Matti P
This is the first of three albums bringing together the legendary Finnish saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen (b. 1946) and vocalist Johanna Iivanainen (b. 1976). She actually would deserve a JMA entry of her own, even though as a versatile musician she's not restricted to the jazz genre: she's equally at home in the lyrics-oriented vocal music and jazzy pop, plus gospel and children's music. I found her albums roughly two decades ago, well before she became more widely known from the Finnish reality TV show SuomiLOVE where people surprise their loved ones with intimate live performances of songs dear to them. She's got a beautiful, crystal clear voice that sounds very warm-hearted and sincere.
There are ten songs on this album. The arrangements are by Koivistoinen, as well as some of the compositions, but the emphasis is on the cover performances of fairly well known Finnish songs from oldies (from the 40's or so) to a rock classic. Koivistoinen's band features seasoned jazz musicians such as pianist Seppo Kantonen (who has worked with Pekka Pohjola), guitarist Teemu Viinikainen, etc. Everyone involved does great work within Koivistoinen's top notch arranging skills. The stylistic spectre of the original songs is very wide, but this album is a thoroughly coherent and original work of jazz.
Without dealing with the entire set in detail, here's a few words for chosen tracks. The title song is Koivistoinen's composition to Jorma Etto's ironic poem depicting the stubborn, non-urban Finnish mentality. 'Tahdon rakastella sinua' (= I want to make love to you) is originally an early 80's energetic rock song written by Ari Taskinen for the punk rocker Pelle Miljoona. This elegant, slow-tempo version is full of sensuality perfectly fitting the lyrics. 'Sinua, sinua rakastan' is one of the best known 60's songs of the legendary vocal music composer Kaj Chydenius, with lyrics of Aulikki Oksanen.
This set has a bigger emphasis on songs more familiar to the older Finnish genarations (e.g. 'Pieni sydän', 'Rempallaan' and 'Kotkan ruusu'), compared to the albums Lennosta Kii! (2007) and Kaupungin Valot (2009) that feature slightly more pop/rock songs, but still Suomalainen is more or less as satisfying.