Orient Express (2016)

Kokko Quartet's second album Orient Express was released by Eclipse Music. It carries on from the road paved by their first album Like A River (2013) - the sound of the Scandinavian jazz landscape combined elegantly with global ingredients. With a diverse range of musical influences and instruments, Orient Express tells many stories from the past and present reaching out to the orient. It also dives deep into the legends and myths of the Finnish national epic Kalevala as the band’s name Kokko suggests. Closing your eyes you will find yourself in a world where camels amble through the desert yet suddenly the orient express honks its two-voiced horn in the dark tropical night. You can also hear the Kalevala characters ’smith’ Ilmarinen hammering and ’water spirit’ Vellamo working on her magic – just like in mythical times.

In the liner notes the composers tell stories behind the tunes. The title song of the album, Orient Express, is by Kaisa Siirala and she tells: ”Trips to India have been a great source of inspiration for many of my compositions - including this one. One night I was lying awake in my bed in Mysore city listening to the nightly sounds of the Gokulam neighborhood, consisting of wild dogs barking and rickshaws driving by - but, most distinctive was the sound of trains passing with their two-voiced horns, sounding an interval of a tritone…”

Track list:

1. Havis (Johanna Pitkänen) 04:12
2. Orient Express INTRO (Kaisa Siirala) 01:16
3. Orient Express (Kaisa Siirala) 03:00
4. Ilmarinen (Johanna Pitkänen) 03:32
5. Vellamo (Johanna Pitkänen) 04:12
6. Cheat and Disappointment (Timo Tuppurainen) 03:27
7. Young and Foolish (Kaisa Siirala) 05:06
8. Camel Road (Johanna Pitkänen) 05:12
9. Southern Dance (Timo Tuppurainen) 05:41
10. Keppikerjäläinen (Kaisa Siirala) 05:40

Musicians:

Kaisa Siirala, alto, soprano and baritone saxophones, flute bansuri flute
Johanna Pitkänen, piano, fender rhodes, electronic organ, thumb piano
Timo Tuppurainen, bass
Risto Takala, drums, percussion on track 8
Featuring Ricardo Padilla, percussion on tracks 1, 6, 7, 9 and 10

CD cover design by Alisa Javits