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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      €8 EUR  or more

     

  • You'll get the CD "Trio Hour" and a Download of THIS album.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Turn Out the Stars - Music by Bill Evans via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

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  • You'll get the Northern Sunrise CD and a Download of THIS album. Northern Sunrise features saxophonist Steve Wilson, guitarist Ben Monder, bassist Massimo Biolcati, drummer Mark Ferber, and compositions by pianist Mika Pohjola.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Turn Out the Stars - Music by Bill Evans via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

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  • You'll get the classic Announcement CD and a Download of THIS album.
    Announcement features saxophonist Chris Cheek, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Roberto Dani. Compositions by pianist Mika Pohjola.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Turn Out the Stars - Music by Bill Evans via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Ball Play 05:34
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2.
Two Pages 10:37
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3.
The True Crest 07:18
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4.
Eclectic Conspiracy Mode 09:07
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5.
These Foolish Things 03:05
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6.
Song of Trust 02:59
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7.
A Sunny Day 03:38
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8.
Star Dust 04:22
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9.
Humpty Dumpty 00:45
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10.
Jazz Blues 03:57
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11.
Concentracznyi 05:51
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12.
Minor Question 02:56
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13.
The Ice That Breaks 04:51
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14.
Old and Grumpy 05:56
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15.
Ninghe 04:32
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16.
Movements in Style 03:19
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17.
Sophisticated Lady 04:46
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18.
Norwegian Summer 05:06
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19.
What the World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love 03:41
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about

A collaboration with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Mark Ferber, pianist Mika Pohjola offers a follow-up to his Sound of Village duo improvisations. Pohjola features a free jazz vein of the 1960s, known as proprietary territory of Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Paul Bley and Rashied Ali. Coupled with original compositions by Pohjola, Xavier Montsalvatge and Burt Bacharach, Ball Play is a one-hour long enjoyment which naturally spans several decades of musical expression.

Ball Play opens with the title-track ... continues with a more original-spirited Two Pages, which repeats and develops a short motive in the first half, and then gradually moves toward a free flow of thought. The standards, Star Dust, These Foolish Things and the Burt Bacharach original What The World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love are among the best renditions on the album, and this is where all three musicians are fully engaged in the twisting of the familiar source material. Pohjola's brightest solo contributions can be heard on "Song of Trust" and the strange traditional-oriented Jazz Blues. An oddity on the album is the Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge song Ninghe, which is played without alteration from the original.

credits

released March 1, 2003

Mika Pohjola - piano
Drew Gress - bass
Mark Ferber - drums

license

all rights reserved

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about

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Blue Music Group Stockholm, Sweden

The Small Label with Big Music

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