UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra will be joined by one of the most interesting names of the contemporary Finnish jazz scene, pianist Aki Rissanen. The concert features music from his trio’s three albums Amorandom (2016), Another North (2017) and Art In Motion (2019) for the first time in grand big band versions. Be prepared for an A-class night!

The online concert is a recording of the concert streamed live on February 18, 2021. It can be watched on the YouTube channels of the municipalities of Askola, Sipoo, Porvoo, Mäntsälä, Loviisa and Pukkila for free from 21 to 28 May 2021.

The online concert is part of the AUF project, in which three orchestras – the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra (FiBO) – produce concerts in collaboration with the Porvoo Region Music College and municipalities. The municipal partners of 2021 are Askola, Sipoo, Porvoo, Mäntsälä, Loviisa and Pukkila.

– The concert will be a cross section of my three most recent albums in an entirely new big band format. In the hands of UMO Helsinki, pieces originally written for a trio will assume new layers and dimensions. This is a very special event for me and I’m really looking forward to hearing how the end result will sound, Rissanen describes.

To add an extra element to the sound of the big band, Rissanen will use live electronics.
– I find the repetitive nature of electronic music and acoustic techno inspiring. When playing live the electronic sounds take shape spontaneously, by building up and using loops. Nothing artificial, just organic and approachable soundscapes that blend in with the sound of the big band, Rissanen says.

Rissanen’s long-standing colleague and bandmate Mikko Hassinen has arranged the pieces for big band and conducts the concert. In addition to frequently sharing a stage together, the pair shares a passion for electronic music.

Pianist Aki Rissanen (b. 1980) belongs to the most buzzed-about and original Finnish jazz artists of the day who is swiftly making a name for himself also outside his home country. Released on the celebrated British Edition Records, Aki RIssanen Trio’s first two albums (Amorandom, 2016, and Another North, 2017) not only met with critical acclaim and garnered music prizes but also paved the way for the trio’s international breakthrough to the forefront of the European jazz scene. The trio’s most recent album, the 2019 Art In Motion, was also issued by Edition Records, and it draws inspiration from Western European classical tradition and electronic dance music. Despite his classical training, Rissanen is very much at home in the fields of jazz and improvised music. He has studied music at the Conservatory of Kuopio, Conservatoire de Paris and the Jazz Department of the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki. Besides leading his trio, Rissanen is a sought-after sideman known from a number of top groups, including Verneri Pohjola Quartet, Lauri Porra Flyover Ensemble and Mikko Hassinen Elektro GT. He has brought out altogether ten albums on various labels in Finland, France, the United States, the UK and Sweden and appeared on more than 30 recordings. www.akirissanen.com

Photo: Chris-Tomas Konieczny