Oaagaada - Music Of (2024) [Hi-Res]

Mysterious quartet Oaagaada has for some years been one of the best-kept secrets in the vibrant Finnish scene. Now, the band is ready to share their eagerly-awaited debut album on We Jazz Records, 15 November, just ahead of their performance at Helsinki's We Jazz Festival. Oaagaada's music is "togetherness music" in the lineage and spirit of the great acoustic free jazz innovators, but always moving forward and developing on its own path. This music is far-removed from the sterile "contemporary hi-fi sounds" but it doesn't mean that it would be decidedly "lo-fi" either. Recorded at the band's home base, Hämeenlinna's Odd Funk studios, this is simply how Oaagaada sounds, and their album rendition is true to the band's much loved live energy.

Music Of Oaagaada flows naturally, with the opener "Oag-Ada Sweet" clocking in at mere 52 seconds, and the longform four-part Suite Tuli ("tuli" is "fire" in Finnish) heating up the entire side B of the LP. "Seagull Shapes", driven by the meditative sounds of the shruti box, makes for thrilling listening and echoes the spirit of the likes of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders without sounding that much like either of them. Live, Oaagaada is at home in acoustic settings which offer proximity and intimacy with their listeners. The band celebrates the album by appearing at Helsinki's We Jazz Festival on 29 November at the compact Kahvila Sävy, a key venue at the festival echoing the band's organic music ethos perfectly.

Sami Pekkola, sax & shruti box
Tuure Tammi, trumpet
Tero Kemppainen, bass
Simo Laihonen, drums & log drum

Tracklist:
1-1. Oaagaada - Oag-Ada Sweet (00:52)
1-2. Oaagaada - Appyuan (04:23)
1-3. Oaagaada - Speeds (04:28)
1-4. Oaagaada - Serriterri (04:26)
1-5. Oaagaada - Seagull Shapes (05:00)
1-6. Oaagaada - Suite Tuli / Part I (03:07)
1-7. Oaagaada - Suite Tuli / Part II (04:14)
1-8. Oaagaada - Suite Tuli / Part III (03:46)
1-9. Oaagaada - Suite Tuli / Part IV (10:51)