Kalle Pilli Quintet fire up Philly Joe’s Jazz Bar in Freedom Square, Tallinn

Philly Joe’s Jazz Bar is surely one of the globe’s only such venues to enjoy a central city square location. In Tallinn, Estonia, appropriately for the music, it’s situated right on Freedom Square, even though hidden down a curved stairway to its basement den. As regulations get relaxed, and gig programmes return, the club has revived its bookings, although the Estonian virus limitations are still rising or falling by the week.

The Kalle Pilli Quintet played on a Monday evening, but still managed to fill most of Philly Joe’s tables, even if the full 200 capacity wasn’t possible. There were enough folks present to create a lively susurrus of enthusiasm. Pilli is a young player who’s already impressed as a member of pianist Kirke Karja’s touring band, covered in Jazzwise several times. Now he’s concentrating on leading his own crew, though doubtless maintaining that position as a sideman.

The quintet operates in more of a fusion realm, with Joel Remmel on Nord keyboard, besides piano, and Janno Trump playing electric bass. Both of these artists are also bandleaders in Estonia, releasing their own albums, and working in diverse jazz zones. Pilli has also played in drummer Ramuel Tafenau’s notable band, so now the positions are reversed. Out front, tenor/baritone saxophonist Keio Vutt completed the line-up, having already stood out with the JT Conception ensemble at last year’s Jazzkaar festival.

Together, they shaped a positive fusion panorama, with tenor and guitar gliding side-by-side. Vutt remained robust, a bite scoring the edges of his tone. ‘Send It’ had Remmel’s Nord sounding like a Fender Rhodes, as the funkifried tune worked itself into a bubbling surge, Pilli fast-strumming lightly and sharply. This was essentially jazz funk, but not so lightweight. Vutt sounded very post-Michael Brecker, as he grafted hard bop, soul and free jazz elements.

With the third number they decelerated, via a symphonic-styled piano solo, but the following tune highlighted Vutt’s baritone, welded to a piano/bass strut, as Pilli made abrasive rifflets, eventually breaking out into a stormy solo. Vutt doubtless digs prog rock, his baritone loaded, repetitive and heavy, with Tafenau slamming out heavy drum emphasis. Pilli coaxed out another frosted 1970s-era solo as ‘Confusion’ howled with a filed-tooth sharpness. After a 75 minute set, the encore was a smeared blues, Vutt shrieking and slurring on his tenor horn.

As with so many venues, Philly Joe’s is now set up for streaming, although they were already pioneering this prior to the pandemic. The gig was shot by multiple cameras rather than a single lens. Pleasingly, Philly Joe’s has a strict vinyl-only policy for the between-sets soundtrack, always involving the spinning of entire albums.The venue is also involved on several levels with the Jazzkaar festival, which is running until the end of August in Tallinn…