Janne Tuomi: Approaching

The recording proceeds from a very basic premise: Finnish percussionist Janne Tuomi, sitting at his drum kit, along with his pocket trumpet, flanked by other percussion instruments. There are no overdubs, and there are no edits. Tuomi builds each piece carefully, even meticulously. Sometimes, as on "Keskus," the music rises to a ringing climax, with Tuomi striking his gongs and cymbals. Most of these performances are in a rubato, or unmetered, tempo, what is often called "free" time, although Tuomi flirts with a recognizable pulse in the early moments of "Kohtaaminen."

Tuomi's pocket trumpet adds coloration by playing notes or sounds, blats and bleeps. There's a trumpet solo on "Contemplation" that sounds like Don Cherry on a bad day. In all other respects, however, "Contemplation" is a very successful performance. It opens with a plaintive melody played on what sounds like a balafon, a sort of West African xylophone. A slow tempo appears, the melody is heard again on pocket trumpet while other instruments shimmer and hum. Despite the relatively weak trumpet solo, "Contemplation" is quite beautiful.

Approaching isn't for everyone. One could accuse it of being a 35-minute drum solo with gongs and trumpet blats for variety. But that's really not the case with this adventurous, unique album.