Joona Toivanen released his first solo piano album 'Polarities' on the Swedish Footprint Records in late 2013.

On the album, Toivanen explores new ground by studying the possibilities of the piano as an instrument. The release concert for Polarities took place at the Savoy Theatre in Helsinki on December 14 at the inaugural festival event We Jazz 2013. In November 2014 the solo project is heard live on the Finnish Jazz Federation tour. 

On Polarities, Toivanen not only uses the traditional sonic landscape of the grand and upright piano, but also stretches the sound by the use of prepared piano and adding multiple layers into the music. “The prepared piano often sounds very percussive but I tried to find some softer tones within that realm. The most important thing for me is to make the new sounds serve the compositions at large, to strive for the main goals of the music: the melodies and the moods”, Toivanen says. He uses for example magnets in altering the sound of his instrument, and the music also differs from the more traditional solo piano works in terms of structure. A large part of the music is composed, as opposed to often more freely improvisational solo piano concepts in jazz.

Performing the music live presents a challenge and Toivanen plans to use both the grand piano and the prepared upright piano when performing. He also plans to use methods more traditionally associated with electronic music, such as live looping.