Mortality
Bringing together an all-star cast of musicians from the vibrant Helsinki jazz scene the Finnish jazz supergroup Mortality released its self titled debut on November 29th 2019 on vinyl LP, CD and digital streaming formats. The album went on to become one of the best selling jazz records in Finland in 2019-2020 and got nominated for Jazz Album of the Year. The highly anticipated follow-up album Mortality vol. II has been recorded and is expected to be released in late 2023 / early 2024.

The concept of the original Mortality album was the brainchild of the group’s producer Tapio Ylinen, who wrote the bulk of the compositions after the tragic death of his wife in 2015. For the album, each member of the ensemble took on the task of arranging the pieces of music to create a cohesive piece of art under a unified theme.

Mortality combines the conceptual aesthetics of progressive rock with the harmonic and tonal soundscapes of jazz and jazz improvisation. Despite the heavy subject matter the music on the album is delicate, melodic and hopeful. Each member gives their own, distinctive interpretation of the topic in their pieces, while Ylinen’s melodic language keeps the overall piece coherent as a whole. The cover art by graphic artist Aarni Ylinen gives the final touch to the album as a conceptual piece of art.