Levity and gravity in life and jazz

By Isobel Neuberger, September 2009

Photo: RIJF
ikonen1 Karikko convened in North America this summer: Kari Ikonen (keyboards), Tony Elgland (bass), Vincent Courtois (cello), Mika Kallio (drums), Gunnar Halle (trumpet) and Sonny Heinilä (flute).

We catch up with two Finnish jazz artists, pianist Kari Ikonen and saxophonist Mikko Innanen, when their paths cross at the Rochester International Jazz Festival in New York State. Both musicians are touring widely – but slightly closer to home – this autumn.

On a sunshiny summer day, the sky a glorious blue, Finnish pianist and composer Kari Ikonen and his band Karikko kicked off their North American tour at the Rochester International Jazz Festival.

The festival's hugely popular Nordic Jazz Now series showcases the best of Northern European jazz. Undeterred by long queues, adventuresome audiences welcomed the exotic line-up, and Finnish musicians delighted overflow crowds at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, celebrated for its soaring acoustics.

Musical adventures

Photo: RIJF
Click to enlarge the picture
Kari Ikonen travels to Russia this autumn with the Gnomus trio for an “interesting adventure”.

Ikonen's debut album, Karikko, won an Emma, Finland's equivalent of a Grammy Award, for best jazz album of the year in 2001. He describes his compositions over the intervening years as "all different, but interesting." Some of the tunes, he says, are exactly arranged and orchestrated, while others let his group members do their own thing.

The others include: Vincent Courtois, cello; Tony Elgland, double bass; Gunnar Halle, trumpet; Sonny Heinilä, flute; and Mika Kallio, drums.

In a group where one musician lives in Oslo, another one resides in Paris and the Finns are spread out across the country, organising – to say nothing of rehearsing – can pose a challenge. They work best doing several concerts in a row, after which six months may pass before they get together again.

Ikonen, 35, enjoys playing festivals, but small spaces where the audience is very close are more intimate. Late September and early October find him on tour in Russia. "That's going to be an interesting adventure," he says. In December he plans to go to Barcelona for the winter. "The weather in Finland is bitter," he notes, "and there's more light and more work [in Barcelona]."

Fun and seriousness

Photo: RIJF
Click to enlarge the picture
From left: Stefan Pasborg, Jonas Westergaard, Kasper Tranberg and Mikko Innanen take the stage as Delirium.

Blue skies were replaced with relentless, record-breaking rain for the festival’s last two days. The change came as no surprise to anyone who lives in Rochester, where it's said, "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes."

Still, nothing dampened the spirits of the soggy, standing-room-only crowd welcoming Delirium and its Finnish saxophonist Mikko Innanen. Innanen and his three Danish colleagues play their own original compositions. They believe that both fun and seriousness should be present in music, as they are in life.

As with Karikko, rehearsals can be "kind of tricky" to arrange, says Innanen, who was awarded a three-year artist grant by the Arts Council of Finland in September. He lives in Helsinki, the others in Copenhagen. They're all professionals, Innanen says, so they can handle it. Judging from the painstaking, mind-boggling attention to detail during the band's lengthy sound check rehearsal, they certainly can.

After Rochester, Innanen and drummer Stefan Pasborg took a few days off in New York City. Cornet player Kasper Tranberg and bassist Jonas Westergaard had to return to Copenhagen, only to fly back to New York four days later to begin Delirium's first North American tour. Jetlag is something travelling musicians must live with. Festivals in Canada – Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Victoria and Saskatoon – accounted for the rest of their summer.

Stronger, better musicians

Innanen met his Delirium bandmates ten years ago when he was a 21-year-old exchange student in Copenhagen. They've played together ever since. "I'm very happy to play with this group," he says. "People change and become stronger and better musicians."

Delirium has played in Finland, Denmark, Germany, Italy, France, Canada and the US. How do audiences differ from country to country? "People tend to be more critical in your own country," Innanen points out. Like Ikonen and many other jazz musicians, Innanen plays in various ensembles and combinations. Some of them can be heard this autumn in gigs in Finland, France and Estonia, including a Finnish Jazz Federation tour.

In concert this autumn

(ensemble names in parentheses)

Kari Ikonen

Sept. 29 at Proekt OGI, Moscow, Russia (Gnomus)
Sept. 30 at Centre of Contemporary Art, Yaroslavl, Russia (Gnomus with Ilia Belorukov (sax))
Oct. 1 at Café Zachet, Vologda, Russia (Gnomus with Ilia Belorukov)
Oct. 2 at DomAJ, Tver, Russia (Gnomus with Ilia Belorukov)
Oct. 3 at GEZ-21, St Petersburg, Russia (Gnomus with Ilia Belorukov)
Oct. 4 at JFC Jazz Club, St Petersburg, Russia (Quartet with Lenny Sendersky (sax))
Oct. 6 at American Bar, Helsinki, Finland (with André Sumelius (drums))
Dec. 3 at Finnish Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (Äkräs with Verneri Pohjola(trumpet))

Mikko Innanen

Oct. 7 at Juttutupa, Helsinki, Finland (Tonight at Noon)

Finnish Jazz Federation tour (Mikko Innanen & Mika Kallio Duo)

Oct. 8 at Nuorisokeskus, Seinäjoki, Finland
Oct. 9 at Teatteri Rio, Oulu, Finland
Oct. 10 at Bio Huvimylly, Raahe, Finland
Oct. 13 at Allotria/Kapsäkki, Helsinki, Finland
Oct. 14 at Wanha Kasino, Savonlinna, Finland
Oct. 15 at Poppari, Jyväskylä, Finland
Oct. 16 at Kino Kuvakukko, Kuopio, Finland
Oct. 17 at Teatteriravintola, Joensuu, Finland

Mikko Innanen

Oct. 19 at Dubrovnik, Helsinki, Finland (PLOP)
Oct. 23 at Avignon, France (Innkvisitio)
Oct. 24 at Perpignan, France (Innkvisitio)
Oct. 28 at Juttutupa, Helsinki, Finland (K-18)
Oct. 31 at Pakkahuone, Tampere Jazz Happening, Finland (Innkvisitio)
Nov. 1 at KUMU, Tallinn, Estonia (Innkvisitio)

 

Links:

Kari Ikonen’s homepage(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
Mikko Innanen’s homepage(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) 
Rochester International Jazz Festival(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)