Espoo Big Band (EBB) is one of Finland’s most prominent big jazz orchestras and it’s especially known for performing new Finnish big band music. The band was established in 1980 and has performed at major festivals around the world.
The band has released now with “Lauma” an album full of original music from a Finnish rock fusion band called Husband. The music of Varre Vartiainen and Jarmo Saari has been arranged for EBB and Husband by Saari, Lenni-Kalle Taipale and Marzi Nyman.
“For me, being a musician has always meant belonging to a group. A pack, a flock, a herd. That’s what this album is about. At the core is a rough quartet of grown men playing loud, guitar-driven fusion – or as the composer and bandleader Varre Vartiainen puts it ”Jazz for drunks” – a tight foursome. Mashed up with it is the prestigious Espoo Big Band; a versatile group of best jazz players in Finland, all dear friends.
Captured on this album is the mutual love and laughter, the shared sorrow of losing a herd member, and the joint amazement of each other’s musical minds at work, recorded on a studio live setting. The result is a vividly bubbling album rich with detail, a document of a pack of players proving there is strenght in numbers!”