Edward Vesala - Lumi (ECM, 1986)

This post is by Dan

Edward Vesala (d, perc); Esko Heikkinen (tr); Tom Bildo (tb, tba); Pentti Lahti (as, bs, fl); Jorma Tapio (as, cl, bcl, fl); Tapani Rinne (ts, ss, cl, bcl); Kari Heinilä (ts, ss, fl); Raoul Björkenheim (g); Taito Vainio (acc); Iro Haarla (p, hp); Häkä (b)

Recorded June 1986

Listening for the first time to Lumi was a stunning auditory experience. I had read about Edward Vesala and this album and searched for it a long time. I finally found the CD in an Oslo record store in 2005. The music perfectly matches the most persuasive review I had consulted, published in the Penguin Guide to Jazz. Here is what critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton wrote about it:

"Vesala produced one unqualified masterpiece, Lumi. Even its cover, of a shrouded, Golem-like figure on an empty road under a threatening sky, suggests something of Vesala's distinctive combination of almost Gothic intensity and sheer playfulness" (Penguin Guide to Jazz, 7th ed., p. 1620). 

"The Wind," the opening track on Lumi, is one of the most spellbinding musical experiences I have ever heard. The piece builds slowly and ominously during a beautifully orchestrated sequence that fits the album cover imagery. It segues into "Frozen Melody," which consists of variations on a repeated (frozen) minor phrase. The remainder of the album offers similar orchestrations capturing less brooding emotional states - the playfulness that Cook and Morton describe.

Vesala's gift for arranging orchestral details results in unique textures and colors that invite comparisons with the arrangements of Gil Evans or Maria Schneider, although on a different emotional level. I am tempted to describe Vesala's music as "bleak," but it's simultaneously uplifting and grand. Like the best jazz, emotional content is complex and not easy to explain. 

Vesala recorded other albums with his large ensemble that he called Sound and Fury, comprised mostly of his students and his wife, Iro Haarla. Nothing can match Lumi, but the albums listed below are well worth pursuing. Haarla in particular appears to have adopted her deceased husband's muse (Vesala died in 1999 at age 54) in a series of outstanding recordings on ECM and TUM.

Both the CD and the LP versions of Lumi capture the complex detail that is essential to Vesala's conceptions. The LP is superior sonically but also scarce. Streamers can access Lumi on Qobuz and perhaps other services. 

I recommend anyone unfamiliar with Lumi to treat yourself to a sonic pleasure unlike any other. 

Recommended albums:

Edward Vesala's Sound and Fury

    Ode to the Death of Jazz (ECM, 1990)

    Invisible Storm (ECM, 1992)

    Nordic Gallery (ECM, 1994)

Iro Haarla:

    Northbound (ECM, 2005)

    Vespers (ECM, 2010)

    Kolibri (TUM, 2010)

    Ante Lucern (ECM, 2012)