Suomiklezmer2

Hop on the last metro out of Helsinki city centre. Nighttime revelries fade away as the doors slide closed and the music starts up and we begin the journey to the Finnish capital’s east suburbs. It’s here that this quartet conjures up a Finnish Klezmer (as the album’s title translates), a melting pot of Balkan blues and Finnish melancholy, impossible rhythms and aching melodies. As the train rattles towards East Helsinki and the call of nature, past 60s housing estates and shopping malls, we’re mesmerised by exquisite playing. Viola, bass, waterphone, viola da gamba, percussion, accordion (played by ex-Värttinä virtuoso Markku Lepistö) weave together the threads of traditional melodies and new compositions by bandleader Sampo Lassila, and all too soon we’re at the end of the line stepping out into this vibrant neighbourhood.