Having never been to Finland I can't be certain that all the amazing forest folk coming out of that country is actually being made by humans and not little magical creatures, and the Rauhan Orkesteri could easily be the musical playtime of a cheery group of elves, gnomes and wood sprites. Sylissain oot sounds like green fields smell, earthy forest floors, moss and coniferous.
The album starts with a dense, chaotic squall of horns on fire that, in dialectic with the remainder of the record, seems to illustrate the progression of free improvisation from its urban jazz origins to the present diaspora. The Orkesteri quickly settles down to gently wandering forest freedom on the second track and stays there – no complaints here – until the seventh track where another ungodly and unabashedly fun racket ensues to wake listeners from their woodland reveries.
Track 8 sees the first vocals distinctly nameable as such – throughout the album there are voices heard through horns in the style of Rahsaan and other latter-day jazz artists – but it's on track eight that band members actually yelp enthusiastically and it serves to illuminate how much fun they're having – it's infectious.
Rauhan Orkesteri will have instant and lasting appeal with both fans of free jazz and forest folk. In terms of pure fun this album outshines anything I've heard coming out of the Finnish free-folk scene. I'm no expert on the matter – but I've given casual listens to many albums and serious listens to a few albums and Sylissain oot is definitely one of the great ones!
