Ricky-Tick Big Band

A 8 track crossover jazz album (36m 38s) — released November 29th 2010 on Ricky Tick

Ricky-Tick Big Band ranks among the most notable newcomers in the international jazz circuit in 2010. Led by composer/guitarist Valtteri Poyhonen, also the leader of the successful Ricky-Tick sextet Dalindeo, the 15-strong ensemble displays a remarkable array of young talent from the Finnish jazz scene. The crux of the Ricky-Tick Big Band sound lies in the swing band tradition stemming from the early jazz of circa 1930's onwards. The ghosts of Duke Ellington and Jimmy Lunchford lurk on the background, while Valtteri Poyhonen's canny songwriting utilises the tradition and molds it anew into contemporary jazz with firm roots. In addition to the early jazz with edge to it, also soundtrack music, modern jazz greats, and the pentatonic structures of Ethiopian music have inspired Poyhonen during the process of composing. Poyhonen started contemplating his new big band in early 2009. He composed the tracks in Helsinki and Berlin, and hand-picked each of the players one by one to fit his ambitious demands of a modern professional big band. That is, an active unit rehearsing, recording and touring the jazz circuit on a regular basis - a stunt not easy to pull, be it artistically or financially. Ricky-Tick Big Band features several of the label's and the local scene's hard hitters, including Timo Lassy (sax), Jukka Eskola (trumpet) and Antti Lotjonen (bass) of The Five Corners Quintet fame, Antti Hynninen (sax) of Auteur Jazz, plus Dalindeo men Petri Puolitaival (sax), Jose Maenpaa (trumpet) and Jaska Lukkarinen (drums), to mention but a few. Finnish big band legend Antti Sarpila on clarinet adds experience to the group and unique texture to the songs with his tradition-based yet innovative stylings. The Ricky-Tick Big Band debut album is an eight-step crash course in dynamics for the contemporary big band: Poyhonen's compositions draw from the vast sonic palette of his large ensemble yet he never suffocates the aural picture on unnecessary avalanches of sound. The band does still launch on impressive feats of strength when needed, but also achieves a remarkable degree of delicacy in return. Uptempo highlights include the no-nonsense swagger of opener 'Swingtime in X-Berg', the hard swing of 'Easily Flammable', and the first-grade big band doner kebab of 'Skalitzer Special'. Compositions such as 'Komeda' and 'Babel' find Poyhonen and his entourage hit the spot in more serene moods. Any way you look at it, Ricky-Tick Big Band is a noteworthy addition to the contemporary jazz scene. Grooving away with intensity reminiscent of, say, the Clarke-Boland Big Band, and brimming with youthful energy, the orchestra is set to stun. Early live reports confirm the ensemble's high potential, and have gained them rave reviews from various Finnish festival scene highlights such as Flow Festival, Pori Jazz and Ilosaarirock.
  • Kudos happily ship all items worldwide.
  • Shipping costs and delivery times are available here.
  • UK items are sent tracked as standard at no extra cost.
  • We aim to dispatch orders placed before 2pm on the same day.
  • We are unable to ship orders on weekends or Bank Holidays.
  • If you purchase a pre-order item amongst an order of in-stock releases, we will typically hold your order until all items are in ready to send.
  • Although we use all reasonable means to ensure that your order is delivered within a specified time, we cannot accept any responsibility for late deliveries due to circumstances outside of our control. We will do our best to inform you of any unexpected delay.