“Monipuolisella rytmiikalla kyllästetty kokonaisuus luovii kiintoisalla tavalla meditatiivisissa hetkissä ja orkestraalisissa fanfaareissa, joista kumpuaa elokuvallista viehätystä… etenkin trumpetisti Jason Palmer, pasunisti Bulut Gülen ja sellisti Naseem Alatrash tulostavat instrumenteistaan antoisia puhureita.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★”
“Jussi Reijonen è un musicista cui andrebbe di diritto il premio «cittadino del mondo» e «antisovranista nei fatti»...
Suona chitarra classica e elettrica e oud arabo da virtuoso, per lui la «musica totale» è una realtà operativa, non un concetto astratto.
★ ★ ★ ★”
“...a remarkable sophomore album.”
“The music is unlike anything in memory; it doesn’t simply alternate worldly assortments of styles but
rather creates a new, genre-less, form.
Three Seconds | Kolme Toista is spellbinding from beginning to end,
and full of virtuoso performances;
it is one of the best recordings of 2022.
★★★★½”
“The imaginative ways in which Reijonen manipulates the group’s textures are nothing if not distinctive: he integrates natural-sounding, carefully constructed written passages with evocative solos. The guitarist/composer confesses that he has documented “one hell of a journey.” He’s written one hell of a piece.”
“It can be beautiful, sometimes mysterious and enigmatic.
It requires jazz fans to enter into entirely different musical realms, and it will be worth it.
The extraordinary creative consciousness of this outstanding artist can be heard very clear here.”
“Jussi Reijonen skillfully constructs powerful and intricate music like I have never heard before.
It is as if all the nations of the East, the West and in-between came together to produce a perfectly formed new world music that represented and inspired every country and culture in the world. Brilliant!
”
“This is a dazzling 42 minutes – a journey unlike any other that somehow feels much longer. Simply brilliant, unique, and compelling.”
“Electrifying and deeply resonant, monumental and profoundly personal... a beautifully crafted, remarkable journey of sound and emotion performed by a knockout nine-piece ensemble...
Three Seconds | Kolme Toista is a triumph and a sophisticated, revelatory musical mosaic that bears repeated listening.”
“Guitarist, oudist Jussi Reijonen’s new release is quintessential “Beyond Category”. Growing up in Finland, the Middle East, Africa and the U.S. contributed to a lack of cultural identity. This resulted in a decade long creative block. Kolme Toista unleashes all that was pent up, fueling Jussi’s transcendent music. ”
“A still, spacious, slowly unwinding masterpiece. ”
“Extraordinary music.”
“Un convinces on every level... comparable to groundbreaking albums by pioneers such as John McLaughlin, Ralph Towner, Oregon and the like.
★★★★”
“A borderless music meeting… an unheard-of, exciting and fine album.”
“Finnish fretted/fretless guitarist and oud player Reijonen brings a pan-global perspective to the extraordinary music on [“un”]. Backed by a distinguished ensemble comprising Turkish, Swedish, Palestinian, and Spanish musicians, his playing is deep and profoundly nuanced throughout. Reijonen’s oud work is superb, but it is the ways in which he has applied oud techniques and sensibilities to guitar – particularly fretless – that are most likely to blow [Guitar Player] readers’ minds. A spiritual atmosphere permeates this music, so its not surprising that the album’s sole cover is a haunting reimagining of Coltrane’s ‘Naima’.”
–Barry Cleveland, Editor’s April Faves, GUITAR PLAYER
“Musical cultures and sensibilities cross, evocatively, on the debut album by Finnish guitarist Jussi Reijonen, on which influences from Northern Scandinavia easily merge with elements of music and musicians from Turkey, Palestine, Sweden and Spain, without blinking or apologizing.”
–Josef Woodard, DownBeat
“[Reijonen has] a sensibility like no other guitarist around... on his hypnotic musical sojourn, Un, he pushes the sound of [the guitar and oud] into a place no one seems to have taken either instrument before — not even Pat Metheny.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★”
“Reijonen’s musical universe has no frontiers. It is a beautiful, sensual mosaic of traditions and influences.”
“Reijonen’s musical universe has no frontiers. It is a beautiful, sensual mosaic of traditions and influences.”
–Eyal Hareuveni, AllAboutJazz.com
“With this cohesive and intriguing work, Reijonen and his international band […] delightfully demonstrate the universality of the musical language.”
– Hrayr Attarian, AllAboutJazz.com
“Granslöst musikmöte… Un är en oerhört spännande och fin skiva, och jag kan bara hoppas att gruppens svenske basist Bruno Råberg tar kvintetten till Sverige på turné. Detta vill jag höra live!”
–Rasmus Klockljung, LIRA magazine (Sweden)
“…an ethereal vibe of open spaces and pregnant pauses, an antidote to the undertones of urban angst prevalent in much New York jazz.”
– Tom Greenland, The New York City Jazz Record
“Un vakuuttaa kaikilta osin, ja on siksi verrattavissa John McLaughlinin, Ralph Townerin, Oregonin ja vastaavanalaisten edelläkävijöiden uraauurtaviin levyihin. ★★★★”
–Ole Nerdrum, RYTMI magazine (Finland)