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Joystone [Jazz]
WEBSITE: www.jimitenor.com
"Joystone" is the latest musical excursion by the ever-inventive arranger, composer and musician, as well as captivating performer, Jimi Tenor. On "Joystone" the super-eccentric Finn teams up with Kabu Kabu, a trio of West-African musicians and ex-Fela Kuti sidemen led by Nicholas Addo Nettey. The result is an exceptionally unique and inspired album that joins the dots between dance music, afro-beat, funk, and pop.
Despite its cosmic overtones "Joystone" was conceived in Tenor's tiny garage in the city of Lahti in Finland and recorded, mixed and produced entirely by Didier Selin in Helsinki. Selin is the mastermind behind the award-winning 2006 album "Keep Reachin Up" by Tenor's wife Nicole Willis And The Soul Investigators.
Adding spice to Tenor's best work to date are the leading players in the budding Finnish jazz scene including trumpeter Jukka Eskola and saxophonist Timo Lassy. The resulting mash of Scandinavian jazz and polyrhythmic afro-beat and funk is reminiscent of legendary euro-eccentrics Marc Moulin and Placebo. However, it is Tenor's captivating melodies, quirky humor, and genre-defying playfulness that are at the forefront of "Joystone".
On the lead single "Sunrise", for which there is a video of Tenor and the band running around a forest, he murmurs his sources of inspiration: "Sunrise oh sunrise, my favorite time of the day. I wake up, make some coffee. Look at the garden and start making some music. Everyday pretty much the same, and yet so different."
Some of the highlights on "Joystone" are the uptempo afro-beat of "Hot Baby" and the dark funk of "Smoking". "Horror Water" is another dark piece inspired perhaps by musical luminaries J Dilla and Alice Coltrane.
"Hermetic Man" is an instantly recognizable Tenor song with its loping melodic passages and subtle hints of 197'’s prog jazz. The album closes with "Dede", a 7-minute opus that showcases the halkofon, a one-of-a-kind instrument invented and built by Tenor from sticks of wood used to heat up the Finnish sauna.
Jimi Tenor, was born as Lassi Lehto. His band Jimi Tenor & His Shamans released their first album in 1988, with Tenor's first solo album dropping in 1994 and delivering "Take Me Baby", his first big hit. He has released albums on Sähkö Recordings, Warp Records and the Kitty-Yo label among others. He has recorded with a 55-piece Polish Symphony Orchestra and most recently appeared on Deutsche Grammophon's "Recomposed" series. Curiously he has been called the "Elton John of jazz" and the "Barry White of Finland", but we like to think of this mad musical genius having fun while searching for the missing link between Sun Ra and Fela Kuti.
"Joystone" finds Jimi Tenor reuniting with legendary Sähkö Recordings, the label that kickstarted his career back in 1994.
Tracklisting:
01. Anywhere, Anytime
02. Green Grass
03. I Wanna Hook Up with You
04. Hot Baby
05. Bedroom Eyes
06. Hermetic Man
07. Love Is the Only God
08. Ariane
09. Smoking
10. Horror Water
11. Sunrise
12. Dede
(Quelle: Groove Attack, 6.2.2007)
FORMAT: CD
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