NJET NJET 9 — Toivo (review)

NJET NJET 9 — Toivo album cover Album · 2024 · Nu Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Matti P
Nu jazz is a subgenre I haven't much explored yet, even though it really seems to please me. In short it's jazz with electronic music ingredients, a step further from its cousin 'acid jazz'. Amusingly named Njet Njet 9 is a Finnish instrumental group founded in 2015 and led by keyboardist-composer Ville Kyttälä. Toivo (=Hope) is their fourth album released a few months ago. I haven't listened to the previous albums, because in fact I just found the band by shuffling through the JMA database. I won't let that bother me, I'm only glad to introdude them here. Great stuff!

Toivo has seven tracks mostly around 5-6 minute length, which feels exactly suitable for the compositions; there's enough space to weave fascinating and hypnotically flowing soundscapes with a feel of progression, and at the same time things are kept compact enough not to lose focus or freshness. 'Pöllö' (=Owl) is an excellent opener. The atmosphere is at first very soft and nocturnal, but the playing gets more intense in an awesome way. Kyttälä's otherworldly synths offer the coolest details, harmonically accompanied by richly nuanced woodwinds. Markus Pajakkala, also remembered as the frontman of UTOPIANISTI, has beautiful flute parts here.

'Maa' (=Earth/Country) is also pretty dynamic and contains important contributions from bass clarinet and bass trombone. The band's overall sound is deliciously juicy. The summery jazz groove and the [space/progressive] rock aspect are in a happy harmony, and that's naturally also due to the gifted rhythm section and guitarist Veikki Virkajärvi.

The fourth piece 'Pieni pilvi' (=Little cloud) is a dreamy slow-tempo tune that brings me -- guided by the title, of course -- associations to the Gil Evans /Sting interpretation of the Jimi Hendrix ballad, whether it's deliberate or not. It doesn't citate the song anyhow but the mood is a bit similar. The longest track 'The Messenger' (8:17) takes a couple of minutes to start properly. The length is used for both deepening the hypnotic beat and bringing variety in the arrangement. The album closes with the romantically peaceful title track.

A very enjoyable, detailed and dynamic nu jazz album indeed. A pity that this time the band didn't invite any guest vocalists as they occasionally have done, but the whole surely works well as an all-instrumental album, too. Warmly recommended.
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