Eero Koivistoinen is a wide-ranging composer and a talented musician – one of the all-time greats of the Finnish jazz. In 1965 Koivistoinen founded a trio that played avant-garde and fusion jazz together with Pekka Sarmanto and Edward Vesala. In 1967–68 he was a member of Blues Section – a group that is regarded as the first progressive rock band in Finland.
Valtakunta (“Kingdom”) was originally released in 1968 and is Eero Koivistoinen’s first jazz LP. The songs of the album are based on the lyrics written by Finnish poets Pentti Saarikoski, Tuomas Anhava, Hannu Mäkelä and Jarkko Laine. The vocalists are Eero Raittinen, Seija Simola, Vesa-Matti Loiri and Koivistoinen himself. He also plays the tenor saxophone, piano and vibraphone, and is joined by a vast selection of legendary Finnish musicians, including Seppo "Baron" Paakkunainen, Pekka Sarmanto, Ronnie Österberg, Hasse Walli, Juhani Aaltonen, Antero Jakoila, Kaj Backlund, Esa Pethman, and Reino Laine among many others. All compositions are by Koivistoinen. The album reflects well the forthcoming compositional repertoire of Koivistoinen with its wide style spectrum.
A1 Kentauri
A2 Vorwärts
A3 Lennosta kii!
A4 Kolme runoa: Koulittu katse / Ei yksikään elävä olento / Tottakai me huolehdimme
A5 Pientä peliä urbaanissa limousinessa
B1 Kello kuusi
B2 Television ohjelma on loppunut
B3 Kerran ei ollut valtakuntaa
B4 Hiljainen hetki
B5 Tuutulaulu
