Biography

Trumpeter Ilkka Arola pilots his renewed Ilkka Arola Sound Tagine line-up into colorful adventures full of electricity and teasing worlds. The album Blue & Golden, released by Flame Jazz Records in 2022, is Arola's third release as a soloist and composer.

Ilkka Arola Sound Tagine plays adventure music that tunes the listener's mind and body to a dancing mood. Trumpeter Ilkka Arola's teasingly rich compositions take you to places where longing and the joy of life merge. Blue & Golden further intensifies the band's musical mixture while swimming in Middle Eastern electronic dance and psychedelic influences alongside familiar acoustic instrumental tones. The ensemble, condensed into a group of five musicians, still relies on the union of Middle Eastern influences and jazz and folk expression, but also boldly seeks inspiration from further afield. Musically diverse, Arola will not hesitate to reconcile influences picked from opposite sides of the world or genres if the combination works.

Many of the songs on the new album originated as Arola looked for new ways to play the trumpet. At the same time, Arola breaks away from the trumpet-centricity on the record at times by grabbing the Turkish Saz lute. The album also features Arola's vocals for the first time in the band's history. In addition to band leader Arola,Ilkka Arola Sound Tagine is formed by multi-instrumentalist Esko Grundström, guitarist Topi Korhonen, percussionist Juuso Hannukainen and drummer Okko Saastamoinen.

The title of the album, Blue & Golden, comes from Arola's second great passion, photography. Golden hour and blue hour are terms used for atmospheric lighting conditions just before and after sunset. A combination of intimate coolness and heated dancing has also been recorded on the music video for the album's title track. The video was shot by Aleks Talve in summertime Yyteri.

Tracklist

1. Lokki
2. Sky Mountains
3. Blue and Golden
4. Return
5. Jasmiinin kukka
6. Truth Boxing
7. Child Within