Esa Pietilä's Blazing Flames for tenor saxophone and string quartet (2018) is a 28-minute-long journey with rapids and backwaters. His interest of combining improvisation and composed music makes the quintet makes the music live in the moment: not only the saxophonist but also the string players create environments, questions and answers not all written down.

Esa Pietilä (b. 1964) is a well-known saxophonist operating with different musical genres in a creative way that recognizes no stylistic borders. As a composer, he has broadened the image of contemporary music with jazz. Pietilä's compositions include often a mixed combination of instruments and styles incorporating also a saxophone soloist. His aim has been to create new repertoire for the tenor saxophone - his own instrument.