Rare Eero Koivistoinen live recording from Pori Jazz 77 gets recirculated

The well-recorded Eero Koivistoinen Quartet at Belmont Jazz Club captures the Finnish saxophone great blowing fire at his peak back in 1977. 

Here's the scoop from Svart Records...

Eero Koivistoinen Quartet’s rare live performance at the Belmont Jazz Club from 1978 reissued for the first time in nearly half a century via Svart Records. Out today! Get it directly from Svart Records right here. 

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.

The price of the original vinyl release by Love Records has risen to several hundred euros over the years, so Svart Records is now easing the pain of many music lovers by releasing Eero Koivistoinen Quartet’s At Belmont Jazz Club today for the first time digitally and on CD, in addition to the three different vinyl editions. Check out two tracks from the album below.