ALDA | Fen-Fire Polska

From the website of Finnish traditional acoustic trio Alda: “The story of ALDA started in January 2018 on a late night at a folk music festival somewhere outside Helsinki, Finland. We had all met and heard each other play before, but never really had the opportunity to play tunes together – until now. It turned into a five-hour wild mayhem of energy, grooves, improvisations, crazy harmonies, and lots and lots of tunes …

ALDA was born in the aftermath of that session. – ‘We have to do this again!’ we thought to ourselves. So, we started composing and working on new music for the combination of saxophone, violin, and piano. The music that we have created is, just as its musicians, deeply rooted in the rich musical traditions of Finland and Sweden, based on traditional types of tunes such as polskas, polkas, schottisches, and waltzes … The energy of that first session is ever-present in what we do. Even as a band we regularly get together for sessions to remind ourselves why we fell in love with playing together in the first place.”

After a start in Bb major, the 2021 tune “Fen-Fire Polska” morphs into G major at 2:59, then reverts to the original key at 3:51, never losing its strong 3/4 drive.