UTOPIANISTI — Reason In Motion (review)

UTOPIANISTI — Reason In Motion album cover

Live album · 2024 · African Fusion

4/5 · 2025-04-25
FunkFreak75

Markus Pajakkala is back (finally!) with an album of music inspired by his explorations of African music and rhythms. He has even employed a bunch of Temperi, Senegalese, and Mauritanian musicians as collaborators to go along with his usual rhythm section of Anssi Solismaa, Jaakko Luoma, and newcomer Ville Hatanpää on drums!

1. "Greenwash" (4:48) with the odd combinations of sounds--squishy, spacey synths, weird organ, African percussion, et al. --I'm not even sure what I'm listening to! In the end it's really a fairly typical West African jazz-rock cake that happens to have frostings from the crazy imaginings of a crazy Finn covering the top and filling the layers in-between. It's fun and entertaining, at times reminding me of the spirit in DON PULLEN's "Kele mou bana." (8.875/10)

2. "All Whale Panel" (4:06) a song that is trying to project the feeling of a being a live song from an outdoor all-night rave or dance party from some celebrated Tiesto-like DJ. Definitely a top three song. (9.125/10)

3. "Yegaa Intro" (1:35) 4. "Yegaa Nu Betaa" (4:33) expressing an easy joy that is not only infectious but danceable. A top three song for me based solely on the spirit invoked by Ismaila Sané's vocal calls. (8.875/10)

5. "Cleptocrats" (4:24) nice, infectious grooving instrumental music that feels like the musical soundtrack to a travel montage. More of the horn section interplay with Markus' weird organ. Could've been a top three. (8.875/10)

6. "Jaa Di Burung" (5:35) slowed down grooviness with enough space to really hear and focus on individual instruments--all of them! Really well constructed and rendered. Markus' baritone sax play really shines here. My other top three song. (9.125/10)

7. "Hit It With The Pinky." (4:05) starts out sounding like a Mario Brothers video game soundtrack stuck in some kind of pause mode, but then the "big" band jumps on board (8.75/10)

8. "No Culture, No Soul" (8:26) a near-Jamaican groove stuck on repeat while Ozrics-like "space jungle" noises flit in and out of the sonic field. Coordinated horns step in from time to time to take over the lead but then disappear for longer spans of time allowing the baseline groove to continue to pacify and hypnotize us into a ganja-like stupor. Impressive musicianship and sound engineering throughout. (17.5/20)

9. "Kakistocrats" (5:08) aside from the farfisa organ, this one taking us back into a more traditional (or just old) sounding Afro-jazz-rock fusion. Nice trumpet soloing in the second and third minute from Olli Helin which is then followed by Inari Ruonamaa's delicate alto sax and Ismaila Sané's percussion work in the fourth. Is Makus trying to reproduce Ray Manzarek's organ sound from the earliest days of The Doors? (8.75/10)

10. "Le Nuit Des Morts-Vivants" (9:50) a percussion-based tune that sounds like something familiar despite also traipsing into the territory of old-fashioned spy-detective movie soundtracks. It's laid back, and the foundational groove is definitely (surprisingly) simple, allowing for the solos to shine a little brighter--of which guitarist Matti Solo gets a nice one to fill the fourth minute before Olli's effected trumpet takes a turn. IN the end, the song is really a vehicle in which to display Markus' inventive engineering of a song around Ismaila Sané's surprisingly sneakily- polyrhythmic percussion play. With almost every band member getting a turn in the spotlight this is really a more traditional jazz song. And the solos are pretty good! (17.5/10)

Total Time: 52:34

The music, though definitely fun and entertaining, seems often more simplistic and slowed down (for the benefit of the musicians?) than I was expecting. (Markus Pajakkala music is usually anything but slow and simple!) This allows for a surprisingly easy listen. Also, it seems at times that Markus is creating this music more for the display of the talents of his bevy of international musicians. I'd love to hear these guys really break out: play at top notch, breakneck speeds (as I suppose they're capable). Maybe that will come with a future album release. B/four stars; an excellent collection of African-infused jazz-rock.