Finnish Jazz Federation Tours On The Road

Elektro GT on tour 11 – 21 February 2015

Elektro GT play jazz, for sure, but their variant has been spiced up with a generous amount of electronic elements and compelling rhythms. With each member coming from a slightly different musical background, the heterogeneity of the band's influences becomes even greater.

Drummer Hassinen has made a long career in the fields of jazz, art music and electronic music, while Louhivuori is perhaps known first and foremost as a jazz artist. Rissanen's musical roots, in turn, spring from a firmly classical soil, whereas Kämäräinen's comfort zone lies somewhere in the middle of jazz and rock. Porra, then again, comes from heavy metal circles, having also plenty of experience in composing music for the TV and cinema. On tour, Porra is substituted by the soul-funk bassist Heikki Laine. As pigeonholing is of no use here, one might as well lay back and let Elektro GT's "electro shock jazz" wash over. The group's debut album came out on Texicalli Records in September 2014, which also saw them perform at Jazz Finland Festival and Tampere Jazz Happening.

Mikko Hassinen (b.1971) is much more than your average drummer. He is a conductor, a composer of acoustic and electronic music and a producer of jazz and classical music. As a jazz drummer Hassinen first appeared on saxophonist Jari Perkiömäki’s 1997 album Shades. He is also a sought-after studio musician: Riitta Paakki Trio and Pepa Päivinen Trio/Quartet have entrusted the drummer’s duties with Hassinen on their recordings since the millennium. In the past dozen years Hassinen has played on more than 30 albums of groups led by such veterans as saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen, vocalists Vesa-Matti Loiri and Maarit Hurmerinta and such younger-generation pop and jazz musicians as Jimi Tenor and Ninni Poijärvi.

Mikko Hassinen – drums, electronics
Kalevi Louhivuori – trumpet
Aki Rissanen – keys
Timo Kämäräinen – guitar
Heikki Laine – bass

On tour:
Wed 11 Feb - Oulu, 45 Special at 9pm, 15/10€
Thu 12 Feb - Tornio, Musiikkitalo at 7pm
Fri 13 Feb - Kajaani, Kaukametsän Kouta-sali at 7pm, 15/10€
Wed 18 Feb - Lappeenranta, Ravintola Kolme Lyhtyä at 8pm
Thu 19 Feb - Jyväskylä, Poppari at 9.30pm, 10/8€
Fri 20 Feb - Kuopio, Musiikkikeskus, Jazzklubi at 9.30pm, 15/10€
Sat 21 Feb - Joensuu, Teatteriravintolan terassi at 9.30, 15/10€

 

Free Voices, Free Sounds Tour 2015: Aleatoric + Impérial Quartet 9 – 17 March 2015

Free Voices, Free Sounds Tour features free sounds from three different countries this spring, when the French-Belgian Impérial Quartet and the Finnish-Belgian Aleatoric pack their pipes and hop on the Finnish Jazz Federation tour bus.

Impérial Quartet is a delightful newcomer in the buzzing jazz scene of France. Four improvisers encountered each other in 2010, joined forces and formed a quartet whose influences come from many musical traditions, most notably from those of rock and jazz. Groovy beats and almost all member of the saxophone family are the cornerstones of Impérial Quartet’s exuberant and colourful expression. The uniqueness of their urban pop-jazz vision gained the group a place in the renowned Jazz Migration tour programme in 2013.

Aleatoric is an international group led by the Finnish pianist Aki Rissanen. Their repertoire consists of the leader’s and the Belgian saxophonist Robin Verheyen’s original compositions, Rissanen’s arrangement of “Kallaves”, the anthem of his hometown Kuopio, and a number of select standards. This group’s sonic world is made of floating swing, impressionism, romanticism and free improvisation.

The tour is co-produced by the Finnish Jazz Federation and the agency Free Voices, Free Sounds.

Impérial Quartet (FR/BE)
Damien Sabatier – baritone, alto and sopranino saxophones
Gérald Chevillon – bass, tenor and soprano saxophones
Joachim Florent – bass guitar
Antonin Leymarie – drums

Aleatoric (FI/BE)
Robin Verheyen, tenor and soprano saxophones
Aki Rissanen – piano
Markku Ounaskari – drums

 

Jori Huhtala 5 on tour 6 – 19 April 2015

While having jazz as the red thread and bedrock of their music, Jori Huhtala 5 is not afraid of enriching their sound with some elements of pop and film music. The group’s style ranges from lyrical to cacophonic, traditional to avant-garde and rhythm-driven to pulselessly lingering. At the core, however, lie bassist Huhtala's finely crafted compositions and the band members' outstanding skills of improvisation. The band’s debut album is due to be released just before they hit the road this spring. Since the first steps taken together as a group, Jori Huhtala 5 have been followed with interest, and in 2014 they performed at Tampere Jazz Happening, for instance. All the members belong to the new generation of Finnish jazz musicians, whose artistic vision and professionalism are taking them rapidly to the bigger leagues.

The Jyväskylä native Jori Huhtala (b. 1984) graduated from his hometown’s local conservatory as a pop-jazz musician in 2004. He completed his MA degree at the jazz department of the Sibelius Academy in 2014. The academic year 2010-2011was spent studying at Stockholm’s Kungliga Musikhögskolan. Huhtala is involvd in the groups Kvalda, Big Blue, Raoul Björkenheim Ecstasy, Panu Savolainen Toivo and Jussi Fredriksson Jazz Wars.

Mikko Innanen – baritone and alto saxophones
Joakim Berghäll – tenor and alto saxophonist
Aki Rissanen – piano
Jori Huhtala – double bass, compositions
Ville Pynssi – drums

 

Sid Hille Contemporary Collective on tour 6 – 16 May 2015

There is no barrier between jazz and contemporary music, but a gap, an open space, which activates the imagination and enables spontaneous creation. This applies to the composer and the performing musician alike. When the musician improvises, on his own or as part of an ensemble, he follows the map, the structure created by the composer, making decisions in a fraction of a second – what to play and when, whether to lead or accompany, to play or not to play that particular note at that particular moment – whilst keeping in mind the piece as a whole and responding to the moves of the collective, an organic entity that he is a part of.

The group released their debut album Outer Space (SatnaMusic CD141) in November 2014.

“Their sound was extremely pleasant to the ear live – the context of improvised music did particular justice to Nikula’s bass clarinet.”
- Pasi Virtanen in his blog, “Jazzpossu”

German-born pianist Sid-Hille (b. 1961) has lived in Finland since 1994. By that time he had already travelled around the world and lived in the United States and the Netherlands, for example. In Finland, Hille has taught at the Central Ostrobothnia Conservatory, conducting also the school’s jazz orchestra. In 1997 he formed the quartet Platypus Ensemble with three younger-generation Finnish players, and the group toured the Central Europe extensively. In the 21st century, Hille has mainly devoted his time to composing and performing, being successful as a composer in the fields of big band, chamber and film music, especially.

Sid Hille – piano, electric piano, electronics
Teemu Viinikainen – guitar, effects
Heikki Nikula – bass clarinet
Markus Hohti – cello, electronics