Work and play (lp)

In an era of hollow simulation, Work and Play arrives as a document of breath, wood, and skin.

Recorded between 2024 and 2025, the album finds Sami Aleksi Keinänen trading the synthesized lo-fi nostalgia of his earlier work for a sprawling, organic live sound. Anchored by the battered resonance of his father’s old Landola acoustic guitar, Keinänen leads an expansive eleven-member ensemble — including mainstay Tampere jazz cats, the percussionists of the afrobeat/fusion band Maajo, and a three-piece vocal choir — through six tracks of playful rhythmic explorations.

It's a soulful testament of the power of the collective, where the loose-limbed spirit of jazz meets the rhythmic sensibilities of West African pop and the polished melodies of late-80s sophisti-pop.

Music & words by Sami Aleksi Keinänen, except A1 additional words by Ismaila Sane.
Arrangements by Sumuposauttaja Band.
Choir arrangements by Minna Sihvonen, Mari Hermaja & Elliina Peltoniemi.

Sumuposauttaja: Sami Aleksi Keinänen, lead vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, Yamaha PSR-32, electronic percussions & glockenspiel.
Band:
Sami Sippola, saxophone
Ville Rauhala, double & electric bass
Sebastian Krühn, drums
Minna Sihvonen, Mari Hermaja & Elliina Peltoniemi, choir.
Ismaila Sane, Gilbert Kuppusami, Mitja Virikko & Jon Thureson, percussion & bird whistle.
Additional singing in A1 by Ismaila Sane.
Synth on A1 by Teemu Into.