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“A blend of organic deep groove funk and the highest quality new soul revival, complemented generously with fine jazz horns and smart hip hop experimentation.” That’s what whatmusic.com say about this release and it is. What might come as a surprise is that this is comes out of Finland. We know Norway has some fine musicians and last year, Finland hit the shops with love-goth-metalers HIM at one extreme and at the other, the 10” singles by postmodern jazz outfit The Five Corners Quintet singles on Ricky-Tick.

The feel of Universal Four is a little like a concept album or compilation as we move from ‘The Beginning’ to the last track ‘Appreciation’. Both feature some narration/raps that don’t stand for too many listens but the eight tracks in the middle are worthwhile.

‘Askaa!’ is like a track from The Five Corners Quintet with vibes and superb trumpet playing (fans of Schema will love this one). ‘Spaces & Echoes’ is a downtempo jazz mood piece and ‘Damn Straight’ follows with more upbeat funky feel, but still mellow and cool.

‘Feel’ features vocals by another FCQ contributor, Okou and is nu-soul Fertile Ground territory whilst ‘Steady’ is similar to ‘Spaces & Echoes’. There’s a 12” with remixes of ‘Feel’ by Steve ‘Afterlife’ Miller and ‘Steady’ by remixer of choice, Domu (and the album versions on the b-side).

It’s a shame ‘King Adissa’ and ‘Inujam’ are so short as both are in a serious afro-beat groove with beefy baritone sax solos. However, ‘Around The Clock’ gets the horns out in a similar styled instrumental workout just showing how talented these musicians are; even adding a touch of indo-percussion dubness and chillout at the end.

So while we’ve been eagerly awaiting the vinyl format of the excellent FCQ’s debut album with Mark Murphy! (which finally arrived in time for Christmas - see links below), Universal Four would be an excellent complimentary purchase even though it’s a little on the short side and lacks a great cover. On the plus side, Universal Four is the start, we’re told, of an infinite inter-planetary journey. Wow! Stand-out track, ‘Askaa!’. Peace.

Reviewed: Teddy Rok Seven - Universal Four (whatmusic.com) Cat. NO. WMCD-00050/WMLP-0050 Release date: 24.10.05
Tracklisting
1. The Beginning (2:27)
2. Feel (4:37)
3. Askaa! (6:46)
4. King Abdissa (1:54)
5. Spaces & Echoes (8:20)
6. Damm Straight (6:02)
7. Steady (4:19)
8. Inujam (0:59)
9. Around The Clock (7:18)
10.Appreciation (4:09)

Links:
whatmusic.com www.whatmusic.com
“I can’t wait to be blown away by the live experience!” Mike Chadwick 102.2 Jazz FM.
The Record Room - The Five Corners Quintet, Chasin’ The Jazz Gone By “another contender for album of the year!” updated 15th December www.therecordroom.co.uk
Ricky-Tick www.ricky-tick.com
Nuspirit Helsinki www.nuspirit.com
Straight No Chaser - Autumn 2005: Tuomas Kallio Top 5 Blue Note Albums:
1. Cannonball Adderley - Somethin’ Else
2. Duke Pearson - The Right Touch
3. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Buhaina’s Delight
4. Horace Parlan - Headin’ South
5. Blue Mitchell - Heads Up
Flow Festival - Helsinki August 2005 www.flowfestival.com
“Following on from the success of last year’s inaugural Flow Festival, this time around Nuspirit Helsinki posse round up an even more impressive array of big-name artists for the intimate Flow 05.” Straight No Chaser magazine (UK) / Summer 2005 issue
Finn-Guild “connecting Finland and Britain”