Eero Koivistoinen Quartet's rare live album from 1978 reissued for the first time in nearly half a century via Svart Records
Eero Koivistoinen is one of the all-time greats in Finnish jazz and saxophone, arrived in the Finnish jazz scene in the mid-60s. Ever since, he has been one of the most distinguished and trusted jazz musicians in Finland. He is known for his versatility and creativeness, his tastes ranging from pithy jazz solos to large-scale orchestral works.
In addition to the band leader and saxophonist Koivistoinen, the line-up of Eero Koivistoinen Quartet included the accomplished musicians Pekka Sarmanto (bass), Reiska Laine (drums) and Vladimir Shafranov (piano), and the same line-up remained active for the next two years. They released the legendary album Labyrinth on Love Records in June 1977, which is a definite cornerstone of Finnish Jazz.
The group also attracted the interest of the international tobacco company Philip Morris, which began to sponsor the quartet's tours and clubs. One of these events took place at Pori Jazz in July 1977, where the band's venue was named after Belmont, a brand of cigarettes manufactured by the company.
The Eero Koivistoinen Quartet was the house band of the Belmont Jazz Club at Pori's Puistokeskus, and its concerts were recorded by the group's sound engineer Matti Sarapaltio. The following year, Mikko Kuoppamäki and Koivistoinen compiled a live album At Belmont Jazz Club from recordings of four days of performances. The album, mixed by Pekka Nurmikallio at the renowned Microvox studio, was sent by the band's frontman to Love Records, who released it in April 1978.
At Belmont Jazz Club features live versions of two songs from the Labyrinth album. Stress, composed by Koivistoinen, and his arrangement of the Finnish folk song Yksi ruusu on kasvanut laaksossa, have been given a new form in a concert setting. In addition to these, the album also includes the classic Billie Holiday song God Bless the Child, and Meat & Potatoes, composed by Koivistoinen, the studio version of which can be found on the 40th anniversary edition of Labyrinth, released by Svart Records in 2017.
