Biography

With "Anyone With A Heart", Iiro Rantala, definitively showing himself to be a great Neo Romantic, beyond all stylistic limitations: "Now it's simply about my melodies." And he conceived all of them from the outset for the classical form of the piano trio: piano, violin and cello. It is a form that is quite unique in jazz. The trio is completed by the consummately virtuoso all-rounder Adam Baldych (violin) and Asja Valcic (cello), who also has her background in classical music. "I have always loved melodies," says Rantala and that's it, what "Anyone With A Heart" shows!

When pianist Iiro Rantala won the German Record Critics Award three years ago with his ACT and solo debut "Lost Heroes", following it up with the ECHO Jazz and thus abruptly launching himself into the top ranks of Europe's jazz musicians, he could have taken the easy way out and simply made another solo album. But the Finn preferred to keep systematically developing his career.

It was also a return to his classical roots: Rantala not only studied in the jazz department of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, he also learned classical piano at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. And his passion for music didn't only begin with Johann Sebastian Bach at the tender age of six, it remains a big part of him to this day: "I have to play Bach every day. I need my daily fix of his music." Consequently, the Goldberg Varia...

Tracklist

1. KarmaRantala, Iiro
2. FreedomRantala, Iiro
3. A GiftRantala, Iiro
4. A Little Jazz TuneRantala, Iiro
5. Belle ÈpoqueRantala, Iiro
6. AloneRantala, Iiro
7. Hard ScoreRantala, Iiro
8. PrayerRantala, Iiro
9. Anyone With A HeartRantala, Iiro
10. Somewhere Over The RainbowArlen, Harald
11. Happy HippoRantala, Iiro