The renowned Helsinki label and music festival We Jazz Records is making the journey across the Baltic Sea to present a full evening at Fasching with two of its bands: Y-Otis and Unionen.
DJ this evening: Matti Nives (We Jazz)
Y-Otis: distinctive beats and saxophone riffs.
With saxophonist Otis Sandsjö and his band members in Y-OTIS, it’s important to be on your toes as a listener. Because unexpected things are constantly happening in this pulsating and boundary-breaking music. Someone has called Y-OTIS jazz “liquid jazz” and that is actually a very good presentation. Because just like flowing water, the Y-OTIS members swirl out into small pirouettes that are still part of the flow of the great current: forward. It has also been called space-age, abstract and future. All descriptions actually sound reasonable. This is music that embraces a lot and that constantly has its eyes fixed on the distance (or towards space, perhaps).
In short, it is a sound mosaic that brings together elements from jazz, funk, electronica and hip-hop. Expect a full house.
Otis Sandsjö – saxophone,
Petter Eldh – bass, synths,
Dan Nicholls – keyboards,
Jamie Peet – drums
Unionen is a new quartet on the jazz scene with musicians from Norway and Sweden – Ståle Størlokken (Supersilent), Per “Texas” Johansson, Petter Eldh (Koma Saxo) and Gard Nilssen (Supersonic Orchestra). The band takes its name from the united kingdoms of Sweden and Norway and their joint reign under a common monarch from 1814–1905. Sure, the word “supergroup” may not be very trendy to use, but here we really have such a group – where each member contributes to a sound that is unique in all the best ways. From mystical introspection to intense, rocking jazz outbursts, Unionen is here to put its own, undeniable mark on the music.
Whatever Unionen does, you can feel that they have experience and are not content with simple tricks to impress the listener. This is music with depth, which has the potential to stand the test of time in its originality. Early live performances have been praised, and the British magazine Jazzwise called them a “highlight scoop” during Cologne Jazzweek.
The album consists of eight original compositions, each of which is difficult to put into a category. The members contribute writing and music in a way that truly reflects their shared vision – a musically cohesive story, which keeps the listener in its grip from the first note. On the instrument front, we hear classic instruments such as grand piano, Fender Rhodes, double bass and drums, but also jazz rarities such as cor anglais, double bass trombone and MPC. All of this merges into a cohesive soundscape, where it is not about how the music is created, but about how it makes us feel.
Unionen’s music is strongly emotional – more autumn than summer, more foggy than sunny, more evening than midday. And above all, more united than separated. No need for a monarch here, this is true democracy in the form of a jazz quartet.
Welcome to discover Unionen – a quartet that is here to renew and deepen jazz music in its very own way.
Per “Texas” Johansson – saxophones, woodwinds
Ståle Storløkken – piano, keyboards
Petter Eldh – bass, electric bass, MPC
Gard Nilssen – drums, percussion
