Edward Vesala


Edward Vesala, born Martti Vesala, was a Finnish avant-garde jazz drummer.

Career

Born in Mäntyharju, he began playing jazz and rock in the 1960s, in such bands as Blues Section and Apollo. In the 1970s, he led his own jazz groups, a quartet with Polish trumpet player Tomasz Stańko and sax player Tomasz Szukalski, played with Toto Blanke's Electric Circus, and recorded with Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek. In the 1980s and 1990s, Vesala recorded several albums of his own compositions that combined jazz, classical music, tango, and folk music with his own group Sound & Fury, an ensemble of about ten players made up mostly of Vesala's students. Prominent players in Sound and Fury included saxophonists Jorma Tapio and Pepa Päivinen, guitarists Raoul Björkenheim and Jimi Sumén, and harpist and keyboardist Iro Haarla, who was Vesala's wife.
Vesala died from congestive heart failure in Yläne, Finland at the age of 54.

Discography

As leader or co-leader

Nan Madol Satu Open with Gerd Dudek and Buschi NiebergallHeavy Life Lumi Ode to the Death of Jazz Invisible Storm
  • ''Nordic Gallery''

As sideman

With Jan GarbarekTriptykon
With Tomasz StańkoTWET Balladyna Live at Remont Almost Green
With Kenny Wheeler