Five Nordic jazz ensembles are showcased in an industry event in Paris on December 2. Over 200 French and other European promotors, agents and musicians gather to Paris for a three-day event, titled Les Rencontres AJC. The Nordic Jazz Comets showcase night opens the event at Pan Piper club. The concert of Finnish bassist Kaisa Mäensivu’s quartet Kaisa’s Machine will also be aired live on Radio France.
Paris sees over 200 mainly French-speaking European jazz professionals gather to a 3-day event Les Rencontres AJC. The event hosts the General Assembly of the French club and festival network Association Jazzé Croisé. In addition to business-related seminars and workshops, the event offers a great deal of ear-opening music.
The AJC network has their 4-band showcase Jazz Migration on the 3rd of December, after their GA day, but first the Nordics take the stage as the opening act for the whole event. The Nordic jazz federations bring their annual Nordic Jazz Comets showcase to Pan Piper club on Monday, the 2nd of December. The showcase features one upcoming band from each Nordic country. The night is open to public and free of charge.
Energetic bebop that could have just easily wafted out of a hole-in-the-wall NYC bar.
- Ivana Ng, New York City Jazz Record
Jazz Finland, the Finnish jazz federation, is responsible for the Nordic Jazz Comets project in Finland. Out of numerous impressive candidates, they selected double-bassist Kaisa Mäensivu’s Kaisa’s Machine for this year’s edition. Also Radio France favoured the band to be one of the two showcase bands to be streamed live on their most popular jazz show, Open Jazz by Alex Dutilh.
Double-bassist Kaisa Mäensivu assembled her quartet Kaisa’s Machine in the fall of 2015, right after spending her first year studying in New York. Her compositions fall into the category of post-bop, with influences drawn from both, the modern sound of the Big Apple and the meditative moods of the North. Improvisation and the strong personalities of the four musicians add fresh and unexpected layers to the music each time the group takes the stage.
Their debut, In the Key of K, came out on the Finnish label Eclipse Music in late 2017, introducing a group as spirited as the Finnish spring and mysterious as East Village. Comprised of Mäensivu’s originals, the album combines tender melodies, intriguing harmonic patterns and fierce improvisation. Kaisa Mäensivu graduated with MA in music from the Manhattan School of Music, and she has performed and recorded with numerous artists both in Finland and abroad. Her band consists of young, accomplished musicians who also are well on their way in making their international breakthrough.
Pianist Mikael Myrskog and sax player Max Zenger play side by side in Max Zenger Globus quintet, who won the European broadcasting companies EBU competition for young musicians in 2018 at the French Jazz in Marziac festival. The drummer, Jonatan Sarikoski just finished his Sibelius Academy student exchange year in Graz, Austria, and grew so fond of the country’s jazz scene, that now he lives and works in Vienna. The leader Mäensivu feels that the band and the process of her music-making have matured with the distance:
– I try to bring the composition as close to the final version as I can, before I show it to the band. Often I take the songs for a round of sessions with various local musicians to get inspiration and feedback. So far we also have been fortuned to always have a brief training period before tours when both me and Jonatan have come to Finland, Mäensivu describes working from afar.
Kaisa’s Machine
Kaisa Mäensivu – double bass, Max Zenger – saxophone, Mikael Myrskog – piano, Jonatan Sarikoski – drums
Les Rencontres AJC x Nordic Jazz Comets is a 3-day jazz industry event in Paris on December 2–4, 2019. The event is produced by the Frnech club and festival network Association Jazzé Croisé in partnership with FÍH Music School (ICE), Jazz Danmark (DEN), Norsk jazzforum (NOR), Svensk Jazz (SWE) and Jazz Finland (FIN).
Nordic Jazz Comets 2.12.2019
Pan Piper, Paris
5:45pm Røgsignal (DEN)
6:30pm Kaisa’s Machine (FIN)
8:30pm Tumi Árnason & Magnús Trygvasson Eliassen (ICE)
9:15pm Erlend Apneseth Trio (NOR)
10:00pm Fartyg 6 (SWE)
Open Jazz on Radio France: Listen live here at 6.00PM
For more information, interview requests and photos, please contact producer
Raisa Siivola
Jazz Finland
raisa.siivola@jazzfinland.fi
Tel. +358 44 205 6926