Pianist Kari Ikonen’s innovative trio with bassist Ara Yaralyan and drummer Markku Ounaskari will cross the Atlantic to play five concerts in the United States. In addition to the trio tour, Ikonen will be seen on stage as a duo with drummer Ra-Kalam Bob Moses.
Kari Ikonen Trio, led by the eponymous Finnish pianist, will head to the United States on a five-concert tour in June. The trio’s debut was released a year ago on German label, Ozella Music, and the group’s sophomore for the same label is currently in the making. The U.S. tour will begin on 19 June by Ikonen and the legendary drummer Ra-Kalam Bob Moses’s duo performance at Brooklyn’s ShapeShifter Lab. The trio tour will start on the 21st from club Nublu in New York and end at Washington DC Nordic Jazz 2014 Festival where the group will give three live shows from 21st to 27th of June.
Ikonen, one of the most renowned jazz pianists in Finland, has secured in his trio two exceptional musicians whose style could not be better suited to the group’s aura: Bassist Ara Yaralyan, of Armenian origin, and drummer Markku Ounaskari, who records for the highly acclaimed ECM Records. The repertoire of their last year’s album consisted of five full-blooded original compositions by Ikonen and versions of pieces popularised by John Coltrane, among others. Kari Ikonen Trio has been praised especially for their unique sound – a result of seamless co-operation between the band members – effortless rhythmic flow and Ikonen’s extremely individual compositions that hint to a range of musical sources from African rhythms to expressionist harmonic patterns and Eastern scales. Bassist Yaralyan’s Armenian roots add a distinct flavour to the sound, as does Ounaskari’s subtle drumming, which displays his sovereign command of the tradition of Scandinavian improvisational music. All this comes together in the leader Ikonen’s vision of the modern piano trio where the classic line-up’s flexibility is put to test to experiment with the musicians’ original ideas and to probe new paths, such as the double-bass’s melodic potential when played with a bow.
Ikonen (b. 1973) was rightly knighted with the Yrjö jazz award last year. In addition to his trio and international sextet, Karikko, he has collaborated with first-class jazz musicians and groups, such as UMO Jazz Orchestra, Ingrid Jensen, Bob Moses, Magnus Broo and Ron McClure. He is also a widely recognised composer, awarded in the prestigious American Julius Hemphill Composition Awards and Italian Scrivere in Jazz composition contests. In addition to his career as a musician and composer Ikonen teaches at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.
KARI IKONEN TRIO
Kari Ikonen, piano / Ara Yaralyan, double bass / Markku Ounaskari, drums
KARI IKONEN TRIO YHDYSVALLOISSA 21.–27.6.2014
21 June Nublu, New York
23 June Xerox Rochester Internatonal Jazz Festival, Rochester, NY
24 June The Finnish Embassy, Washington DC (Nordic Jazz 2014)
25 June Nordic Jazz Festival, House of Sweden, Washington DC (Nordic Jazz 2014)
27 June Twins Jazz, Washington DC (Nordic Jazz 2014)
DUO KARI IKONEN & RA-KALAM BOB MOSES
19.6. ShapeShifter Lab, Brooklyn (NY)
Kari Ikonen Trio: Bright
Ozella Music CD/LP (release date in Finland 5 April 2013)
Distributor: Supersounds Music
1. Bapmgwala / 2. Ambivalsante / 3. The Testament of My Heart / 4. Plumbum / 5. Giant Steps / 6. I Fall In Love Too Easily / 7. Trance Oriental / 8. Pacific.