Kahil El’Zabar Ethnic Heritage Ensemble

The first ever Tampere Jazz Happening in 1982 featured seven contemporary bands, one of which was from France and two from the US. In their uplift, the two-day event in November received praise as an “artistically sound opening”, and there was no doubt who the star and the assumed audience magnet was. It was alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, an avant-garde traditionalist “straight from the hearth of jazz in New York” with his first ever performance in Finland. At the time, the 42-year-old was at the musical peak of his solo career with his exceptional quintet that had both a cellist, a tubist and an electric guitarist.

However, it was the other American group that went down in the history books of the first ever Jazz Happening: Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, who reached even further into the past. Or at least they made their own kind of history, as the ensemble, led by percussionist Kahil El’Zabar (b. 1953), is celebrating a half a century of music-making. Now they will finally return to Tampere Jazz Happening on their extensive anniversary tour – 42 years after their last performance and once again as the headliner on Sunday.

That’s not the only reason why the timing raises expectations, as the last 10 or so years have been the best (at least recording-wise) in the history of the ensemble that has gone through many iterations. It almost compares to their pioneering years in the early 1980s when Ethnic Heritage Ensemble toured Europe actively with one percussionist and two saxophonists and recorded their first albums in Germany (1980), Italy (1981) and Finland (1982), the last one only a week after the Tampere concert.

Ethnic Heritage Ensemble’s Welcome, released by Finnish drummer Edward Vesala’s Leo Records was not, however, an isolated incident, as the ensemble performed in Finland a dozen times over a couple of years. From those days, only El’Zabar remains on board, but it wouldn’t be Ethnic Heritage Ensemble without him.