Drifter: Flow | Album review

The rise of Finnish pianist Alexi Tuomarila may have been slowed by label woes, but if he has now found a permanent home with thoughtful UK indy label Edition, then maybe the detour was worth it.

Two years ago, Edition released a trio album by the pianist that displayed a formidable talent for invention, built up over the past decade playing with Tomasz Stanko and others.

Now here is Tuomarila’s long-standing quartet, with Belgian saxophonist Nicolas Kummert, sounding like they haven’t spent their wilderness years idly.

Flow is a powerful statement from a maturing band and a fine example of that austere, melancholic, folk-inflected jazz that many have called Scandinavian, but which also owes its genesis to ECM records in the 1970s and 1980s by Jarrett, Wheeler and others.

editionrecords.com