Frank Zappa International Festival Guide - Downbeat

Players
Mopo: Eero Tikkanen (left), Eeti Nieminen and Linda Fredriksson
maarit kytÖharju
Mopo
Breaking Barriers
Its sound can be beguiling. That’s when it’s not
ferocious, like a mean animal on the loose,
ready to pounce and rip your heart out.
The Finnish band Mopo offers a unique
combination of entreaty mixed with the restlessness
of youth. The trio includes saxophonist
Linda Fredriksson, whose playing (typically
on baritone) is frenetic yet occasionally sweet;
powerful drummer Eeti Nieminen, calling forth
the spirits of Elvin Jones and John Bonham; and
bassist Eero Tikkanen, providing the rock-solid
center of the band’s engaging sound.
At the 2012 edition of Finland’s celebrated
Tampere Jazz Happening, Mopo’s crowded
show in the barrelhouse nightclub Telakka was
a fest highlight. (A promotional blurb for the
band described its style as “drawing influences
from jazz, 1970s punk and Finnish nature.”) The
trio’s live set reprised much of its debut album,
Jee! (Texicalli), as Fredriksson furiously wielded
two horns simultaneously, her playing a perfect
mash-up of irresistible weirdness. The set also
included new music that’s bound to end up on
Mopo’s next album, slated for release next year.
The musicians offered multiple explanations
for the band’s name. “When you really listen, literally
what it means is ‘moped,’” Fredriksson
said while relaxing near the Tampere artists
lounge. “It sounds fresh,” Tikkanen added.
“Short and kind of happy, and fast, but not like
a motor bike—because that’s not how we are.”
Thus far in its young career, Mopo has taken
full advantage of opportunities to play high-profile
events. The trio’s appearance in August at
Finland’s Flow Festival created a buzz. “We were
really lucky to be invited there,” Fredriksson
said. “It was in the context of introducing new,
fresh, young jazz bands—more like in a pop or
rock style of festival,” Nieminen recalled.
In the spring of 2011, Mopo played the Young
Nordic Jazz Comets competition. “We got a qualification
for the finals in Stockholm,” Nieminen
explained, “which we didn’t win, but we won the
Finnish [award]. In Finland it’s a big deal, and as a
result, we started getting a lot of attention.”
The band recorded Jee! (the title translates as
“Yeah!”) in late 2011, releasing it in Europe
last spring. A novel touch is the inclusion of the
live-in-the-studio track “Metsärukkanen.” “We
arranged a large show,” Fredriksson explained.
“We rented a bus and invited our friends and
people we didn’t know, and then had a concert
in the studio with some wine. People could walk
around and dance while we were playing.”
Fredriksson’s baritone on “Metsärukkanen”
is earnest and soft-spoken yet swinging.
Elsewhere, the impish track “Hullun Valssi” is a
crazy quilt mixing jazz and folklore, while the
airy, expressionistic “Jäähyväislaulu” represents
a cooler, more subdued sound.
Mopo’s compositions are credited to all three
members. “Somebody usually starts with a theme,
and then we work on it together,” Nieminen said.
“We’ll hang out together, and the ideas come.”
Asked about the element of 1970s punk in
their music, Tikkanen said, “It’s more like the rage
and energy of punk.” Nieminen added, “The punk
factor is more like an attitude. It’s like the new revolution
in Finnish jazz, doing it with a punk attitude.
We’d like to think we can go back to jazz
when it was something new and powerful, breaking
barriers.”
—John Ephland
22 DOWNBEAT MAY 2013