Emma Salokoski Ensemble

Emma Salokoski Ensemble started as a trio in 2001, concentrating mainly on bossa nova standards and brazilian music. Mikko Kosonen (guitar) and Lauri Porra (bass) were in from the start, with Tuomo Pr?tt?l? (keyboards) hopping in from time to time on a gig or two. At that time the band was mainly a therapeutic hobby for the musicians, who were all very busy touring and recording with other projects. In 2003 the trio released an EP "Puutarhassa" in all stillness, and it was a surprise when it suddenly jumped up on the singles top 20 list.

The demand for more music made the group think more seriously about the project, and in 2005 it finally released a full-length album, "Kaksi mannerta" (Two Continents). Most of the songs were sung in Finnish, and the band had increased to a quintet, adding the percusssionist Marko Timonen and making Pr?tt?l? a full-time member. The album rocketed up to #4 on the charts and sold so much that the records went out of print. The music of "Kaksi mannerta" is a mixture of mellow Finnish moods and the "joie-de-vivre" of brazilian rhythms. The combination may sound odd, but is in fact a fascinating mix where two continents, the arctic and the tropical, meet.