Finnish four-piece Big Blue are still a relatively young band, but over their last three albums for Italian label CamJazz, they have been diligently crafting a sound that is all their own – a new take on spacious, Nordic cool, with simple, folky melodies building to grandiose, anthemic conclusions.
Okay, it was a trick, but it was a good trick. Now Shooting Star suggests a gear change, with melodies that are more nuanced, more subtle interplay between Kalevi Louhivuori's trumpet and the rhythm section and less tendency to go for the big finish.
When pianist Antti Kujanpää switches to Fender Rhodes, the sound becomes more urbane still, with clear echoes of Dave Douglas’s influential groups, suggesting that Big Blue are becoming more than a one trick pony.
