The album "Nebula" by guitarist Vilkka Wahl and his quintet will be released on August 18th at the Turku Jazz Festival and followed up by a release concert on the 19th. The album features New York based sax virtuoso Jure Pukl and Finnish vibraphone legend Severi Pyysalo.

Vilkka Wahl Quintet’s album “Nebula” was initiated when Wahl got a scholarship for composition in 2015. The material was first introduced to the public in late 2015 as Severi Pyysalo, Teemu Åkerblom and Mikko Arlin joined The album "Nebula" by guitarist Vilkka Wahl and his quintet will be released on August 18th at the Turku Jazz Festival and followed up by a release concert on the 19th. The album features New York based sax virtuoso Jure Pukl and Finnish vibraphone legend Severi Pyysalo. Vilkka Wahl Quintet’s album “Nebula” was initiated when Wahl got a scholarship for composition in 2015. The material was first introduced to the public in late 2015 as Severi Pyysalo, Teemu Åkerblom and Mikko Arlin joined Wahl to form the core of the band. In 2016 the band was touring in Finland and the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) radio journalist got excited about the music and proposed collaboration with the broadcaster in form of a recording session to make a radio tape.

For the session and related tour Wahl invited New York based Slovenian saxophone player Jure Pukl and the band became a quintet. These tapes are now being published by Vilkka Wahl in collaboration with YLE and Eclipse Music as the album “Nebula”. Wahl’s compositions have a personal, authentic sound -often perceived through stretched out forms and intense melodic development. The material draws from jazz, alt-rock and even the impressionists.

Wahl describes his composition process a mixture of intuition and educated choices. The result, in any case, is a personal sound to which the top-of- the-line band gives its own interpretation. The musicality and virtuosity of all the players gets a chance to stand out through these soulful and eery, yet often challenging compositions.

Vilkka Wahl
Based in Vienna, Austria, with roots in Finland, Vilkka Wahl is a guitarist and a musician with passion to music in a broad perspective. With roots in rock and progressive rock Vilkka has converted to jazz music and is combining many elements of the afro-american music tradition in his music and playing. Vilkka has finished his MA degree at the Graz University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Austria where he has studied under Guido Jeszenszky and has had masterclasses with i.e. Peter Bernstein, John Abercrombie, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Jerry Bergonzi, Bob Brookmeyer, and Jeff Ballard.

In 2017 Vilkka Wahl is the Artist of the Year at the Turku Jazz Festival in Finland, where he will be presenting his debut album as a composer and band leader together with his quintet, composed of the fantastic Jure Pukl, Severi Pyysalo, Teemu Åkerblom and Mikko Arlin. Vilkka is freelancing in different projects in and around his two home countries. These have included projects with i.e. Karlheinz Miklin, Jure Pukl, Ain Agan, Heinrich von Kalnein, Severi Pyysalo, Manuel Dunkel and the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra.

Jure Pukl
Jure Pukl was awarded with the Slovenian highest national award for Arts (Nagrada Prešernovega sklada 2015) and is one of the most profilic and creative saxophonists of the younger Slovene jazz generation. He completed his masters degree in music at the Graz Academy of Music. Throughout his studies Pukl performed and recorded extensively, being engaged in his own projects, as well as working with a number of great musicians such as Branford Marsalis, Dave Liebman, Esperanza Spalding, Vijay Iyer, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Damion Reid, Darius Jones, Gerald Cleaver, Melissa Aldana, Rodney Green, Charles Altura, Joe Sanders, Aaron Goldberg, Marcus Gilmore, Gregory Hutchinson, Johnatan Blake and orchestras like Big Band RTV Slovenia, European Jazz Orchestra, European Movement Jazz Orchestra, Vienna Saxophone Quartet, Nouvele Cousine and many others. What he creates is a unique type of modern jazz, avantgarde, free jazz and impressionistic contemporary music performed with a great deal of knowledge and love, giving prominence to the interplay between band members.

https://jure-pukl.com/about/

Severi Pyysalo
Vibraphonist Severi Pyysalo (b. 1967) has been on the very top of the Finnish jazz scene for over three decades now. He made his breakthrough at the Pori Jazz Festival 1984 at only 16 years of age when got invited on stage with Frank Foster, Jimmy Owens and Paquito D’Rivera. In the audience was also Sarah Vaughan who then wanted to feature Severi in her show, which was the main show of the festival that year. Paquito D’Rivera hired Severi to play a week long Village Vanguard gig. This marked the beginning of Severi Pyysalo’s life as a professional jazz musician. Although Severi remained in Finland he has been touring extensively around the world in different line-ups including i.e. James Newton, McCoy Tyner, Thomas Clausen, Grady Tate, Anders Jormin, Paquito D’Rivera and Peter Weniger. Severi is considered to be one of the best vibraphone players on this planet.

Teemu Åkerblom
Bassist Teemu Åkerblom is an important presence in many up-and- coming Finnish jazz groups, such as Aura Flow and The Fifth Avenue. He performs regularly both in Finland and abroad, having appeared on stage with such top artists as Timo Lassy, Jukka Eskola and Severi Pyysalo. Currently Åkerblom pursues his studies at the jazz department of the Sibelius Academy.

Mikko Arlin
Mikko Arlin (b. 1983) is a versatile, energetic drummer from Helsinki, Finland. He has performed as a freelancer musician with several different groups such as Olli Hirvonen Quartet, Nina Höynälä Band and Tribute To Ella Group. He sees his musical diversity as a benefit and is thus trying to transfer this attitude to the younger drummers as well by teaching drums in different music schools.