Soulset, Edward Vesala

It seems bizarre that this LP’s original copy was pressed in such low numbers in 1969 that it has become an unusually expensive and wanted collector’s item that hasn’t been repressed on vinyl (and never released on CD) until now. Soulset were, after all, in the late 1960s one of the most popular pop groups in Finland. Their recorded legacy is relatively short, and when this split LP was released, Soulset were already about to call it a day. Here Soulset perform five fine cuts of jazzy Fenno-soul, their line-up at the time of recording consisting of musical heavyweights such as Harri Saksala, Paroni Paakkunainen and Edward Vesala. On the flipside of the LP Soulset drummer Edward Vesala, joined by Juhani Aaltonen and Paroni Paakkunainen, performs avant garde jazz in his own distinctive, experimental style that he had already been developing for some years. Vesala’s career finally started to bloom in the early 70s when he gained reputation in Europe within the free jazz circles. Paakkunainen, Aaltonen and Vesala were the key figures in Finnish free and avant garde jazz scene in the 60s. The Svart reissue is the first time this album is available in any physical format since 1969. For authenticity’s sake we have preserved the original “conteporary” typing error on the front cover. With new liner notes by Arttu Seppänen.