Biography

Guitarist and oud player Jussi Reijonen's second album Three Seconds | Kolme Toista (Challenge Records International, 2022) draws from the deep pool of influences and experiences of a childhood spent in the Middle East and East Africa as well as 13 years in the United States as an adult.

As Jussi Reijonen's expansive work unpacks, unravels and transcends the interlaced cultural threads within his experience, he builds a sonic world of broad and beautiful proportions, going above and beyond his critically acclaimed debut un | ان.

The dynamic interplay of the Finnish, Jordanian, Tanzanian, Omani, Lebanese and American cultures in which he grew up and lived in, the ever-present feeling of being welcomed yet never truly belonging, the longing to understand his own identity within this complex and wondrous multicultural and multilingual context, and the disorienting effect of their transient existence on his familial relationships are expressed, explored and stunningly resolved in Reijonen's transcendent suite.

The album features trumpeter Jason Palmer, drummer Vancil Cooper and bassist Kyle Miles from the United States, trombonist Bulut Gülen and microtonal piano player Utar Artun from Turkey, Jordanian-Iraqi violinist Layth Sidiq, Palestinian cellist Naseem Alatrash and Japanese percussionist Keita Ogawa.

Tracklist

1. The Veil
2. Transient 
3. The Weaver, Every So Often Shifting the Sands Beneath Her
4. Verso
5. Median