The acclaimed pianist-composer throws two birthday concerts at Koko Jazz Club this May.
Composer-pianist Sid Hille has been busy this spring. A string of concerts will culminate in two nights at Koko Jazz Club. First, Hille celebrates his 55th birthday on 14 May by reuniting with some of his old bandmates, and on 21 May the hybrid of contemporary music and jazz group, Sid Hille Contemporary Collective, will perform new material on the same stage.
Active from 1997 to 2010, Platypus Ensemble was a union of some of the foremost Finnish jazz musicians, including saxophonist Manuel Dunkel and drummer Teppo Mäkynen. Praised for their seamless communication and virtuosic solos, the three original members will be joined on this special night by bassist Jori Huhtala and trumpeter Verneri Pohjola.
“The concert is a birthday present of sorts to myself. I have arranged my favourite Platypus songs for the quintet, and it’s very exciting to see where we will be able to take the old material after these years,” says Hille.
Contemporary Collective is one of Hille’s newer groups. Falling somewhere between experimental jazz and modern concert music, their 2014 debut Outer Space was a success both among the critics and the audience. The sophomore is now in the pipeline and we will get to hear tasters off the upcoming disc at Koko on 21 May. Percussive reinforcement will be provided by drummer Mika Kallio, joining Hille’s crew as a special guest.
“Our expression is deeply rooted in free improvisation. In each concert we let unpremeditated interaction take us where it will with only a few topics chosen beforehand. The versatile drum wizard Kallio is a perfect addition to our spontaneous dialogue, multiplying the rhythmic possibilities with his original and colourful selection of percussion instruments.”
German-born pianist Sid Hille (b. 1961) moved to Finland on 1994, setting first in Kokkola where he worked as the director of the jazz department of Pohjanmaa Conservatory, teaching the jazz piano and composition. Before this the cosmopolitan pianist had lived in the U.S. and Holland. Hille trained in Utrecht, at Utrecht School of the Arts, from where he graduated with his MA in 1993.
In the 2000s he has mainly worked as a musician and composer, writing for big bands, chamber orchestras and screen. In 2008, he won the first price in the Italian composition competition, Scrivere in Jazz, for his big band piece, “Tango mòrbido y cìnico”. His score for Saara Cantell’s film, Kohtaamisia, was nominated for the Finnish Jussi prize in 2011.
SH5 (Sid Hille Quintet) plays ”Tribute to the Platypus”
14 May at 19 Koko Jazz Club, tickets 18/10 €
On stage: Verneri Pohjola (trumpet), Manuel Dunkel (sax), Sid Hille (piano), Jori Huhtala (bass), Teppo Mäkynen (drums)
Sid Hille Contemporary Collective
21 May at 19 Koko Jazz Club, tickets 18/10 €
On stage: Teemu Viinikainen (guitar), Heikki Nikula (bass clarinet), Sid Hille (piano & electronics), Markus Hohti (cello & live electronics) + special guest Mika Kallio (drums)