His 20th solo album is Granfelt's homage to the role models who influenced his style as a guitarist. He specifically mentions Gary Moore, Jeff Beck, and Robin Trower. The fact that the album's release coincides precisely with his 60th birthday demonstrates that it's a very special work for the exceptional Finnish guitarist. It also reflects on his career, with its ups and downs, which, as the title suggests, he looks back on with gratitude.
The fact that he recorded the album with his longtime collaborators Masa Maijanen on bass and Jari Salminen demonstrates his down-to-earth nature. He enlisted the help of Erja Lyytinen's keyboardist, Miika Aukio, whose keyboard playing adds a special, at times slightly psychedelic touch to the songs. Stylistically, the work spans a spectrum from blues to monumental rock to jazz, which is not least due to Granfelt's three great role models.
In addition to blues-rock songs like "I Got The Blues From You" with beautiful background vocals by Katja Sirkiä and fine keyboard passages by Miika Aukio, he shows in the instrumentals "JB Reggae" and "Techno Blues" that he also has a flair for jazz, and in pieces like "Remember" and "Gratitude" he shows that he also has a soft spot for the guitar playing of David Gilmour. In the quiet, almost dreamy "Life Goes On" Granfelt gives musical insight into his positive attitude to life.
With the album Gratitude, Granfelt proves that he is one of the best guitarists in the world, and his years of songwriting with Wishbone Ash are also evident.
