Singer, composer Petri Laaksonen fondly remembers his late partner and sparring partner Turk Mali. Mali sang the classic composed and sung by Laaksonen Here under the North Star.
– Turkka was a positive workhorse, a lively cheerleader, a storyteller who cheered me on. The most famous product of our cooperation is Here under the North Star. The lyrics were from Turka’s pen and much older than my own composition from 1989. We had such a wordless connection and chemistry, I miss him now, Laaksonen recalls and compares Mali’s skills to another master Reino to Helismaa.
Petri Laaksonen hopes to be able to perform at Turkka Mali’s funeral. Heidi Heikkilä
Laaksonen would be ready to sing the classic at Mali’s funeral if the family wanted.
– It would be a great honor to take Turkka on a journey to heaven with this tune.
Laaksonen got to know Mali on Finnlevy Jaakko Salon in the stable, where Mali came to write the lyrics.
– Salo introduced us to each other and that’s when the work started. Turka’s text is starkly beautiful, but it only had material for two stanzas. We then put the first stanza again as the third stanza. Here under the North Star -song has been performed Assi Koivistolle 1992 at the concert of the Student Union singers and then in the fall of 1994 there was a recording, Laaksonen remembers the Sunday before his Christmas concert in Längelmäki after hearing the sad news.
Turkka Mali’s most famous lyrics are Täää Pohjantähten alla, Kirje and La Dolce vita. Asko Tanhuanpää
– I got to perform with Turka as a duet Here under the North Star – I will still sing in 2019 at my celebratory concert in Forssa church, where Turkka was in good health and the hall was full to the brim, Petri recalls wistfully.
Over the years, they occasionally kept in touch on the phone, but Laaksonen did not know about Mali’s condition or illnesses.
Turkka Mali died early Sunday morning as a result of a long illness. According to Forssa newspaper, he died peacefully at home while sleeping. He was 67 years old when he died.