Pekka Pohjola - Keesojen Lehto (1977)

Artista: Pekka Pohjola

Álbum: Keesojen Lehto (aka Mathematician's Air Display, The Consequences of Indecisions)
Año: 1977
Género: Jazz Rock
Duración: 34:47
Nacionalidad: Finlandia

Lista de Temas:
1. Oivallettu matkalyhty / The perceived journey-lantern /The sighted light
2. Kädet suoristavat veden / Hands straighten the water / Hands calming the water
3. Matemaatikon lentonäytös / The mathematician's air display
4. Pääntaivuttelun seuraukset / The consequences of head bending /The consequences of indecisions
Part one: Salumaan jätetty kipu / The pain left melting /Time heals all wounds
5. Part two: Nykivä keskustelu tuntemattoman kanssa / The plot thickens /Comfort with a stranger
6. Varjojen varaslähtö / False start of the shadows / False start

Alineación:
- Pekka Pohjola / bass, piano, string synth, harpsichord, keyboards
Vesa Aaltonen / drums (1-5)
Wlodek Gulgowski / piano, synthesizers (1-5)
Pierre Moerlen / drums (3-6), percussion (4), glockenspiel (5)
Mike Oldfield / guitars (2-3-4-5), percussion (5), mandoline & whistle (6)
Sally Oldfield / voices (2-6)
George Wadenius / guitar (1-5), percussion (5)

Antes de que termine el día les deja Alberto otra del finlandés, su tercer disco solista... Un disco que tiene el nombre de "Mathematician's Air Display" en Reino Unido y "Skuggornas Tjuvstart" en Suecia. Un lío que Alberto pasa a explicar pacientemente. La portada, como muchos otras obras finlandesas, tiene un bosque oscuro en donde un rayo de luz en diagonal separa la imagen en dos, paralelamente a las figuras de Keesos, una especie de duendes.
Acá va el comentario del disco, escrito por el responsable de compartir este disco:

Aca tenemos otra obra de Pekka Pohjola,pero como dato anecdotico podemos mencionar que se trata de un disco publicado en distintos paises con distintos nombres y editado en ingles como una publicacion de Mike Oldfield,incluida dentro de la discografia oficial del cabeza de campana,o sea un choreo importante, si bien en este disco Mike asoma con su caracteristico sonido de guitarra en casi todos los temas,el proyecto es de PP.
Participan ademas la hermana de Oldfield,Sally y aparece el genio despiadado del Gong,Pierre Moerlen,que en el disco cambia su apellido,por razones de licencias de los sellos grabadores,por el de Moerin.
Pohjola fue el bajista temporal de la banda de Oldfield y participo no solo en el año 78 como musico estable sino que tambien quedo plasmada su intervencion en el doble en vivo de MO titulado Exposed.
Este trabajo muestra otra faceta de PP por cuanto se puede disfrutar de todo su potencial en los teclados y derrocha talento en canciones con estructuras mas experimentales y por momentos la guitarra de Oldfield le da un tinte bien rockero al asunto.
Por lo general cuando aparecen musicos como PP los adjetivos se agotan y la verdadera valoracion de sus obras trascienden en el tiempo y a traves de los años van logrando su verdadero objetivo,que quizas no tuvo la intencion original del autor para que eso sucediera,pero que sucede mas alla de cualquier analisis,por la sencilla relacion que existe entre los verdaderos musicos y los que no lo son.Y el objetivo es conmover,asombrar,disfrutar,cualidades que PP tenia de sobra.
Es muy notoria la participacion de Oldfield en este proyecto,que le da un tinte mas progre.las complejidades son todas aportadas o direccionadas por el genio de PP.Si uno se toma el trabajo de escuchar la obra de Pohjola detenidamente va a encontrar esas influencias del clasico y tambien del folklore nordico,cosa que se hace mas evidente en la obra descomunal de Lars Hollmer.
Influencias del barroco,de la campiña,del rock britanico,todo aflora en la obra de PP.este disco es mas ¨suave¨que el anteriormente publicado,pero esta mas logrado a nivel grupal y destila buen gusto desde el primer acorde.
Abrirse a la obra de Pohjola despierta un sentimiento muy similar al que aflora cuando escuchamos a Samla Mammas Mana.y que determina quizas al verdadero folklore de los pueblos,aunque la musica sea el idioma universal por excelencia, el condimento local le da el sello,que define el estilo de su origen.
Pohjola no figurara seguramente en la historia de la musica con una referencia larga y super extendida como la de otros musicos,pero despues de escuchar estos trabajos reconoceremos a un monstruo finlandes con todas las letras y eso es por demas suficiente entre la maraña de tanta musica pelotuda.Avemus buena musica!!

Alberto

Hasta ahí el comentario oficial del disco traído por el propio Alberto, ahora otro comentario de tercero para desaznar más cosas de esta obra:

Este trabajo del finlandés Pekka Pohjola es un extraño ejemplo de multidistribución con numerosos cambios de compañía, portada, año de edición o título. Nacido en 1952, Pojohla fue uno de esos músicos que han permanecido anónimos para el gran público a pesar de contar con una más que interesante trayectoria en su país tras estudiar en la famosa academia Sibelius de Helsinky. Más centrado en el rock que en el rico folclore finlandés, comenzó una carrera como bajista y teclista en importantes bandas de rock progresivo hasta desmarcarse en solitario hacia un sonido muy particular, cercano por igual al rock y al jazz, adornando sin miedo su obra con toques de psicodelia, retazos tradicionales nórdicos y por supuesto una cierta influencia clásica. Sus dos primeros discos, de títulos dificilmente pronunciables y editados por Love Records, marcaron el camino y propiciaron que Virgin Records se hiciera cargo de la producción y edición de su tercera obra, para la cual iba a contar con el espaldarazo que sin duda proporcionaba en la década de los 70 el nombre de Mike Oldfield.
Oldfield no sólo iba a actuar en este disco como guitarrista sino además como productor, puesto desde el que intentaría acercar la música de Pohjola a sus ideas. "Keesojen lehto" es el título del álbum, publicado en 1977, y distribuido con hasta cinco portadas distintas y títulos como "The mathematician's air display", "The consequences of indecisions", "Mike Oldfield, Sally Oldfield, Pekka Pohjola" o "Skuggornas tjuvstart", dependiendo del país. Incluso en una de esas ediciones aparece en portada únicamente el nombre de Mike Oldfield como autor del mismo, en una hábil pero poco noble maniobra mercadotécnica. Sin embargo, si se han escuchado los anteriores trabajos de Pohjola queda clara la autoría de estos nuevos temas y se escucha "Keesojen Lehto" como la culminación de sus ideas de un modo más elaborado y mejor producido. Las canciones están mejor compuestas, no hay tanto free-jazz y la percusión se mejora con otro artista de Virgin y amigo de Oldfield, Pierre Moerlen. Nos encontramos ante un disco impredecible, una explosión de fuerza y colorido de melodías atractivas e interpretaciones superiores, no sólo por parte de Pohjola o los hermanos Oldfield (aunque la participación de Sally es casi testimonial) sino por otros músicos importantes como Georg Wadenius (guitarra), Vesa Aaltonen (percusión) o Wlodek Gullkowski (teclados). "Oivallettu matkalyhty" ("The sighted light") proporciona un inicio muy rítmico que se descontrola maravillosamente al primer minuto al aparecer una soberbia melodía principal que continúa desarrollándose por diversos caminos, siempre conducidos por una vertiente psicodélica plena de energía. Un comienzo redondo. Constituye una pequeña sorpresa comprobar que las composiciones de Pohjola han crecido en emoción e influencias, lógicas al tratarse de un músico rodeado por clasicismo en sus estudios y ese rico floclore nórdico en su entorno familiar y social. "Kädett suoristavat veden" ("Hands calming the water") es una pieza humilde y emocionante, donde un cierto medievalismo y tradición finesa desembocan en momentos mágicos, incluyendo un característico e impagable guitarreo de Mike Oldfield que, sin embargo, consigue no acaparar egoistamente toda la atención de esta pieza de esencia contemporánea, uno de los grandes descubrimientos del álbum. De nuevo un desarrollo pegadizo en el tercer corte, "Matemaatikon lentonäytös" ("Mathematical air display"), de agradable raíz jazzística donde merced a la buena composición y producción se logra un espléndido momento de caos en el que, si bien sigue destacando la poderosa guitarra, se funde en un estupendo diálogo con un teclado cíclico, al compás del bajo y la percusión. Otro momento inolvidable con el que concluye la cara A del vinilo, posiblemente la mejor, si bien aún esperan en la B otras situaciones importantes. El piano de Pekka parece improvisar desde la melancolía para el tema más suave del disco, "Pääntaivuttelun seuraukset - Sulamaan jätetty kipu" ("The consequences of indecisions Part 1: Time heals all wounds"), donde guitarra y bajo parecen fundirse en un juego de amor, cuyo clímax final enlaza con una segunda parte, "Pääntaivuttelun seuraukset - Nykivä keskustelu tuntematto man kanssa" ("The consequences of indecisions Part 2: Comfort with a stranger"), de nuevo más psicodélica y experimental, sobre todo a su mitad, merced al bajo, los teclados y las percusiones, que entre delirios psicotrópicos presenta algún momento de gran inspiración, de nuevo en una onda cercana al electro jazz. Por último, "Varjojen varaslähtö" ("False star") es un alocado final en el que muchos quieren ver una continuación de "The sailor's hornpipe" (la melodía final de "Tubular bells") aunque parece más una evocación del folclore finlandés.
A ratos rabioso y experimental, otros calmado, pero ante todo rítmico, incluso divertido, así era Pekka Pohjola. Su efímero fichaje por Virgin Records (solamente este disco) posibilitó que los hermanos Oldfield participaran en el mismo, y su desvinculación con la compañía impidió a la vez que se repitiera la participación de éstos en futuros álbumes, aunque lo que no se pudo evitar fue la incorporación de Pohjola como bajista en la banda que Mike Oldfield estaba preparando para su primera gran gira de conciertos, publicada por Virgin Records bajo el título de "Exposed". A destiempo, ya que Pekka Pohjola falleció a finales de 2008, puede ser el momento de reivindicar sin duda la figura de este bajista y discos como este extraordinario "Keesojen lehto".

Pepe

Y para culminar, porque ya no me queda más tiempo pero les quiero dejar esto, algunos comentarios en inglés, algún video y a otra cosa mariposa...

Probably at the behest of Virgin Records' majordomo Richard Branson, Pohjola was paired with Virgin cash cow Mike Oldfield for his third solo outing. It didn't make for a TUBULAR BELLS level of sales, but the music, definitely more Pohjola than Oldfield, is certainly valid.
This was as close to a "band record" as Pohjola had ever come thus far, with synthesizers and other keyboards the only means of orchestration. Oldfield's distinctive mega-compressed guitars crop up here and there, adding a decided Oldfield touch. Big sister Sally gets into the act as well, adding some airy wordless vocals to several tracks. Most of the rest of the band (keyboardist Wlodek Gulgowski, guitarist Georg Wadenius and drummer Vesa Aaltonen, specifically) are made up of members of the band Made In Sweden, with whom Pohjola was playing bass at the time. Gong's Pierre Moerlen also sits in on drums on a few tracks, making this truly an all-star supersession.
The music, Pohjola's usual transcendent blend of jazziness and symphonic flourishes, varies from the epic 15-minute, 2-part "Pääntaivuttelun seuraukset" to the cartoony album-closer "Varjojen varaslähtö". The latter features frantic piano/harpsichord/mandolin playing, plus some crazed laughter from Sally.

Progbear

I checked out this album when I was listening quite much to Wigwam. This album was not a disappointment to me, but it neither made a big impression on me. Maybe there weren't enough strong elements in the music like on the maestro's debut record. The dynamic rhythmic parts from the opening track have stayed most clearly in my memory, most of the other vivid twists of the instrumental jazz-rock symphony escaping my mental grasp. The recording is done professionally, and maybe those who are interested of Mike Oldfield's symphonic works should give this album a listen. As an anecdote, the names of the tracks were invented by a Finnish rock musician Hector, who has small relations with progressive rock scene. At least he recorded a Finnish cover version of King Crimson's "Epitaph" as "Tuulet kirkuu hautoihin".

Eetu Pellonpää

I bought this LP when it came out in 1977 because it had Mike and Sally Oldfield on it (the title was "Mathematician's Air Display", by "Pekka", and it had a different cover from the one pictured here). The songs that feature them are good, and some of the other tracks are good, too. It's interesting to note that an LP reissue (on a different label, with different artwork) appeared a few years later, this time listing the artists on the front cover "Mike & Sally Oldfield and Pekka Pohjola", with the title "The Consequences of Indecisions".

soundsweird

I can make this quite simple: If you like late 70s Mike Oldfield, you will like this album. A lot. Mike and Sally Oldfield are guests on the record and their impact is not just felt, but overwhelming. This really sounds like an Oldfield release from that time period. Blissful and soaring instrumentals that prove again how disposable vocals are when the music is compelling. The mood of the music varies but is generally quite upbeat. Nothing dark or nasty in the sound. The sound on this CD is just OK, and this release could surely use a bang up remaster. But if you are an Oldfield fan this must be on your shelf.

Jim Finnforest

So one day I was trying to find a CD version of this Mike Oldfield album on the internet. Having no luck I finally said the heck with it and copied my LP onto CD. As it turns out, it was released in the United States as a Mike Oldfield album. I didn't find out it wasn't actually an Oldfield album until someone on PA told me in the forum. I just got a CD copy of the properly labeled Pekka Pohjola album (24 bit re-mastered, yay!) and now that I've listened to it, it's apparent that Mike isn't the dominant element on this album. Pekka is definitely the one behind the tunes. The keyboards are the dominant element. Great, another artist I need to get to know better.
While Mike is second fiddle, so to speak, he still makes a prominent enough contribution that it could be passed off as a Mike Oldfield album. And, after all, I would not have bought a Pekka Pohjola album those many years ago unless I had heard it in a record shop first. Sister Sally shows up too, as well as Pierre Moerlen. I don't recall him being in the credits, but then again it's been many years since I read them. Sorry to say I am not any more acquainted with the other musicians on here because they all provide a valuable contribution to an excellent album.
It was rather interesting comparing the titles as translated to English in this edition with those that were on the LP. Keesojen Lehto does not appear to translate into The Mathematician's Air Display, nor The Consequences Of Indecisions. I rather prefer the titles of my old LP to the English translations offered here, the old modifications were much better. The cover art of the LP was completely different. It shows a bird about to fly into something that looks like a water tower or nuclear plant cooling tower or something. Maybe a sneaky play on Pohjola's first name.
Anyway, if you're a Mike Oldfield fan you won't be disappointed and I suspect I'm going to enjoy exploring other work by Pohjola.

Brian S. Lindsey

I'm one of those who bought a copy of the vinyl labeled as "Mike Oldfield, Sally Oldfield and Pekka Pohjola" in the 70s thinking it was Oldfield's stuff. It became on of my favourite albums and it still is, but I had to struggle before finding out its title.
The album cover wasn't saying anything, neither the album's title and the only written thing apart the names of the musicians was a "US 101" target so I thought it was the album's name.
The first impression was that Oldfield is in evidence only on the second track because the sound of his guitar over the clavinet is easily recognisable. The opener is still one of my favourite instrumental songs and is closer to Canterbury bands than to Oldfield. This is valid also for the rest of the album. Only on the last track the whistle and the ragtime-similar piano seems to be Oldfield's stuff.
What to say? Pekka Pohjola (RIP) was the bassist of the finnish band Wigwam and this is his third solo album. It's not strange that a so skilled bassist and composer has so big names playing in his album. Other than Oldfield there's the Gong Pierre Moerlen and Wadenius is a great guitarist. Wlodek Gulgowski is a pianist that I'd like to check but he seems to have released just an album in 1972 under his name. However what I can't understand is why the label tried to sell the album in Oldfield's name and forgot to advertise either the title on the cover.
In terms of music, this is a good fusion with a bit of Canterbury flavour and the effective contribution of all the musicians who took part on it. It's like they have interpreted the original composition by adding a touch of each one's personality, as it often happens in jazz.
More than for fans of Wigwam, this album is good for Canterbury and Oldfield fans but it's so good and "easy" enough that nobody will be disappointed by it.
This time I haven't spoken much of the music inside, but it's an album that doesn't need descriptions. Just try it.

Luca

For his third solo album, Virgin offered Pekka Pohjola the chance to take advantage of the talents of Mike and Sally Oldfield and Pierre Moerlen - an inspired choice of guest artists, since the musical direction here moves yet further away from the Zappa-influenced sound of Pohjola's first two albums to explore a more serious brand of contemplative jazz-rock of a sort which would appeal to fans of Oldfield's work or of Pierre Moerlen's Gong's albums from this era.
Sadly, the presence of a star of Mike Oldfield's stature on the album would enable a scam which proved too tempting for the publishers to resist: in some territories, the album was entitled The Consequences of Indecisions and released as a Mike Oldfield album, a completely outrageous decision particularly considering that Pekka has sole songwriting credit on the album! Some other releases of the album credit it to Mike Oldfield, Sally Oldfield, and Pekka Pohjola - with Mike Oldfield's as the most prominent. These incredibly disrespectful rebrandings of the album represents a blatant attempt at deceiving the record-buying public into thinking that they were buying another Mike Oldfield album, but whilst the album would appeal to Oldfield fans, it's very much Pekka's show, and to misrepresent that is not only insulting to him, but is also kind of disrespectful to Mike Oldfield too.
None of that is relevant to my final rating, of course, which I am basing solely on the music presented here, but I did want to highlight that because I don't like the idea of people paying top dollar for a "rare Mike Oldfield album" only to find it's this.

W. Arthur

Fantastic work by one of Finland's finest Prog artists. Having played with the best musicians there, he finally went solo in 1972 and there was no stopping from there - till his untimely passing away.
Building on his previous and well received album "B The Magpie", this work finds him in fine form again. A multi instrumentalist and composer he is best known about his monsterous, thumping style on bass that could only be compared with Jack Bruce on a good day. That Pohjola is never far from playing a bass solo - either heavy, or the lyrical in the background on just about every other tune of his output - is making him a truly special and unique artist.
This work is a fine example of the best of innovative European Jazz-Rock with not a hint of paying any homage to by copying big names of that genre. A slight Scandinavian flavour is always present in Pohjola's work without getting overly folksy.
A stellar line-up of respected musicians are featured here, that includes Mike Oldfield (with Sally in tow) at his best when Pierre Moerlen's Gong were his back-up musicians for live performances.
This album is painfully short at 36 mins, that includes a quick hoedown as the last piece, a piece with Sally, that wouldn't be missed. Still, the rest of what's on offer here is excellent and represents an essential addition to any Jazz-Rock fans library.

Anon-E-Mouse

Pekka Pohjola's third album was released under several titles - Skuggornas Tjuvstart, Mathematician's Air Display, Keesojen Lehto - and a few years later under Oldfield's name to capitalize on his fame. The music here was a marked change from the previous "B the Magpie". For one, the winds and brass arrangements are missing here, the album being instead dominated by various keyboards and guitars. Also we have the voice of Sally Oldfield which adds to the variety. Stylistically this album largely left behind the jazz tilt of the first two, but it can still be described as symphonic jazz-rock I guess. "The Sighted Light" has a funky syncopated piano riff and good melodies. A different version of "Hands Calming the Water" was released on Wigwam's "Being", I think both of them are equally good in their respective contexts. "Mathematician's Air Display" is decent but slightly less exciting. "Consequences of Indecisions" is a 15 minute piece which goes through many sections and is quite brilliantly composed. Not even once does the listener feel that there is a lack of progression and structural clarity in it. Many prog suites fail in this aspect. The last track is a happy little post script that is more typical of Pohjola style, with some beautiful vocals from Sally Odfield over secular medieval harpsichord noodling. I don't know just how much Oldfield has contributed to these compositions, because all you hear is Pohjola's stylistic harmony, and none of that new age crap, although the album does have it's share of such influence in the arrangements and productions. Still it is more of a Pohjola album than an Oldfield one.

Salviaal

The third work announced in 1976 "Keesojen Lehto". Music is extremely unique with the originality. Genius musician's talent shines. The dynamism is felt by me. Music is different from progressive extremely unique, usual music. It is a new age music with the life feeling. All tunes are instrumental. It was announced from VIRGIN by the title of "Mathematician's Air Display".

braindamage

Listo, hemos cumplido (y de sobra) por hoy. Disfruten de la buena música.