European Avant-garde, music platform - BERLIN meets FINLAND

Unexpected, spontaneous, fresh, surprising, seductive. Cooking at it's best!

Sound Scapes X-tensions mini festival gathers a top-level group of avant-garde music specialists from blooming Berlin and fizzing Helsinki. The debuting two-night festival offers a tantalizing view into the interesting world of avant-garde jazz and improvisation in the intimate Villa Hakasalmi, which is located in the highly cultural surroundings of Finlandia-talo – Finlandia Hall - and Musiikkitalo – The Helsinki Music Center. The festival is a part of Hakasalmi huvila- exhibition program “Musiikkia! kaupungin soivat muistot”.

 The contemporary musicians paint multidimensional aural images and take the listener onto a dramatically fluctuating seductive journey. The instant compositions highlight the artists virtuosity, which develop into suddenly evolving, surprising harmonies and emotionally biting dissonances. The compositional pieces all embrace and desert, take your breath away, disrobe, amuse and rejoice, while providing the listener the widest ranging once in a lifetime tasting menu of Europe’s hottest "echtzeitmusik". Hop on to the waves of the now and dive in for a experience in to the wonderful world of free improvisation.

 The festival program includes compositions by MOVE Quintet as well as compositions by the other involved ensembles - especially formed for Sound Scapes X-tensions. The ensembles include celebrated and internationally established musicians, representing at least seven different nationalities. Both of the festival nights will end in a unique improvisational tutti-performance including all the artists. 

 The artists presented include among others Harri Sjöström, soprano saxophonist living in Berlin who just performed in a historical Cecil Taylor retrospective ("Open Plan" in New York) and Teppo Hauta-Aho, the legendary Finnish avant-garde jazz double bass veteran. The new shooting stars of contemporary improvised music are represented by the Colombian cellist and multi instrumental wunderkind Sergio Castrillon, by the Finnish drummer/percussionist Janne Tuomi who is known a.o. for his role in the cult-prog-rock band Circle as well as collaborations with John Zorn and by the German pianist Achim Kaufmann, who recently received the highest rated German jazz prize "Albert Mangelsdorff award".

A few cherries on top include the contemporary music composer, pianist Markus Fagerudd, the local "free jazz radical" Jone Takamäki and Heikki Nikula, a gone-totally-mad-for-free-improvisation bass clarinetist.

MOVE quintet
Harri Sjöström
Emilio Gordoa
Achim Kaufmann
Adam Pultz-Melbye
Dag Magnus Narvesen
&
Markus Fagerudd
Jone Takamäki
Janne Tuomi
Heikki Nikula
Sergio Castrillon

Besides the MOVE –quintet and the tutti- orchestra the program will on both nights also consist of duos and trios formed from Finnish and foreign players, “Vertigo Dialogues”.

Open event