkable affininty with the Golden Age of modern US jazz. [...] A crowd of 2,500 turned up when US crooner Mark Murphy joined the Five Corners for a concert in Helsinki last month, and he sounds in his element with them on his four guest tracks here. Trumpeter Jukka Eskola suggests a prime-period Donald Byrd, vibist Sereri Pyysalo recalls Bobby Hutcherson, tenorist Eero Koivistoinen comes over like a Yusef Lateef disciple, drummer Teppo Makynen grooves like a young Billy Higgins and the sweet-voiced Okou adds charm to the shimmering waltz, Blue Cycles, that opens the session. Catch them."
- EVENING STANDARD (UK)

"While Finland's current cultural associations extend no farther than moomins and reindeer, this small but influential Nordic country could potentially be credited with bringing jazz into the 21st century."
- Sarah Marshall, UNDERCOVER MAGAZINE(UK)

"That fire burns in Helsinki's Five Corners Quintet, who bop so hard you can almost hear starched white collars being popped and square-rimmed glasses fogging up behind the studio window."
- XLR8R MAGAZINE (USA), October 2005 issue

""Chasin' The Jazz Gone By" is about as hip as you can get without throwing your back out"
- George Harris, ALL ABOUT JAZZ (USA)

TO THE FRONTPAGE