A Visible Flame

Report by Mike Dooley. Pic from Ilmiliekki

Ilmiliekki is a Finnish word for a flame that ignites visibly after coals have been smouldering for a while. The fire was very evident on the night of Wednesday August 3rd as the Ilmillieki Quartet played at the Finnish embassy in Canberra. With the combined talents of 4 technically brilliant, musically sensitive, obviously highly creative musicians it is no surprise that they have won a number of Finnish and European awards and have been billed as one of Europe’s most exciting contemporary jazz acts.

It is one concert that is hard for this reviewer to categorise, and it seems a disservice to the music to classify simply it into the “jazz genre”. Conspicuous was the absence of walking bass lines and swing beats, though Antti’s rhythmic tightness and excellent intonation was evident on the bass throughout. Harmonically, the music definitely owes a lot to contemporary jazz, rhythmically perhaps more to rock, and in the sense of space, dynamics and composition there are contemporary classical influences. Underneath there is a Nordic feeling of lyricism and drama.

Their set on this occasion included mostly originals. They began with four of Verneri’s tunes. The first, Ancient History 1991, celebrated the year that Verneri started learning trumpet. Immediately a sense of space was created by a haunting melody which built into a dynamic rock influenced piece. Olavi was particularly energetic, conjuring a wide range of timbres from his kit and adding to them by drumming on the small table next to him and the concrete pillar behind him. For Three, the next tune, was a piece that felt more like 6/4 than 3/4, and had a slightly Spanish feel to the melody and harmony. Once again the sense of dynamics and space gave the composition and very satisfying arc. Following that was a piece which Verneri rather reluctantly told me after the gig was called “The Castrator”. That helped to explain the intensity and energy of the music. In retrospect, I am glad I was blissfully ignorant to the meaning. Karhu, which means the bear, began with angular, almost minimalist fragments over a fast 16 which developed into a more flowing tune played by the trumpet doubled by piano, a technique that was employed to good effect throughout the night. Tuomo then took an energetic and inventive solo, then stopped playing as Verneri took his solo over the drums and bass. Once again contrast and space was created. Next the band once again showed their eclectic talents with a delightfully pentatonic rendition of Burt Bacharach’s “Me Japanese boy”.

The next 2 pieces in the set were written by Tuomo. Ico began with an almost classical sounding piano solo that once again contained echoes of Debussy and Ravel, then voiced piquantly by Verneri on melodica. A very fast but at the same time and spacious rock beat then sat under a piano and trumpet doubled melody, which developed into a innovative solo where Verneri squeezed a wide variety of tones out of his instrument. Tuomo backed up with minimalist textures on piano that could have come out of Steve Reich composition. Then proceeded with a blindingly fast solo that continued as Verneri reprised the melodica melody, and the piece ended once again with a return to the poignant lyricism of the intro. The next piece, Hatchi, was underpinned with a minimalist one note bass line and drum beat that could almost be described as ¼ and an unusual but appealing major melody. Tuomo then created a heavenly sounding contrapuntal melodic solo in the high register of the piano towards the end of which Verneri came in softly underneath with a beautifully understated mournful trumpet melody, which grew into his own solo, beginning with unusual breath effects on the trumpet and climaxing with low flutter tones on top of Tuomo’s apocalyptic sounding rippling piano chords. As the piece developed to its frenetic climax, Verneri once again voiced the melody. The encore was a rendition of Ornette Coleman’s “What reason could I give”, at the end of which Verneri played a haunting unaccompanied solo into the piano with the pedal held down, creating scintillating harmonic reverberations.

Chatting with the band afterwards, I learned that Verneri had almost given up trumpet in his early twenties, but was inspired to continue after hearing Norwegian jazz trumpet player Per Jorgensen. So we have a lot to thank Per for, because Verneri and his fellow band members have made an unmistakable and highly unique contribution to the contemporary music scene.

Ilmiliekki Quartet are Verneri Pohjola (trumpet), Tuomo Prättälä (piano), Antti Lötjönen (bass) and Olavi Louhivuori (drums).

Ensemble finery

It’s not every day we hear tell of Finland, so a juxtaposition of Ilmiliekki and Finnish education within 24-hours was notable. Ilmiliekki is a capable, young jazz band that is visiting Australia for Wangaratta and more. They performed for a private audience at the Finnish Embassy, and I was lucky enough to get invited. ArtSound was there recording, so the concert won’t remain so private. The other side of the equation was Finnish education in the context of Rudd’s education revolution, which was discussed on Radio National the following morning. The speaker was praising Finland as having the most successful education system in the world. Certainly, the jazz was capable and interesting and displayed good training, and the introductions in English (my take on the education system) were better than any of us would be likely to manage in Finnish.

This was jazz in the Euro tradition: elements of folksong and images of snow and mountains, and a clear link to the Western fine music tradition. I noticed the classical links mostly in the piano playing, which was more dense chords and close voicings and atonal as in 20th century fine music style, rather than linear piano lines which mimic sax. The trumpet was more of the linear style of scalar fragments and figures, but there was also play with strained and muffled articulations, bent notes and the like. His was a concern with purity of sound and this was shared by the other members: not flashiness, but unity and connection in the performance whole. The bass often enough played repeated, hypnotic patterns but also dropped into improvised straight feels. The drummer (on his fourth tour of Australia, so already a mate) played minimally at times, but also raised and sustained tension at other times by leading the busy-ness of the ensemble. It was this ensemble playing, rather than individual playing that defined the sound of the band for me, and this just seemed to fit the folk affiliation I mentioned above.

The band started with a tune by Tom Waits, bluesy in melody and harmony and played with simplicity but also with emotional strength. There were several originals: a Bb pedal piece, some folk-influenced melodies. A mate observed that only the last tune modulated: it was by Ornette Coleman. He was impressed that interest was maintained through the other tunes with simple underlying structures. But this, to me, is the extended, inward-looking style which I identify with Northern Euro jazz.

So, in summary, a very satisfying concert of considerable seriousness with capable ensemble playing. And a nice way to warm up for the chatter and drinks at the Embassy reception to follow.

The Ilmiliekki Quartet is led by Verneri Pohjola (trumpet) with Tuomo Prättälä (piano), Antti Lötjönen (bass) and Olavi Louhivuori (drums).

Round (a very long) midnight

The nights are long in Finland (latitude 64deg N), and I reckon that’s an influence on the style of music we heard from the Joona Toivanen Trio. I caught them at the Finnish Embassy where they performed one set for over 200 guests. They also played a longer performance at the Southern Cross Club the following night. But the embassy gig was pleasant and musically satisfying. The room was architecturally modern: a large space with glass and sculptures and the suspended shapes of mezzanine rooms. There was champagne and hors d’oevres, and the oysters were the best I’ve ever had at a jazz gig! A genuine diplomatic cocktail gig.

The music was rather more austere than the cocktail party. It made me think of the long nights, and how sombre things can get for musos at the end of a long night: Monk’s “Round midnight” effect. There was some hard swing, but mostly the music was more ECM, more impressionist. I heard early-20th century classical piano styles and the influences of European folk traditions, lots of cymbals and brushes, carefully constructed bass, ascending scalar flourishes that woudn’t be out of place in a classical repertoire. Lots of intent and serious expressions. I joked to a mate that “drummers have more fun”. The bass and piano brothers smiled after playing, but there was real seriousness evident on faces during the gig, whereas the drummer had a smilier face. It was beautiful, original music and well played but so different from our scene. My presumption is that there’s plenty of jazz like this on the European stage. Jan Garbarek and ECM are my evidence. It’s not the engaged swing tradition more evident in the US and perhaps in Australia (remember Ellington: “it don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing”). Not that this seriousness is bad, just different. As for performances in embassies, good on the Finns. I imagine our Australian embassies would more be likely to play Men at Work than Paul Grabowski, although PG does get arts funding to tour internationally.

The trio was Joona Toivanen (piano), his brother Tapani Toivanen (bass), and Olavi Louhivuori (drums). The Yamaha grand was impressive, but the band had to use borrowed bass amp and drums set. But the sound was clear, despite the glassed walls. There were plenty of people standing and bunched around the players. Perhaps tiring but it was involving. I liked that aspect.

Chris Deacon of ArtSound was recording. He’s a devotee of this style, so expect to hear this outing on radio over time. Apparently, snippets from one of Chris’ earlier recordings of the trio are on their website.

JT Trio's website