The Group - s/t. 1978 Finland

When a band decides to come up with a moniker, it makes a statement about who you are. And in this case, this collective of veterans called themselves The Group. When you go forward with a name like that, you're telling the world that you are - in fact - The Group. Perhaps in Finland, at least coming from the jazz world in the 1970s, not such a preposterous notion. For the rest of the world - huh? And in today's modern search engine heavy world, one can only regret having had a name like The Group. Or perhaps grateful that you can hide longer than others... While all the players were quite experienced by 1978, the 2 big names here are Olli Ahvenlahti and Pekka Pohjola. The former was more known in jazz circles, and Pohjola was probably the foremost name worldwide from Finland. All they needed was Jukka Tolonen at this point.

So with all this pomp and circumstance, including a cover of no less than the Great Pyramid, what bold musical proclamation does The Group make? A jazz fusion album. Imagine that? In 1978 no less? Wow. I mean who did that? Let me rephrase minus sarcasm. Who did not do that in 1978? I know, you're still thinking...

All of this to say, had the band been called Aavenpohtylathi Temppeli (it's got to be a word. I think any combination of letters work in Finnish right?), the music is all one would focus on - but a cool name helps. And the music here can best be described as classy and professional. The compositions are well thought out, highly melodic, and are not just skeletons for jams and solos. And since it's a straightforward guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums lineup, there's no annoying soprano sax or other irritants popping up from the speakers behind the plastic palm trees in the local strip mall sauna. In this respect, the album is reminiscent of Pohjola's own late 70s work, plus perhaps some of the music you've heard on those Jazz Liisa series of albums. This isn't the album to buy if looking for sick chops or a dynamic change in how one views jazz fusion. But if looking for another quality album in this space, The Group won't disappoint.

Personal collection
LP: 1978 Dig It

The original comes in a fine gatefold cover with detailed liner notes - in English actually. Which sort of indicates they'd hoped bigger things for the local boys. But one and done it was for the band known simply as... The Group.