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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)
Distributed by Timewarp www.timewarpdis.com
Released in USA by Milan Enternainment www.milanrecords.com
Released in Japan by Columbia Japan www.columbia.jp
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