| Happy New Year! 2014 was a great year for me, with lots of new and fascinating experiences. I'll have a short look back and try to list at least some of the (mostly) musical events of the year. Lisbon   | January was mostly spent in teaching and playing with my students. In February I traveled to Lisbon, to play with my friend, the great guitarist Bruno Santos, and to give master class at the Hot Clube/ Escola de Jazz Luiz Villas-Boas. I had a tremendous time there, and got totally enchanted about the city. Such a great vibe, I'd love to spend there more time at some point in my life for sure! On our concerts at Hot Clube, me and Bruno worked with drummer Luis Candeias and bassist Antonio Quintino. We also played a Sunday afternoon jam at a cafe Tati, which turned to be really great! There we played mainly with bassist André Carvalho, Luis on drums and Goncalo Marques. A lot of fun indeed!  |
 From the backstage of Hot Clube de Portugal. Such a great club! |  Me and Bruno at the yacht harbour on our day off. |
Giving a master class at the Escola de Jazz Luiz Villas-Boas.
March- April was mostly just busy with teaching and planning new projects (I'm sure I miss some things here, so please excuse me in case that happens). One highlight of April was however attending a concert by the great Kenny Garrett at the April Jazz Festival. Me and my friend, guitarist Neff Irizarry also witnessed a fun, backstage piano battle between Kenny and the actual pianist of his group, Vernell Brown Jr.
A few days after, I had the pleasure of hosting Benito Gonzalez for about one week, here in Helsinki and also in Joensuu (at Karelia University of Applied Sciences-Pop/Jazz Music Degree Program) where did some master classes and combos. The students loved him, and no wonder, he's a brilliant musician with a big heart!
Benito giving his master class for all our students at Karelia.
We had 2 concerts together after returning from Joensuu. One at the KOKO Jazz Club in Helsinki, and another at MONK club in Turku. The band was really grooving! On bass we had Ape Anttila and on drums Jussi Lehtonen.
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From MONK Club in Turku. Photos courtesy of Olli Sulin.
South Africa
In the end of June I left for South Africa for the annual IASJ Meeting in Cape Town, which was being held at the South African College of Music (part of University of Cape Town) ; and to perform and teach at the Standard Bank Jazz Festival/National Youth Jazz Festival in Grahamstown (as part of the huge National Arts Festival. We also had one night in Cape Town at the Straight No Chaser club, which was so much fun! The place was totally packed on both sets, lots of friends in the audience and the mood was just right! Thanks to Kesivan for arranging that night! This band was - and still is - really special, and both challenging and rewarding to play with! Partly based on my 'Hi-Fi Quintuplet', we have Nick Smart on trumpet (London/UK), Ronan Guilfoyle on bass (Dublin/IRE), Kyle Shepherd on piano (Cape Town/ZA) and Kesivan Naidoo on drums.
Here's a few shots from IASJ and Cape Town:
Here's a few shots from IASJ and Cape Town:
Me, Nick and Ronan rehearsing for the IASJ teacher's concert. On drums Anders Vestergård from Sweden.
Artistic Director Dave Liebman talking to teachers and students and admin people at the IASJ Meeting in South African College of Music.
Kesivan at the Port Elisabeth airport. Always having a great time!
 From our open rehearsals, Nick soloing, Kyle comping in the background... |  Ronan and Kesivan before the gig. |
Me, Nick, Kesivan, Ronan and Kyle after our concert at the festival.
Meeting outdoors at the Grahamstown festival. A great vibe!
The great Maria Schneider rehearsing outdoors, while a bird started to sing back from a tree! Maria is a well-know ornithology (as well as our Nick Smart)...
| Italy After coming home from South Africa, I left for Italy for about a month. First stop was Atina Jazz Campus , as part of Atina Jazz Festival in Atina, Lazio (near Frosinone). I was heading the campus and we had a great collection of students and teachers from Finland, Denmark, Italy (naturally), Portugal, Serbia, Brazil, Hungary... Such a great campus, and musically so far the most satisfactory of these camps. Everybody worked really hard and still the vibe was loose and creative! Looking forward to next summer! Special thanks to teachers Markus Niittynen, Peter Szendofi Carlos Ezequiel Dario Germani Ettore Fioravanti Marta Raviglia Susanna Stivali Pericle Odierna ! |
 Concert night at Picinisco.Johannes Gammelgaard on sax, Regina Szabo on vocals and Paolo Motta on guitar. |  Markus Niittynen with his new camera (which was, fair to say, being used a lot!). Stay natural! |
 Istvan Szogi on trombone. |  Johannes Gammelgaard on tenor. |
 Carlos Ezequiel having a 'Rhythmic Training' class. |  Last night group photo at the court of Palazzio Ducale. |
After the Campus we still played one short concert with Markus, Carlos and bassist Mario Mazzenga- presenting Miles' music from the 60's, as part of a serious Miles Davis presentation by Gino Castaldo and Ernesto Assante.
After Atina we drove to Salento (the very South of Italy, to have a little time off and also to perform with great local musicians (and also with the great Martin Jakobsen). The gigs were organised by the pianist Fracesco Negro, and we had a couple of different rhythm sections.
In Maglie, with Francesco on piano, Matteo Maria Maglio on bass and Alberto Stefanizzi on drums.
Doing a sound check at Art Cafe Maglie stage, together with Martin Jakobsen, Francesco (piano), Matteo (bass)and Alex Semprevio on drums.
Back home...
In August I did a one-day trip to Stockholm, to play a concert with my old friend, pianist Mika Pohjola. We did the concert at the Finnish Church in the gorgeous Old Town (Gamla Stan). It feels great to play duo every once in a while! We played a couple of my tunes, some Mika's tunes and a few tunes Chacarera tunes by Fernando Huergo.
September I spent mostly teaching and practicing, and playing with my students. Anyhow I did a weekend trip to Tallinn with my son Milo, for his fencing competition. Such a nice city!
September I spent mostly teaching and practicing, and playing with my students. Anyhow I did a weekend trip to Tallinn with my son Milo, for his fencing competition. Such a nice city!
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Japan!
We had a 2-week-tour with Mike del Ferro on piano, Tuure Koski on bass and Ville Pynssi on drums.
Me, Tuure and Ville flew Japan Airlines via London, while Mike came directly from Amsterdam, so we met and rehearsed in Tokyo.
Our first gig was a small festival in Tokyo, called Ochanomizu Netsuretsu Gakkisai, organised be the Meiji University. On the same night we still dropped by in the famous Body and Soul club in Minami-Aoyama. Owned by a great old lady called Kyoko Seki, it is one of those places that has the right vibe for a jazz club. Me and Mike got invited to play a few tunes with the rhythm section of that night, Kengo Nakamura and Dennis Frehse who, except sounded great, were working that night with the well-established pianist Junko Moriya who was so kind to invite us on stage. After a couple of tunes also Tuure and Ville joined us, and we played some tunes from our repertoire.
The following day we were off to Niigata, to perform at the Jazz Flash which also a legendary club, with a long history. In some way, this felt like the opening night of the tour, and the audience really loved us. We also had a great party there after the concert, cannot really complain! Hope to go back soon!
Next day we traveled to Kobe, it took the whole day, but luckily that night was free. Next day we performed at Kobe Modern Jazz Club, organised by Dai Murata. What a brilliant night!
Me, Tuure and Ville flew Japan Airlines via London, while Mike came directly from Amsterdam, so we met and rehearsed in Tokyo.
Our first gig was a small festival in Tokyo, called Ochanomizu Netsuretsu Gakkisai, organised be the Meiji University. On the same night we still dropped by in the famous Body and Soul club in Minami-Aoyama. Owned by a great old lady called Kyoko Seki, it is one of those places that has the right vibe for a jazz club. Me and Mike got invited to play a few tunes with the rhythm section of that night, Kengo Nakamura and Dennis Frehse who, except sounded great, were working that night with the well-established pianist Junko Moriya who was so kind to invite us on stage. After a couple of tunes also Tuure and Ville joined us, and we played some tunes from our repertoire.
The following day we were off to Niigata, to perform at the Jazz Flash which also a legendary club, with a long history. In some way, this felt like the opening night of the tour, and the audience really loved us. We also had a great party there after the concert, cannot really complain! Hope to go back soon!
Next day we traveled to Kobe, it took the whole day, but luckily that night was free. Next day we performed at Kobe Modern Jazz Club, organised by Dai Murata. What a brilliant night!
From Body and Soul, Kengo Nakamura on bass, Junko Moriya on piano, Dennis Frehse on drums.
Bar Request/Kobe Modern Jazz Club. A fantastic night.
Following day we performed in Kyoto, at the Kyoto Blue Note, which is not part of the Blue Note-chain, but an old club
that has been working under the same owner and name since 1962. Small and quite cozy place, we played with a very good energy that night. After that we headed back to Tokyo, to meet some people and take care of business. Great dinners and lunches always in Tokyo! Next gig was at Jazz Club Someday in Shinjuku, which is quite a big place for a Japanese club, and also very well established. Unfortunately the owner hadn't obviously taken care of his business, so there was only a few customers. But, blessing in disguise - one of them was a well-known Swedish jazz pianist, Ronny Johansson with his wife. Ronny played with us a few tunes, so we did have small jam session as well.
that has been working under the same owner and name since 1962. Small and quite cozy place, we played with a very good energy that night. After that we headed back to Tokyo, to meet some people and take care of business. Great dinners and lunches always in Tokyo! Next gig was at Jazz Club Someday in Shinjuku, which is quite a big place for a Japanese club, and also very well established. Unfortunately the owner hadn't obviously taken care of his business, so there was only a few customers. But, blessing in disguise - one of them was a well-known Swedish jazz pianist, Ronny Johansson with his wife. Ronny played with us a few tunes, so we did have small jam session as well.
Mike and me and our friend Yasuhito Mori, the great bassist living in Sweden.
Next we were off to Wakayama, which is situated in Kansai Region, around one-and-a-half hours from Osaka. The trip took us much longer than originally planned, and we arrived finally at the club Desafinado around the time we should have been starting. Luckily the audience was very generous and waited good-humoured while we set up our gear and changed our clothes (something NOT to be taken for granted, especially in Japan!). Beautiful audience, we enjoyed very much playing there!
 Cafe Restaurant Desafinado, a great place! And off we go - heading now back North, and performing on the same night in Nagoya. We had (again) our luxurious 30 minutes at the hotel before rushing to the club.. |  Next day we had the chance to visit an ONSEN (hot springs) nearby. This photo is shot from there. So many parts of Japan are really incredibly beautiful.. |
In Nagoya we performed at Sunny Side which is a fantastic club run by Yuji Iwatani and his wife. Beautiful night, and almost everyone in the audience was a musician, I understood.
Next day we had to return to Tokyo for our hotel, and then continue to Mito, Ibaraki, for our gig that night. A bit of a stretch again, but we made it and had a great night at the Girl Talk which is undeniably the best club in the whole region. We had also some friends in the audience and it was wonderful to play there!
Next day we had to return to Tokyo for our hotel, and then continue to Mito, Ibaraki, for our gig that night. A bit of a stretch again, but we made it and had a great night at the Girl Talk which is undeniably the best club in the whole region. We had also some friends in the audience and it was wonderful to play there!
Ville and Tuure at Girl Talk. Photos by Moeri Kobayashi.
Me and Mike at Girl Talk.
After the last concert of the tour at Girl Talk.
The following day Tuure and Ville flew home, and me and Mike stayed for one more day. We had a whole bunch of people to meet, really busy day... Last but not least we met the great composer, musician and sound engineer Seigen Ono. A great day!
Seigen, Mike and me having a dinner in a very 'local' place in Omotesando. Oishi desu!
Back home I was busy with teaching and scheduling new projects again. I did, however throw a quite-well-behind- birthday party, since I had turned 50 in September. That was so much fun!
I also played several concerts with my students towards the end of the year, and we worked really hard for those. I was supposed to go to Cuba in early December, but for practical reasons we postponed the appearance at the Festival Jazz Plaza in Havana, for December 2015.
I also played several concerts with my students towards the end of the year, and we worked really hard for those. I was supposed to go to Cuba in early December, but for practical reasons we postponed the appearance at the Festival Jazz Plaza in Havana, for December 2015.
2015
We are now already almost mid-January, and I am still waiting for quite a few confirmations for this first half of the year. But my plan is, besides teaching and writing and practicing, to
- give master classes and play some duo concerts with Benito Gonzalez in Spain and Italy (February)
- do a 5-day teacher exchange to Royal Conservatory in Den Hague
- do a tour in Asia with Mike del Ferro (+ a rhythm section for sure..)- including Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia (March)
- visit South Africa and perform and teach at the SAJE festival and Cape Town Jazz Festival, plus do some recordings there(March-April)
- visit Japan (May) for some concerts and business
Thanks so much for reading/going through all this! (not sure if I would've managed myself:)
I will post shortly more news, please stick around!!!!
Thank you!!
- give master classes and play some duo concerts with Benito Gonzalez in Spain and Italy (February)
- do a 5-day teacher exchange to Royal Conservatory in Den Hague
- do a tour in Asia with Mike del Ferro (+ a rhythm section for sure..)- including Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia (March)
- visit South Africa and perform and teach at the SAJE festival and Cape Town Jazz Festival, plus do some recordings there(March-April)
- visit Japan (May) for some concerts and business
Thanks so much for reading/going through all this! (not sure if I would've managed myself:)
I will post shortly more news, please stick around!!!!
Thank you!!
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