There is certainly no way of knowing, without looking at the personnel listing of
Finnish Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra
, that
Jere Laukkanen
's 21-piece orchestra is from Helsinki, Finland. His
Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra
has an appealing sound and
Laukkanen
's arrangements make
"Manteca"
and
Jaco Pastorius
'
"Teen Town"
sound fresh and a little different than expected.
"Obatala,"
"Chango,"
"Ochun"
are the three sections of a suite called
"Three Prayers,"
with each part based on ancient sacred chants from Cuba. Though none of the soloists are well known outside of Finland, they are all quite talented and understand the music well. This spirited set, which sounds more contemporary than most American
Latin jazz
groups (and does not exclusively play
Afro-Cuban jazz
), is worth exploring. ~ Scott Yanow