In Finland, a country of five-and-a-half million people (comparable to the island of Ireland), Espoo is the second largest city and has had its own big-band since 1980. But neither the internet nor the German-based record label seem able to tell me anything more than the listing of titles and the 2018 personnel in the CD packaging. And that doesn't identify the soloists on trombone, flugel, alto, tenor, baritone (grouped together as “saxophones”) – leaving the listener to note that the soloist on ‘Brotherhood’ is the only pianist involved, and to guess that the guitar in ‘Finale’ might be conductor Nyman, rather than the rhythm-section guitarist also listed. This is a pity because, apart from the deliberately jokey ‘Espoo Blues’, there's a lot of heavyweight writing and playing here. The opening track ‘Quietly Flows The Aspen River’, a direct reference to the town (thank you, internet), gradually unfolds the band's section-work, settling into a groovy 5/4 before switching to 6/8 as the climax approaches. There's a distant hint of Kenny Wheeler at times, and a post-Kenton feel in the more excitable passages. Good stuff all round, and it would be nice to know a bit more about the participants.