Edward Vesala

Edward Vesala

Edward Vesala in concert, International Jazz Festival, Prague, Lucerna Music Hall, 1984
Background information
Birth name Martti Vesala
Born (1945-02-15)15 February 1945
Died 4 December 1999(1999-12-04) (aged 54)
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s) Drummer, composer
Instruments drums, percussion
Years active 1960s–1999
Labels ECM
Associated acts Sound and Fury, Tomasz Stańko, Tomasz Szukalski, Jan Garbarek

Edward Vesala (15 February 1945 – 4 December 1999), born Martti Vesala, was a Finnish avant-garde jazz composer, bandleader and drummer.

Born in Mäntyharju, he began as a drummer playing jazz and rock in the 1960s, among all in such bands as the early line-up of Blues Section and Apollo. In the 1970s, he led his own jazz groups, led a quartet with Polish trumpet player Tomasz Stańko and sax player Tomasz Szukalski, played with Toto Blanke's Electric Circus, and recorded with Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek. In the 1980s and 1990s, Vesala recorded several albums of his own compositions exhibiting a unique style that combines jazz, classical music, tango, and folk music with his own group Sound & Fury, which was an ensemble of about ten players made up mostly of Vesala's students. Prominent players in Sound and Fury included saxophonists Jorma Tapio and Pepa Päivinen, guitarists Raoul Björkenheim and Jimi Sumén, and harpist and keyboardist Iro Haarla who was Vesala's wife.

Vesala died from congestive heart failure in Yläne, Finland at the age of 54.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With Jan Garbarek

With Tomasz Stańko

With Kenny Wheeler

Sources

External links


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