Astro Can Caravan is a collective formed by Otto Eskelinen (keyboards, perx), Tomi Kosonen (tenor sax, perx) and Pharaoh Pirttikangs (keyboards, guitar, perx). The core group consists of ca. 5 persons,while the concert line-ups vary between 8 and 20 persons.
“Highly experimental, with one foot solidly in the RIO camp and the other in outer space, Astro Can Caravan is an unconventional mix of large ensemble post-Sun Ra cosmic jazz, Magma-influenced Euro-fusion and Herbie Hancock/Miles Davis-styled avant-jazz funk. The members of ACC (most of whom are apparently Finnish) all display a consummate musicianship and a keen awareness of the intricacies of ensemble playing and in the process virtually create a new sub-genre one might call “big band space rock.” The uncanny mesh of horns (trumpet, trombone), winds (sax, oboe, clarinet), guitar, bass, synthesizer and four percussionists, in addition to being unusual when transposed to the context of space rock, creates some undeniably astounding altered states of consciousness if listened to for extended periods of time. ”
Charles Van de Kree / Aural Innovations #32 (November 2005)
