Go to the Beach

“Bow to take
a handful of sand
and let it flow
from between your fingers to the ground" (Esko Valtaoja)
ABCD 304
Go to the Beach
Peppe Jalava Band
Fast jazz from Turku
On Peppe Jalava Band's new album Go to the Beach, you can hear the more jazzy side of Pertti Jalava, also known as a composer of orchestral and chamber music. All the compositions and arrangements on the album are his own.
Even though Peppe Jalava Band's lineup has changed since then, it still has its own composed and carefully arranged repertoire, which not many jazz bands have. If more songs are needed, there are always plenty of them available from the composer's attic: about a hundred rock-jazz songs for small ensembles have already accumulated. Peppe has always been happy to revise many of his small ensemble compositions for his new ensembles, and so the repertoire heard on this album stretches back at least thirty years.
The songs you can hear on the album: Robber's house, On the surface and I drove under, Ketju ja portti, Sateinen, Ulosottomies, Flepputorilla, Menneen vappu huisku, Mene rantanle and Diving.
Peppe Jalava Band, in its various forms, has traveled a quarter-century-long road to now finally release its first album. Coming from outside all official art music institutions and recognized jazz circles, he has with hard work earned for himself a distinctive and mature voice, which is difficult to categorize but easy to appreciate. This is genuine, Peppe Jalava-looking music.
Peppe Jalava on his compositions:
I try to provide listeners with experiences and emotional experiences, journeys or stories without words. Usually, however, I don't plan in advance what kind of feelings I want to evoke in the listener, but I let the work arise in its own way and live with it.
The track "Go to the beach" was inspired by the text from astronomer Esko Valtaoja's book At Home in the Universe, the song is interpreted on the album by the vocal group Toisinto.