Technically, you’ve got a quartet here with Kaisa Sirrala/wwinds, Johanna Pitkanen/key, Timo Tupperainen/b and Risto Takala/dr, but percussionist Ricardo Padilla makes it a quintet for half the tunes, so who’s counting?
You get a variety of moods here, and it seems that Sirrala is the one that sets the tone. Her alto solo on “Orient Express” hovers in and out before the rhythm team comes in for the chase scene. On soprano, she joins with Tupperainen to create some reflective moods during “”Vellamo” while her flute teams with African percussion before it switches to a deep and sonorous baritone on “Camel Road.” Some dreamy keyboards team up with her flute on the pastoral“Young And Foolish” while lots of exotic moods fill the air with spices on “Keppikerjalainen.” Lots to like on this wide ranging panorama of sounds.