Jazz Finland Live

Trumpeter Tomi Nikku’s quintet goes on eight-concert record release tour in October 2021. The five front-row jazzers portray a picture of today’s global challenges in their music.

Tomi Nikku is a Helsinki-based trumpet player, composer, bandleader and educator who has become known as one of the most active Finnish instrumentalists of his generation. Nikku leads his quintet, and works as a sideman with numerous innovative bands like Alder Ego, Maxxxtet, Bowman Trio, Maan Tila and Sointi Jazz Orchestra, to name a few. Nikku’s style of playing and writing derives from his personality, life experience, and worldview. He values honesty, sincerity, and creativity and strives to cherish those traits while making music. That results in his nuanced and expressive sound on the trumpet.

The 5tet’s instrumentation, which differs from the typical quintet formation with vibes in the rhythm section and bass clarinet in the front line, Nikku’s compositions, and the 5tet’s musicians’ recognizable and expressive voices create Tomi Nikku 5tet’s unique band sound. The group release their debut album Light & Shade on Flame Jazz Records in September 2021. Like the twofold title suggests, Light & Shade is assembled in halves. The ”light side” (side A on the LP) includes groovy and energetic pieces, while the darker B-side includes melancholic and wistful compositions. The B-side tracks have originated from the polarized atmosphere of the summer of 2020. Nikku himself says that channeling those emotions onto these compositions have helped them to keep their head above water and keep them going.

Tomi Nikku 5tet

Tomi Nikku – trumpet, cornet, fluegel horn, Max Zenger – alto saxophone, bass clarinet, Ilkka Uksila – vibraphone, Vesa Ojaniemi – double bass, Jonatan Sarikoski – drums