Selenites, Selenites!

今年60歳を迎えるフィンランド人ミュージシャンJimi Tenorが初となるバンド名義アルバムをBureau Bよりリリース!1990年代に〈Sahko〉や〈Warp〉からラウンジ・ジャズとアシッド・テクノを融合させ注目を集めたテナーは、その後アフリカ音楽へも傾倒。ジャンルを超え、エレクトロニカからアフロビート、スピリチュアル・ジャズまでを独自の個性で結びつけてきた。パンデミック下にヘルシンキで結成された現在のバンドは、クラブやフェスで経験を積み重ね、録音もライブ同様に一発録り中心で進行。全8曲は宇宙や愛をテーマに、抗えない高揚感を放つ。ガーナの歌姫Florence Adooniを迎えた「Shine All Night」も収録。躍動感に満ちた濃密な音世界を刻む、鮮烈なデビュー作!

Finnish composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jimi Tenor celebrated his 60th birthday in 2025 by touring and releasing three albums. In March, he released Sinus Amoris in collaboration with Freestyle Man, July Blue Skies appeared in April with Finn soul kings Cold Diamond & Mink, and Selenites, Selenites! arrived in November as the debut album by the Jimi Tenor Band. The latter was recorded at two studios: Electric Avenue in Hamburg with producer Tobias Levin, and at Kiikala Center of the Universe Studio Complex in Finland (a remote house) with producer/guitarist Lauri Kallio. These eight songs have various styles but are guided by optimism as an aesthetic. Selenite is a soft, translucent variety of the mineral gypsum, named after the Greek moon goddess Selene because of its pearly glow; its revered for its ability to purify spaces. Tenor and crew deliver warmth, good vibes, and fine music rooted in soul, spiritual jazz, Afrobeat, and funk. He enlisted a mostly Finnish band and rehearsed them in his kitchen. They include Kallio on guitars and backing vocals, drummer/percussionist/backing vocalist Eeti Nieminen, bassist Ville Rauhala, Ghanaian keyboard and percussion master Ekow Alabi Savage, trombonist Heikki Tuhkanen, and guest singer Florence Adooni, who is also from Ghana. The title track commences with electronic blips, pops, warbles, etc. before saxophone and trombone deliver the languid head as Tenor and band chant the lyric atop piano, trombone, bass, and drums that wind around Tenors sax. The tune changes key and tempo but never surrenders the carnivalesque groove. "Some Kind of Good Thing" is just that. A swinging, knotty post-bop head between Tenor and Tuhkanen ushers in a lithe funk groove; the band sings in chorus, like Horace Tapscotts Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. A synth line winds through the bass, congas, and drums before the horns clock back in. The vibe resembles Mandrills or Wars breezier offerings. Introduced by flute and birdsong, "Sunny Song" maintains a soulful, relaxed vibe. Tenors brief flute solo underscoring the vocals is warm and celebratory. "Universal Harmony" weaves Afrobeat and jazz-funk while its lyric charts relationship and shared experience within humanity. The horns entwine as keys and Rauhalas bass vamp add balance, loosely framing the spacy groove. "Alice in Kumasi" is a panoramic, blissed-out instrumental that stitches post-bop, Afrobeats, funk, and reggae. The band chants and sings on the driving, funky, otherworldly "Looking for the Sunshine," a Tropicalia-tinged jam driven by waves of hand percussion, bass, and soaring horns. Florence Adooni guests on the rowdy, spiny, space funk of "Shine all Night" complete with a wicked bassline. Set-closer "Furry Dice" sounds just like a James Brown & the J.B.s breakdown as massive drums, percussion, and staccato horn lines careen and Tenors vocal growl rises above a bumping bassline, layered flutes, and a biting, honking tenor sax solo. In a tense global environment, Selenites, Selenites! offers the creative vision and fortitude to celebrate community and the human spirit. ~ Thom Jurek