Joe Davidow

Last copies. Originally released in 1979 on Love Records a few months before the label went bankrupt, Joe Davidow's album is a true hidden gem. In the age of the internet the term “hidden gem” has lost a lot of its meaning, as there are very few records of which there is no trace online – no Discogs entries, no Youtube tracks. Joe Davidow’s 1979 album, however, is one of those records. Perhaps one of the reasons for its complete unobtainability is the fact that it was one of the very last records the famous Finnish record label Love Records put out before their demise in the spring of 1979. Continuity showcases Davidow’s multitude of influences and often sounds like it could have been released in 1973 instead. It is part progressive rock, part jazz, part electronic soundscapes fit for film soundtracks. Svart Records are proud to dig this original masterpiece back up from oblivion and present it as a limited vinyl reissue. After arriving in Finland in 1978, the New York -raised composer/filmmaker Joe Davidow met a number of the most talented and forward-thinking musicians of the era: Paroni Paakkunainen, Måns Groundstroem, Reino Laine, Sami Hurmerinta.

 ”It all started with a meeting at the Music Information Center, which led me to Yleisradio’s Experimental Studio. And then meeting Paroni Paakkunainen via whom I met other Finnish improvisational musicians. At the Experimental Studio, the system was you could ask to use the studio to do a composition, and when it was done, you would offer it to the Music department at YLE, and they decided to buy it or not. This is where I made many, many, works.”

 That’s also how the making of Continuity kicked off. ”I made a tape on which I added Paroni on flutes and Tim Ferchen on percussion. Otto Donner [of Love Records] listened to it and said, ‘OK, – why don’t we make an album!’ I had been composing for years, and was ready to compose new works for this album as a type of ‘feeling-statement’ coming across as one whole”, Davidow recalls. Concerning all the musicians playing on Continuity, it’s easy to agree with Davidow: ”The musicians were some of the best in Finland. Playing with them was a great experience, the way we were all communicating with each other. Everyone kind of caught what I wanted to say. I imagine having a different background was interesting for everyone at the time. I had only been in Finland for a few years, and the experience working with the musicians and the production people was beautiful. The place had a family feeling of its own, and I’ve always felt extremely lucky to have had this experience at that point in my life.”