Hi everybody! The spring this year just seemed to pass so fast one couldn't even quite notice it..
Now it's already June - sorry for not keeping updated with my blog! I will try to manage it better from now on... Anyways - I was doing some cleaning in my study, and came up with a CD from 2006 that brought in a lot of memories. Also from 2007 I found a funny little audio file, more about those later in this blog. And the reason why I was going through my study (except for cleaning) for that I was trying to find another little, un-official recording, and I did found it eventually. So some excerpts here below..
Right at the moment it's raining dogs and cats here in Helsinki, but we already had quite a few really nice days of summer. Just hope that wasn't the 'summer' for this year! :) But in any case I'll be heading to Italy soon again with my sweet kids Milo and Lumi, and we'll spend some quality time over there. I'll also be playing a bit here and there along the trip - I'll post the details soon!
It has always been a pleasure playing with my friend, pianist Francesco Negro from Maglie, Puglia. Here is a couple of photos from a duo concert with him. Photos by Andrea Rizzo. I'm looking forward to playing with Francesco again this summer!
Now it's already June - sorry for not keeping updated with my blog! I will try to manage it better from now on... Anyways - I was doing some cleaning in my study, and came up with a CD from 2006 that brought in a lot of memories. Also from 2007 I found a funny little audio file, more about those later in this blog. And the reason why I was going through my study (except for cleaning) for that I was trying to find another little, un-official recording, and I did found it eventually. So some excerpts here below..
Right at the moment it's raining dogs and cats here in Helsinki, but we already had quite a few really nice days of summer. Just hope that wasn't the 'summer' for this year! :) But in any case I'll be heading to Italy soon again with my sweet kids Milo and Lumi, and we'll spend some quality time over there. I'll also be playing a bit here and there along the trip - I'll post the details soon!
It has always been a pleasure playing with my friend, pianist Francesco Negro from Maglie, Puglia. Here is a couple of photos from a duo concert with him. Photos by Andrea Rizzo. I'm looking forward to playing with Francesco again this summer!
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Now, going back to the past for a second.. The CD I mentioned about is here below.
New York, 2006, E.S.T. and IAJE
As you noticed, it's the infamous E.S.T. - Esbjörn Svensson Trio's EP recording. The track 'The Unstable Table and The Infamous Fable' was a live take from Berlin, and the same tune can be found on the 'Viaticum' CD (Act, 2005). Most of you probably know about the horribly sad and very untimely passing of Esbjörn himself (the pianist). But why this brought me memories was, that I happened to be at the IAJE Conference in New York, which this recording is also advertising (as part of their North-American Tour). This concert was on January 13th, 2006 at Hotel Hilton Ballroom, and it was a very powerful and genuinely moving one! People (the audience) seemed to be in some sort of half-trance, and the music just kept going and going. And although I cannot be said being a huge fan of so-called Nordic Jazz (if that exists as a style - worth another full conversation!), or at least I'm not preferring it to any other jazz 'style', I have to say that the band was really happening! The trio members could really read each other's minds, and they had played together A LOT, which is always the thing to strive for! There's so many things about music that cannot be rehearsed or 'practiced' - you just have to do it, over and over again. We all know how much and how hard Trane worked - and the results of it. And although the world has changed, and that kind of opportunities (several weeks long appearances in clubs, for example) don't really exist anymore, it is always a healthy thing to put yourself in a situation where you just play with other people, more or less on a daily basis!
China, Korea, 2007
This next memory takes me back to China, in the Province of Shanghai in 2007. I was playing with my group (with Samuli Mikkonen on piano, Fernando Huergo on bass, and Ville Pynssi on drums) on 'Water Village Music Festival' as part of our tour in China and Korea. Unfortunately I cannot remember the Chinese name of that marvellous place anymore, but was like a miniature Chinese Venice, with hundreds of small bridges and houses by the water. They had a male choir at the opening gala (which was televised), along with all the bands performing at that event, and at some point I was asked to join the Chinese male choir in their performance, for one song. I couldn't refuse naturally, but - just to give a little BG info - the average age of the choir was well over 80, probably 90, and naturally none of them spoke one word of English. Also they didn't read music, but just did their own Work Songs like they have been sung for probably hundreds of years (strangely similar by the way, with their American counterparts, at least by the mood. If you check the Alan Lomax files, you can hear of course a lot of different-sounding takes under 'Work Songs' but there certainly is a noticeable similarity here!).
So - there was I standing, with the TV cameras rolling and the audience waiting - and this soloist of the choir, Mr. Yang just started singing (the idea was to have some kind of musical communication going on) and I was supposed to play with him. Well, it was an experience at least! And a very memorable one. Here below you can hear how it came out (a raw take from the TV clip, no mix).
So - there was I standing, with the TV cameras rolling and the audience waiting - and this soloist of the choir, Mr. Yang just started singing (the idea was to have some kind of musical communication going on) and I was supposed to play with him. Well, it was an experience at least! And a very memorable one. Here below you can hear how it came out (a raw take from the TV clip, no mix).
The concerts we did in Korea were at the Jarasum Jazz Festival and also at the Spring Hall in Seoul. That was my first visit in Korea and the experience was super positive! The audiences were just marvellous and we were taken good care of.
Holland, 2015 fall
I will post later some more files and videos from the past. There is actually quite a lot of stuff waiting to be 'let out' at some point! :)
Anyhow, this next little sample is from my visit at the Royal Conservatory in Den Hague, Netherlands last October. I played a couple of concerts with the Big Band and they recorded the first one (probably the second one would have been better, btw) so here below you can find Frank Foster's 'Simone' and Peter Herboltzheimer's 'Modus 2'. The band was conducted by John Ruocco. Again, just a raw mix, not a finalised 'product'..Great thanks to Wouter Turkenburg for the invitation and for being a great host, and thanks to John Ruocco for the inspiration and great stories! It was also wonderful to meet my old friend Jarmo Hoogendijk after so many years, and Nils Fischer! Holland is a wonderful country.
Anyhow, this next little sample is from my visit at the Royal Conservatory in Den Hague, Netherlands last October. I played a couple of concerts with the Big Band and they recorded the first one (probably the second one would have been better, btw) so here below you can find Frank Foster's 'Simone' and Peter Herboltzheimer's 'Modus 2'. The band was conducted by John Ruocco. Again, just a raw mix, not a finalised 'product'..Great thanks to Wouter Turkenburg for the invitation and for being a great host, and thanks to John Ruocco for the inspiration and great stories! It was also wonderful to meet my old friend Jarmo Hoogendijk after so many years, and Nils Fischer! Holland is a wonderful country.
China again, Japan, 2006
For the next samples we go back to year 2006, when I was touring in China and Japan with my group Tube Factory. On that tour the band consisted of Samuli Mikkonen on piano, Lasse Lindgren on bass and André Sumelius on drums. It was a long and quit hard tour - in 4 weeks we had 26 concerts and still traveled quite a bit, although our first commitment in Guangzhou (Kanton) was actually a 9-days-long one in a newly opened club! After Guangzhou we flew to Chengdu which is a wonderful place in the very center of China. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan, and those of you who know well Chinese kitchens, know what it means, in terms of HOT food! Holy cow! But Chengdu was a lovely experience altogether- we performed a few days at the EU-China Parteneriat Fair- all gigs on big stage outdoors. There was one scary incident on this gig as well: one night when we were performing (the audience was mostly rural people- not very familiar with jazz or foreign groups altogether), suddenly a seemingly drugged or otherwise mentally not stable man without any shirt just jumped on stage, right before me. He had a knife in his hand and was probably going to use it - I couldn't even hold my breath, but in the next moment the guards (who were on the stage, I didn't even notice them before this!) just kicked the guy and he fell from the stage down. A second later they had him and took off. We never stopped playing, the same piano solo by Samuli continuying all the time! I think I still have somewhere a video clip of this, will try to find it for the next time!
From Chengdu we continued to Shanghai for a few days' residency at the Shanghai Conservatory, as well as some concerts at the JZ Club, the most serious one of the many Shanghai jazz joints. From there we moved on to Beijing and concerts and master classes in the region, and then for our last stop to Tokyo, Japan, where we stayed for a few days before finally heading home.
Anyways - these two samples below : the first one- Old C - is from our last concert and final set of the tour, at (Tokyo) Shinjuku Pit Inn. We actually had a full recording gear at the club for 2 days, and the recordings were made by the great pianist/sound engineer Ken'ichiro Shinazawa! Maybe I'll release some of those tracks one day...
The second one is from one of those Chengdu concerts - a day-time concert, maybe around 12the day of the tour.
I will try to find some photos from this tour, too!
From Chengdu we continued to Shanghai for a few days' residency at the Shanghai Conservatory, as well as some concerts at the JZ Club, the most serious one of the many Shanghai jazz joints. From there we moved on to Beijing and concerts and master classes in the region, and then for our last stop to Tokyo, Japan, where we stayed for a few days before finally heading home.
Anyways - these two samples below : the first one- Old C - is from our last concert and final set of the tour, at (Tokyo) Shinjuku Pit Inn. We actually had a full recording gear at the club for 2 days, and the recordings were made by the great pianist/sound engineer Ken'ichiro Shinazawa! Maybe I'll release some of those tracks one day...
The second one is from one of those Chengdu concerts - a day-time concert, maybe around 12the day of the tour.
I will try to find some photos from this tour, too!
This last track - that was taken probably from a video cam- so one mic take- was actually released on the Italian 'Jazz Magazine' Sampler, together with stars like the late, great Johnny Griffin, Furio di Castri, Massimo Urbani and Ray Anderson.. A real 'low-fi' one! Here's the cover:
Finally - thanks so much for reading, and hopefully at least some of you had the patience to listen to those samples! :) In the near future I'm planning to open a section on this site for transcriptions and scores, that will be downloadable for free.
For other news - I will soon get (finally) finished with the production of a recording we did back in 2012 with Ronan Guilfoyle, Greg Burk and Carlos Ezequiel in both Paris and Basel. So I hope to have it released by early fall 2016!
And more - this summer will be the first ever Pescara Summer Jazz Campus, in the city (or near) of Pescara, Italy. I am very much looking forward to that, since I have been working on it for a year already, together with my friend Angelo Valori. I will be heading the campus and teaching saxophone, improvisation, combos etc. For the other teachers I can at this point announce Markus Niittynen (piano, combos) and Jussi Lehtonen (drums, combos), and there will be more for sure! The dates are from August 12th until August 22nd, and the students will have to pay ONLY for the lodging and the food (plus their transportation)! I will soon start taking reservations - so if you are interested... stay tuned!
I wish you all a fantastic summer! (Yes, I know, down is Brazil and ZA it is winter now, but from my perspective even that is summer! :))
For other news - I will soon get (finally) finished with the production of a recording we did back in 2012 with Ronan Guilfoyle, Greg Burk and Carlos Ezequiel in both Paris and Basel. So I hope to have it released by early fall 2016!
And more - this summer will be the first ever Pescara Summer Jazz Campus, in the city (or near) of Pescara, Italy. I am very much looking forward to that, since I have been working on it for a year already, together with my friend Angelo Valori. I will be heading the campus and teaching saxophone, improvisation, combos etc. For the other teachers I can at this point announce Markus Niittynen (piano, combos) and Jussi Lehtonen (drums, combos), and there will be more for sure! The dates are from August 12th until August 22nd, and the students will have to pay ONLY for the lodging and the food (plus their transportation)! I will soon start taking reservations - so if you are interested... stay tuned!
I wish you all a fantastic summer! (Yes, I know, down is Brazil and ZA it is winter now, but from my perspective even that is summer! :))
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