Jukka Tolonen – The Hook Import Ltd ed 300

$

60

Jukka Tolonen – The Hook Import Ltd ed 300 
Limited to 300 copies on black vinyl.
Comes in gatefold cover.

Recorded in Stockholm 5-11 August 1974 at Marcus Music AB.
"Starfish" was specially composed for the Helsinki Festival 1974.
The Hook is Tolonen's third solo album and my personal favourite of them. The impresive line-up features Esa Kotilainen (r.i.p.) on moog, clavinet and accordion, Pekka Pöyry on saxes and flute, four other blowers and the rhythm section of Heikki Virtanen and Esko Rosnell. Tolonen himself plays also piano. The music was recorded in Stockholm's Marcus Music AB and produced by Måns Groundstroem.

The nearly 13-minute 'Aurora Borealis' is a gorgeous celebration of excellent musicianship, and it gives a lot of attention to various instruments, both in combo playing and in solos, in the slightly funky environment. What a moog solo and drum work! Perhaps the groove continues a bit too long occasionally.

'Starfish' is equally energetic Fusion, loaded with reeds and brass. Full of musical joy that makes you feel happy. The band is just fantastic. 'The Sea' slows the pace graciously. Nice laid-back groove starring piano, accompanied by the rest of the group in perfect balance. The flute solo is lovely! The title track starts in a very funky manner and gives the main attention to Tolonen's technical excellence on guitar. This is my least favourite track but still quite interesting as it proceeds.

The relatively brief (3:15) closing track 'Together' is a mellow, emotional ballad focusing on piano but containing also nice guitar sounds. The Hook is definitely worth of your time if you enjoy virtuotic and vibrant Fusion.
The Hook is the third studio album by guitarist Jukka Tolonen, released in 1974 through Love Records; a remastered edition was reissued in 2016. "Aurora Borealis" commences as a brass-dominated exercise in R&B, then switches to an uptempo fusion piece with analog synthesiser solos. "Starfish" is a lively, elaborate jazz composition originally written by Tolonen for the Pori Jazz Festival in 1974 which allows for extended solos on guitar, trumpet, saxophone, and synthesiser. "The Sea" is a midtempo jazz piano ballad with full band accompaniment. "The Hook" begins humorously with guitar strings detuned before launching into its whole tone scale-dominated melody. "Together" is a sensitive electric guitar and piano ballad.
Jukka Jorma Tolonen (born 16 April 1952) is a Finnish jazz guitarist. Tolonen became famous as guitarist for the progressive rock band Tasavallan Presidentti(which means "president of the republic").