LÄNNEN-JUKKA
A couple of years ago J. Karjalainen, definitely one of the most popular Finnish singer-songwriters of all time, felt a bit used up and played out. Although his band Electric Sauna had just released a new album (Valtatie) and made critics purr with delight once again, Karjalainen could not get his kicks out of music the way he used to. He realised that he had been on tour, with different bands, for more than two decades with only short breaks between.
Then the bankrupt of his booking agency gave him a welcome chance to take a little break, and Karjalainen found himself with a lot of free time in his hands. He got himself a banjo and started learning to play it, just for his own entertainment.
Eventually, Karjalainen felt the pleasure of making and performing music coming back to him again. Last year, he made an album of songs based on the music of the old Finnish immigrants who went to live in the USA in the turn of the 20th century. These songs, a cross between Southern American folk music, Mississippi blues and Finnish sleigh songs, have been recorded with just one take each. The end result – nothing but Karjalainen singing in a raw voice, accompanied by a banjo – is so thrilling that for a great many critics and music lovers the album Lännen-Jukka is by far the best Finnish album of 2006.
On tour, Lännen-Jukka is accompanied by fiddler Ninni Poijärvi and guitarist Mika Kuokkanen.
ilosaarirock.fi