JUSSI REIJONEN: THREE SECONDS | KOLME TOISTA
Jussi Reijonen’s doctoral concert.
JUSSI REIJONEN: THREE SECONDS | KOLME TOISTA
A Transcultural Suite in Five Movements
Doctoral Concert
“The music is unlike anything in memory;
it doesn’t simply alternate worldly assortments of styles
but rather creates a new, genre-less, form.
Three Seconds | Kolme Toista is spellbinding from beginning to end, and full of virtuoso performances;
it is one of the best recordings of 2022.”
★★★★½
— All About Jazz (USA)
“Even in our present jazz moment, when the art form is worldwide and vital, albums that come as complete surprises are relatively rare.
Three Seconds | Kolme Toista is a stunner. This album is a single, unified, diverse, overwhelming statement.”
— JazzTimes (USA)
Bringing together an all-star 9-piece ensemble of musicians from Finland, Jordan/Iraq, Palestine, Turkey, Japan and the United States, composer, guitarist and oud player Jussi Reijonen’s long-awaited new album Three Seconds | Kolme Toista [Challenge Records International, 2022] draws from the deep pool of influences and experiences of a childhood spent in the Middle East and East Africa as well as 13 years in the United States as an adult.
As Reijonen’s expansive new work unpacks, unravels and transcends the interlaced cultural threads within his experience, he builds a sonic world of broad and beautiful proportions, going above and beyond his critically acclaimed debut un | ان.
The dynamic interplay of the Finnish, Jordanian, Tanzanian, Omani, Lebanese and American cultures in which he grew up and lived, the ever-present feeling of being welcomed yet never truly belonging, the longing to understand his own identity within this complex and wondrous multicultural and multilingual context, and the disorienting effect of their transient existence on his familial relationships are expressed, explored and stunningly resolved in Reijonen’s transcendent suite.
In this doctoral concert – the first of a 4-concert album release tour of Finland – Reijonen’s nonet will perform Three Seconds | Kolme Toista in its entirety, followed by new arrangements of material from his album un | ان after intermission.
The members of the live ensemble have worked with artists like Danilo Pérez, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Jack DeJohnette, Terence Blanchard, Pepe de Lucía, Ron Carter, Maria Schneider, Angelique Kidjo, Snarky Puppy and Ms. Lauryn Hill.
Programme
- Three Seconds | Kolme Toista
composed and arranged by Jussi Reijonen
I. The Veil
II. Transient *
III. The Weaver, Every So Often Shifting the Sands Beneath Her
IV. Verso
V. Median
Additional intonation arranging on II. Transient by Layth Sidiq.
[ intermission ]
- Toumani (Blues for Mick)
composed and arranged by Jussi Reijonen - Serpentine
composed and arranged by Jussi Reijonen - Kaiku
collective improvisation; musical cells/script by Jussi Reijonen
Performers
- Jussi Reijonen [Finland] – compositions, arrangements; fretted/fretless guitar, Arabic oud
- Hermon Mehari [USA] – trumpet, flugelhorn
(Jaleel Shaw, Aaron Parks, Randy Brecker) - Bulut Gülen [Turkey] – trombone
(Dianne Reeves, Kurt Elling, Christian Scott)) - Layth Sidiq [Iraq/Jordan] – violin
(New York Arabic Orchestra, Danilo Pérez’s Global Messengers, Simon Shaheen, Jack DeJohnette) - Naseem Alatrash [Palestine] – cello
(Danilo Pérez’s Global Messengers, Terence Blanchard, Turtle Island Quartet, Ron Carter, Simon Shaheen) - Utar Artun [Turkey] – microtonal piano
(Bobby McFerrin, Maria Schneider, David Fiuczynski, Rudresh Mahanthappa) - Kyle Miles [USA] – fretless electric and upright bass
(Marcus Strickland, Meshell Ndegeocello, Terri Lyne Carrington, Angelique Kidjo) - Keita Ogawa [Japan] – percussion
(Cécile McLorin Salvant, Snarky Puppy, Yo-Yo Ma, Maria Schneider Orchestra) - Zach Mullings [USA] – drums
(Ms. Lauryn Hill, Billy Porter)
JUSSI REIJONEN: THREE SECONDS | KOLME TOISTA
A Transcultural Suite in Five Movements
Doctoral Concert
“The music is unlike anything in memory;
it doesn’t simply alternate worldly assortments of styles
but rather creates a new, genre-less, form.
Three Seconds | Kolme Toista is spellbinding from beginning to end, and full of virtuoso performances;
it is one of the best recordings of 2022.”
★★★★½
— All About Jazz (USA)
“Even in our present jazz moment, when the art form is worldwide and vital, albums that come as complete surprises are relatively rare.
Three Seconds | Kolme Toista is a stunner. This album is a single, unified, diverse, overwhelming statement.”
— JazzTimes (USA)
Bringing together an all-star 9-piece ensemble of musicians from Finland, Jordan/Iraq, Palestine, Turkey, Japan and the United States, composer, guitarist and oud player Jussi Reijonen’s long-awaited new album Three Seconds | Kolme Toista [Challenge Records International, 2022] draws from the deep pool of influences and experiences of a childhood spent in the Middle East and East Africa as well as 13 years in the United States as an adult.
As Reijonen’s expansive new work unpacks, unravels and transcends the interlaced cultural threads within his experience, he builds a sonic world of broad and beautiful proportions, going above and beyond his critically acclaimed debut un | ان.
The dynamic interplay of the Finnish, Jordanian, Tanzanian, Omani, Lebanese and American cultures in which he grew up and lived, the ever-present feeling of being welcomed yet never truly belonging, the longing to understand his own identity within this complex and wondrous multicultural and multilingual context, and the disorienting effect of their transient existence on his familial relationships are expressed, explored and stunningly resolved in Reijonen’s transcendent suite.
In this doctoral concert – the first of a 4-concert album release tour of Finland – Reijonen’s nonet will perform Three Seconds | Kolme Toista in its entirety, followed by new arrangements of material from his album un | ان after intermission.
The members of the live ensemble have worked with artists like Danilo Pérez, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Jack DeJohnette, Terence Blanchard, Pepe de Lucía, Ron Carter, Maria Schneider, Angelique Kidjo, Snarky Puppy and Ms. Lauryn Hill.
Programme
- Three Seconds | Kolme Toista
composed and arranged by Jussi Reijonen
I. The Veil
II. Transient *
III. The Weaver, Every So Often Shifting the Sands Beneath Her
IV. Verso
V. Median
Additional intonation arranging on II. Transient by Layth Sidiq.
[ intermission ]
- Toumani (Blues for Mick)
composed and arranged by Jussi Reijonen - Serpentine
composed and arranged by Jussi Reijonen - Kaiku
collective improvisation; musical cells/script by Jussi Reijonen
Performers
- Jussi Reijonen [Finland] – compositions, arrangements; fretted/fretless guitar, Arabic oud
- Hermon Mehari [USA] – trumpet, flugelhorn
(Jaleel Shaw, Aaron Parks, Randy Brecker) - Bulut Gülen [Turkey] – trombone
(Dianne Reeves, Kurt Elling, Christian Scott)) - Layth Sidiq [Iraq/Jordan] – violin
(New York Arabic Orchestra, Danilo Pérez’s Global Messengers, Simon Shaheen, Jack DeJohnette) - Naseem Alatrash [Palestine] – cello
(Danilo Pérez’s Global Messengers, Terence Blanchard, Turtle Island Quartet, Ron Carter, Simon Shaheen) - Utar Artun [Turkey] – microtonal piano
(Bobby McFerrin, Maria Schneider, David Fiuczynski, Rudresh Mahanthappa) - Kyle Miles [USA] – fretless electric and upright bass
(Marcus Strickland, Meshell Ndegeocello, Terri Lyne Carrington, Angelique Kidjo) - Keita Ogawa [Japan] – percussion
(Cécile McLorin Salvant, Snarky Puppy, Yo-Yo Ma, Maria Schneider Orchestra) - Zach Mullings [USA] – drums
(Ms. Lauryn Hill, Billy Porter)