Back in 2004, guitarist Teemu Viinikainen was making a name for himself with the U-Street All Stars, a fine hard bop/post bop band that was signed by the Blue Note label in Finland. He subsequently developed into one of the finest young guitarists in jazz, capable of taking jaw-dropping virtuosity to hitherto unplumbed heights. At around the same time he hooked up with alto virtuoso Jukka Perko in a trio with vibist Severi Pyysalo for Kuunnelmia, an excellent album also released by Blue Note. Perko had been signed to that imprint since 2000, with his Hurmio-Orkesteri – Play the Music of Olavi Virta – while Jarmo Saari was making waves around the same time with his Filmtet that produced the truly excellent Tribute to the Finnish Cinema for EMI. Fast forward to the Hansa Studios in November 2015, and these three fine musicians come together on Invisible Man, and once again context defines originality, here alto plus acoustic and electric guitars. Their halcyon barnstorming days as rising stars on the European jazz scene behind them, these musicians have now ascended to the absolute top bracket of European jazz. These nine originals and three covers (by Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel and Gabriel Fauré), demonstrate this excellent ensemble's sublime levels of jazz performance. Perko's ‘Nameless Angel’, Saari's ‘Helmi’ and Viinikainen's ‘Sweet Solitude’ seem to capture the essence of the band, their effortless virtuosity, their cliché free playing and sheer maturity and originality that sets them apart from the lesser efforts of more widely publicised bands.