>> Timo Lassy
bio: Those who know what’s what in contemporary jazz coming from Finland have most likely come across Timo Lassy. So far the upcoming tenor-great has excelled in the ranks of the globe-trotting Five Corners Quintet, the Blue Note recording U-Street All Stars, and Jimi Tenor’s live outfit, to name a few. Now it’s time to see what the man is really about, as the Helsinki-based imprint Ricky-Tick Records will release his debut, “The Soul & Jazz of Timo Lassy”. As previous single releases have indicated, the international deep grooves community has a sweet spot for Lassy. He is the perfect melting of diverse characteristics triggering a likeness to Willis Jackson and Pharoah Sanders in one’s mind.
In a conversation with Timo, names like Coltrane, Rollins, or Adderley might drop. But listen up, he’s also speaking about the arrangements of Horace Silver and Duke Pearson. Even James Brown’s hot funk may surface. “I like my sound to be rough and sweaty when required”, the sax player laughs. Culinaristic endeavours and long-distance running are also on his list of inspirations. The bottom line is, this guy has a sound that’s highly personal. The influences are there but what you’re really hearing is Timo Lassy. This may all come off like a no-brainer but believe it or not, it’s not a given these days.
So what about the album, then? The title of the album "The Soul & Jazz of Timo Lassy" pretty much sums it up, and the red sleeve suggests a healthy dose of Latin flavors and percussive elements. The first track "Early Move" leads you into a soulful heaven of rolling drums, a thoughtful and swinging piano, and an impeccably tight horn section, which lays the perfect backdrop against Timo's boss tenor. Boogaloo your way through "Live at the Timber Yard", answer to "The Call" when Timo hollers it to you with his baritone, experience the spiritual side of things in "Universal Four" (the Creator had a master plan indeed!), spend the sunny afternoon at the "Sweet Spot", stop and listen to the "Love Moan" of the baritone saxophone (as poet Everett Hoagland rhymed), and finally, after you've cried your heart out, it's time to take a rumble in the jungle with "African Rumble", which leaves you begging for more, unlike a certain Mr. Foreman…
A few words about the sidemen of Timo's outfit: they are the cream of the crop. On the trumpet, there's Jukka Eskola, leader of his own quintet, and a member of The Five Corners Quintet; on the trombone, we have Mikko Mustonen of UMO Jazz Orchestra; on the piano, Greece's gift to the Finnish jazz scene, the man with a Wynton Kelly tattoo - Giorgios Kontrafouris; on the bass, Ilmiliekki's and The Five Corners Quintet's ever-reliable Antti Lötjönen, and on the drums and percussion, none other than Teppo "Teddy Rok" Mäkynen, "the hardest swingin' drummer in showbiz," who has also produced this album, and whose list of merits is so long that we would run out of space here.
On the sax, Timo Lassy is a storyteller. Open up your ears and you’ll get it. Whether he’s on a no-nonsense r'n'b trip or mixing things up on a "search for alternative realities", he’ll get to the punchline. As long as you remember to embrace the warm tone pouring out from the speakers and spreading far and wide, you’ll get there as well - with him.
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