sayr: salt | thirst
Jussi Reijonen
unmusic (jussireijonen.bandcamp.com)
sayr: kaiho - live in Helsinki
Jussi Reijonen
unmusic (jussireijonen.bandcamp.com)
Guitarist and oud player Jussi Reijonen was born in Finland and raised in Finland, Jordan, Tanzania, Oman and Lebanon, and has spent much of his adult life in the USA. In 2025 he released two albums: Sayr: salt / thirst recorded in a studio and Sayr: kaiho, recorded “Live in Helsinki.” Reijonen’s liner notes explain that the Arabic concept of “sayr” means a “course” or “motion” and in his own music it refers to “a musical pathway unfolding through improvisation” to a “a memory palace of sound.”
One of the fascinating aspects of these works is the guitar at their centre: a late-40s Gibson LG-2 acoustic that was “gifted to him by a former student.” It is common to hear this kind of guitar playing folk, country or roots music where its lineage has been built, but in these two albums its acoustic properties are moved into a much more exploratory realm and the result is a unique beauty. The music is not as melodic as it is “sonorous” with plucking, eastern minor scales, silences and melancholy riffs that pull a different and inspired resonance from the instrument.
Reijonen has stated “sayr is an exploration of the small, the simple and the sparse; the rugged earth” which takes the idea of “roots music” off in a much different direction. For example, the piece salt is 17 minutes long with several different sections and moods: it begins softly with many complex chords plucked and sustained, then moves into a faster section with lyrical swirls and a tonality revealing more of an eastern influence. Repetition is used throughout but each succeeding statement is changed as it reveals another emotion or thought.
It is an inspiration to hear such meditatively beautiful sounds released from this 80-year-old instrument and I recommend repeated listening for everyone.
Listen to 'sayr: salt | thirst' Now in the Listening Room
