The Five Corners Quintet is a Helsinki-based jazz outfit that updates the past with panache.

In 2005, The Five Corners Quintet from Helsinki took the international dancefloor jazz scene by a storm. “Chasin’ the Jazz Gone By”, their debut for Ricky-Tick Records proved out to be both an artistic and a commercial success story. For once and for all, the album proved that it is possible to look back while moving forward. The touch of producer-composer Tuomas Kallio was true to the golden era of modern jazz, and his vision in updating form resulted in music that is truly “postmodern jazz”, if there ever was some.

Three years, some 50 000 sold records, and 100+ international gigs later, The Five
Corners Quintet are set to return with their sophomore effort. The album, due to be
released in Europe on 14 November 2008, is entitled “Hot Corner”, and everything about
it indicates that the scene-leading Finnish ensemble isn’t going to settle for re-doing
their debut album. Rarther, theirs will be the task of taking 2000 Century dancefloor jazz
into another level.

The new sound of TFCQ could be described as leaning towards the “Hot” of the album title more than the cool of their previously recorded work. Here, the impact of the live
band is evident. Kallio’s compositions also move away from standard jazz into fresh new
territories, where even the occasional flirt with genres such as rockabilly is to be
expected. The EP preceding the album release already showed marks of the band “rocking” rather than “swinging”, and those directions are further explored on the upcoming album.

One thing is certain: The Five Corners Quintet have a knack at searching and finding new directions instead of following paths trampeled by others. Of this, their new album “Hot Corner” is an ample piece of evidence.

"By whatever standards they are judged, The Five Corners Quintet are a class act. Without dumbing down or selling out they have moved jazz out of the dark ages by delivering on Kallio's original idea of grooving jazz played in the classic modernistic spirit and underpinned with contemporary club rhythms."
Stuart Nicholson, The Observer