Mopo is the trio out of Finland of Linda Fredriksson on alto & baritone saxophones, Eero Tikkanen on acoustic & electric bass and violin, and Eeti Nieminen on drums, percussion, and synthesiser. Their new album, Mopocalypse, out now on Finnish label We Jazz Records, shows this group as a tight group with a clean sound. It has just the right balance of slickness with grit, with Fredriksson’s saxophones keeping the sound in the back end, Tikkanen’s bass riding along nicely, and Nieminen’s drums making for interesting turns. Their a group with a punkish sound with more structure.
It’s the tightness of this album that makes it worth the listen. Eight songs ranging from three and a half minutes long to just under seven, getting to their point without being pleasantly brief or exhaustingly loquacious. What’s more is the feel of the album changing in vibe from a rock edge to more bluesy as it progresses. Mopo is a group with range as much as they have a clear intent of the sound they’re going for. For this and so many reasons do they all sound so right together as a trio, though the additional elements of synthesizers or Otto Eskelinen’s Farfisa organ adds more to that range, integrating well into their achievements without seeming like odd left turns. It’s really worth checking out something a bit off the beaten path.
Mopocalypse, the latest album from Finnish trio Mopo, is out now on We Jazz Records.
Linda Fredriksson, baritone saxophone, alto saxophone
Eero Tikkanen, double bass, electric bass, violin
Eeti Nieminen, drums, percussion, syntheziser
with: Otto Eskelinen, Farfisa organ
Produced by Mopo & Matti Nives
Recording, mixing and editing: Joonas Saikkonen & Abdissa ”Mamba” Assefa
Mastered by: Pauli Saastamoinen
Additional mastering for vinyl: Jukka Sarapää
Nextbop Editor-in-Chief Anthony Dean-Harris hosts the modern jazz radio show, The Line-Up, Fridays at 9pm CST on 91.7 FM KRTU San Antonio and is also a contributing writer to DownBeat Magazine and the San Antonio Current.
