(7-CD set) String Quartets Nos. 1-12 focus on Wadada Leo Smith as a composer for strings. Smith began work on his first string quartet in 1965 and has composed string quartets and other works for strings throughout his career. Smith has also featured strings on a number of his other major works, including Ten Freedom Summers in 2011, Occupy The World in 2012 (TUM CD 037-2) and Rosa Parks: Pure Love in 2016/17 (TUM CD 057).String Quartets Nos. 1-12 represent a magnificent addition not only to Smith's own recorded output but also to the literature for modern string quartet music in general. Compositions vary from relatively brief, one-part quartets of highly evocative and at times meditative soundscapes to the groundbreaking "String Quartet No. 11" that fills two discs with it's nine movements. String Quartets Nos. 1-12 were recorded by the RedKoral Quartet. The group was brought together by Smith during his tenure at CalArts and was featured on the recording of Ten Freedom Summers more than a decade ago and again on Rosa Parks: Pure Love as well as on numerous live performances of Smith's string quartets and other works over the past decade. In addition, featured soloists on the recording include harpist Alison Bjorkedal ("String Quartet No. 4"), pianist Anthony Davis ("String Quartet No. 6"), percussionist Lynn Vartan ("String Quartet No. 6"), guitarist Stuart Fox ("String Quartet No. 7") and voice artist Thomas Buckner ("String Quartet No. 8") as well as Wadada Leo Smith himself on trumpet ("String Quartet No. 6" and "String Quartet No. 8").
(5-CD set) The Emerald Duets is a crowning achievement among Wadada Leo Smith's many recorded duo collaborations with drummers/percussionists that have previously featured such creative giants as Ed Blackwell, Jack DeJohnette, Milford Graves (TUM BOX 003), Louis Moholo-Moholo (TUM CD 029) and G�nter Sommer, among others. The Emerald Duets features four master drummers who have each, in their own unique fashion, contributed to the way modern drumming has developed in the past six decades and how it is now perceived. Pheeroan akLaff, Andrew Cyrille and Han Bennink are each featured on one disc and Jack DeJohnette on two discs, including Smith's five-part composition "Paradise: The Gardens and Fountains" that fills the fifth disc of this boxed set in it's entirety. The sessions with akLaff, Cyrille and DeJohnette mostly feature compositions by Wadada Leo Smith, including three very different versions of Smith's powerful statement for the protection of freedom and democracy, "The Patriot Act, Unconstitutional and a Force that Destroys Democracy." The session with Bennink includes a combination of Smith's compositions and collectively created tracks.
Ode To O is the second release of the Ogjb Quartet, a cooperative group that features four longstanding leaders in modern improvised music, saxophonist Oliver Lake, cornetist Graham Haynes, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Barry Altschul. Each group member is a composer in his own right and a master on his chosen instrument. The new release, which follows the highly acclaimed Bamako (TUM CD 050) released in 2019, again features compositions contributed by each of the group's members as well as two collective improvisations. The album is named after Barry Altschul's composition dedicated to the late Ornette Coleman.
(4-CD box set) The Chicago Symphonies is a magnificent four-CD boxed set by Wadada Leo Smith's Great Lakes Quartet. Each disc includes one of the four symphonies composed by Wadada Leo Smith for this quartet. The first three symphonies, "Gold Symphony," "Diamond Symphony" and "Pearl Symphony," are performed by Wadada Leo Smith with saxophonist/flutist Henry Threadill, bassist John Lindberg and drummer Jack DeJohnette whereas the fourth, "Sapphire Symphony - The Presidents and Their Visions of America," features Smith with saxophonist Jonathon Haffner, Lindberg and DeJohnette. The idea of a symphony composed for a quartet was first presented by Don Cherry on his classic recording Symphony For Improvisers in 1966 but Wadada Leo Smith has brought this idea to the present day and broadened it to include social and political into the creative space. The Chicago Symphonies celebrate the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the historical development of creative music in Chicago starting with Louis Armstrong and through Sun Ra onto the AACM as well as, in the case of "Sapphire Symphony," Abraham Lincoln and Baraka Hussein Obama
(3-CD set) Trumpet is a unique three-CD boxed set of solo trumpet music recorded over one week in the beautiful natural acoustics of St. Mary's Church, the medieval stone church in the Town of Pohja on the Southern Coast of Finland. All compositions are by Wadada Leo Smith. Trumpet represents a culmination of Smith's recorded solo trumpet work that has comprised a total of six albums before Trumpet, starting with his very first album as a leader, Creative Music - 1: Six Solo Improvisations, in 1971 and ending with his dedication to Thelonious Monk, Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk, in 2015.
Bamako is the first recording of the OGJB Quartet, a cooperative group that features four long established leaders in modern improvised music, saxophonist Oliver Lake, cornetist Graham Haynes, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Barry Altschul. Each is also a c
Wadada Leo Smith's latest album features "Rosa Parks: Pure Love. An Oratorio of Seven Songs," another extended composition by Smith inspired by the civil rights movement in the United States. This new major work is composed for the iconic civil rights hero Rosa Parks (1913-2005) and performed by three vocalists, a double-quartet and a drummer with electronics. The album is released in February 2019 to celebrate Rosa Parks' birthday on February 4.
The Olavi Trio consists of bassist Teppo Olavi Hauta-aho, trombonist Jari Olavi Hongisto and drummer Niilo Olavi Louhivuori, who share not only the same middle name but also a mutual love for free improvisation. Collectively, they represent Finnish improvisers of the past three generations, with Hauta-aho having already risen to the forefront of the music in the 1960s, Hongisto in the 1980s and Louhivuori in the beginning of the new millennium. Whereas the Olavi Trio's first album (TUM 26) featured some of their best friends, Juhani Aaltonen, Kalle Kalima and Verneri Pohjola, as special guests, their second focuses on what audiences have come to love in their live performances, namely, open and equalitarian trio improvisation. Oh, la Vie! Includes 12 compositions that were either spontaneously improvised in the studio or improvised using as a starting point themes composed by the trio's members. Like the Olavi Trio's first album, this one also closes with a song closely associated with their namesake, singer Olavi Virta, as "Kun Ilta Ehtii" gets a unique interpretation.
And It Happened. The Music of Henrik Otto Donner includes eight compositions by the legendary Finnish composer, arranger and trumpeter Henrik Otto Donner (1939-2013). As Donner passed away shortly before the release of this recording, it also became the last recording of his music with Donner himself deeply involved in the project. Donner's compositions are performed by TUMO, a 33-member orchestra comprised of leading Finnish improvisers that is here in it's second outing following it's first, highly acclaimed recording with composer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, Occupy the World (TUM 37). This time, TUMO includes a 12-member string section, led by Donner while the rest of the orchestra was led by Mikko Hassinen. The principal soloist is master saxophonist/flutist Juhani Aaltonen, Donner's alter ego on the tenor saxophone and his collaborator for five decades, who is featured on the tenor saxophone on three extended instrumental compositions as well as on the alto flute and the tenor saxophone on two of the four songs performed by vocalist Johanna Iivanainen. Finally, as the closing track, TUMO alone performs a new arrangement of the first composition by Henrik Otto Donner ever recorded, "For Friends and Relatives", that closes the album just as it closed Donner's first recording in 1965.
Stella Nova is the first solo recording by pianist Esa Helasvuo one of the trailblazers in Finnish improvised music in over 20 years. The recording comprises ten delicate improvisations with emphasis very much on ballads. Three are based upon earlier compositions by Helasvuo himself and one on a classic Finnish tango Satumaa, by Unto Mononen whereas the other six were created in the moment at the M2 (YLE) Studio in Helsinki Finland. Esa Helasvuo belongs to the same first generation of Finnish improvising musicians as saxophonists Juhani Aaltonen Eero Koivistoinen and Seppo Paakkunainen bassist Teppo Hauta-aho and drummer Edward Vesala among others with whom he often performed particularly earlier in his career in the late 1960s and the 1970s. Stella Nova also marks the 40th Anniversary of the publication of Helasvuo's first recording as a leader in 1973.
(2-CD set) Occupy the World features the legendary composer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith together with Tumo, a new improvising orchestra that is assembled specifically for each project, in it's first appearance. The 22-piece orchestra performs five extended compositions by Smith, including "Occupy the World for Life, Liberty and Justice", his most extensive recorded composition to date, that was originally inspired by the Occupy movement. The four other compositions included on this double-CD were also recorded here for the first time. TUMO is made up of leading improvisers in Finland and the Nordic region, many of whom have recorded for Tum Records with various groups before. In addition to the principal soloists, Wadada Leo Smith on four compositions and bassist John Lindberg on one, featured are trumpeter Verneri Pohjola, trombonist Jari Hongisto, saxophonists Mikko Innanen and Fredrik Ljungkvist, flutist Juhani Aaltonen, pianist Seppo Kantonen, harpist Iro Haarla, accordionist Veli Kujala, guitarists Kalle Kalima and Mikko Iivanainen as well as drummers Mika Kallio, Stefan Pasborg and Janne Tuomi, among others.
On it's second release, Kalle Kalima & K-18 continue to present composer and guitarist Kalle Kalima's aural impressions of the world of movies. Whereas their first album (Some Kubricks of Blood, TUM CD 022) included Kalima's compositions inspired by Stanley Kubrick's films, Out to Lynch presents his reflections on some of director David Lynch's key movies, such as Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, The Elephant Man, Twin Peaks and Wild at Heart. With this recording, Berlin-based Kalle Kalima, who is best known for his work with three different trios (Klima Kalima, Johnny La Marama and Momentum Impakto), his solo project Kalle Kalima Pentasonic and his collaborations with the likes of Marc Ducret, Linda Sharrock, Sirone, Tomasz Stanko, Simon Stockhausen and Jimi Tenor, has created another unique album that is rich in sonic colors and constantly alternating moods.Featured with K-18 are again saxophonist Mikko Innanen, bassist Teppo Hauta-aho and accordionist Veli Kujala, each an acknowledged master of his chosen instrument. The quartet's uncompromising approach to improvisation combines elements from free jazz, modern classical music and even avant-garde rock that prove particularly well suited for these reflections on the world of David Lynch.
(2-CD set) Conversations presents two Finnish jazz icons, saxophonist Juhani Aaltonen and pianist Heikki Sarmanto, in an extended musical conversation - an open dialogue. It is a collection of 16 improvisations either created spontaneously in the studio or by using Sarmanto's compositions and even two standards as a launching pad - nearly two hours of improvised music altogether. Conversations is not their first duo album but it is without a doubt one of their very best, reflecting nearly five decades of shared musical history and their love for improvisation. CD-1 1. When I Was with You (Heikki Sarmanto)2. So Much Happened. (Juhani Aaltonen and Heikki Sarmanto)3. What We Cannot Imagine (Heikki Sarmanto)4.. It Happened Today (Juhani Aaltonen and Heikki Sarmanto)5. Le Petit Soldat (Heikki Sarmanto)6. Just Like a Dream (Juhani Aaltonen and Heikki Sarmanto)7. You and the Night and the Music (Arthur Schwartz - Howard Dietz)8. Evening Prayer (Heikki Sarmanto)CD-2 1. from Nothing (Heikki Sarmanto)2. No Work Bound Me (Heikki Sarmanto)3. Free Souls (Juhani Aaltonen and Heikki Sarmanto)4. The Sea in the Moonlight (Heikki Sarmanto)5. War Trane (Heikki Sarmanto)6. Peace Talks (Juhani Aaltonen and Heikki Sarmanto)7. Alone Together (Arthur Schwartz - Howard Dietz)8. Evening Haze (Heikki Sarmanto)
Olavi Trio's Teppo Olavi Hauta-aho (bass), Jari Olavi Hongisto (trombone) and Niilo Olavi Louhivuori (drums) share the same middle name and a mutual love for free improvisation. All three Olavi's are well-respected members of the Finnish improv and jazz scenes. The trio's senior Teppo Hauta-aho has been active since the early 1960's and has been heard in Edward Vesala's, Anthony Braxton's and Cecil Taylor's many ensembles, among others. Trombonist Jari Hongisto paid his dues with Edward Vesala's Sound & Fury and performs with the Iro Haarla Quintet. The youngest of the three, drummer Olavi Louhivuori, first became known through Ilmiliekki Quartet and is currently a member of Tomasz Stanko's quintet and Sun Trio.With the help of guests Verneri Pohjola (trumpet), Juhani Aaltonen (saxophone) and guitarist Kalle Kalima, Olavi Trio is constantly on the search of the holy trinity of the wisdom of improvisation, reaching for the moment and obtaining collegial harmony.
On Clustrophy, Finnish saxophonist Mikko Innanen leads his multinational and multitalented quintet, Innkvisitio, through inventive bursts of forward-looking jazz that not once goes for the obvious. Innkvisitio consists of drummer Joonas Riippa, keyboardist Seppo Kantonen and three saxophonists: Fredrik Ljunqvist (of Sweden), Daniel Erdmann (of Germany) and Innanen, who is quickly establishing himself on the international jazz scene. Clustrophy is firmly rooted in the history of modern jazz and at the same time forward-looking - or "retro-futuristic", as Innanen puts it. The album-opener "Earth's Second Moon" sets the tone: Riippa's drumming and Kantonen's cosmic electronics provide the perfect bedrock for the three saxophonists to do their thing. Tracks: 1. Earth's Second Moon 2. Vraa-Tender 3. Clustrophy 4. a Panoramic View from the Top Floor 5. Underground 6. The Grey Adler Returns Again 7. Ardennes at Dawn 8. Jantaraboon II 9. Detto the Magician 10. 757 11. Jam Afane.
Strings Revisited revives and revamps the sound of Strings, a now-classic recording by Juhani Aaltonen and Otto Donner released in 1976, which is one of the cornerstones of modern Finnish jazz. Strings Revisited was born from the idea of building on the music of the original album in order to create new music. Three compositions from it were recorded in new contemporary arrangements and Henrik Otto Donner created three totally new compositions for saxophone and strings. Only very few recordings in the history of jazz have combined free improvisation with the lush sound of a string ensemble in such a contemporary manner as this recording and it's predecessor. Besides Juhani Aaltonen, Strings Revisited also features jazz legends Reggie Workman on bass and Andrew Cyrille on drums and the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, a highly acclaimed modern string ensemble here conducted by the composer Henrik Otto Donner.
Some Kubrick's of Blood is the first recording of K-18, an ensemble led by Berlin-based Finnish guitarist Kalle Kalima. Inspired by the work of director Stanley Kubrick, the albums tracks refer to different locations found within the auteur's celebrated films, rather than scenes or films per se. The quartet's personal touch and a remarkable sense of unity create a sonic entity well suited for representing the moody and immensely surprising world of Kubrick. Kalle Kalima electric and acoustic guitars, Mikko Innanen alto, soprano and baritone saxophones, Veli Kujala quarter-tone accordion, Teppo Hauta-aho double bass.
Conclusions can be seen to reflect the long career of the Finnish tenor saxophone giant Juhani Aaltonen through ten new compositions by members of the quartet that also include pianist/harpist Iro Haarla, bassist Ulf Krokfors and drummer Reino Laine, who are all masters in their own right. On Conclusions, Aaltonen takes stock of his musical past while moving to a new, more mature level, still always placing a strong accent on free improvisation.
March of the Alpha Males is the first recording of the Ilmiliekki Quartet. Founded in early 2002, the group won the Young Nordic Jazz Comets competition just months later in the summer of 2002. Strong, beautiful melodies and boundless improvisation ready to break conventions while simultaneously embracing a broad variety of musical influences are what Ilmiliekki Quartet is all about. March of the Alpha Males includes an eclectic mix of the members' own compositions as well as tunes by Ornette Coleman, Kenny Wheeler, Bjork and Radiohead.
Duo Nueva Finlandia is pianist Eero Ojanen and bassist Teppo Hauta-aho, who have both represented the top of Finnish modern Jazz since the early 1960s. After often playing together during the 1960's and 1970s, they went their separate ways for many years, but started again playing together first as Trio Nueva Finlandia (with saxophonist Seppo Paakkunainen being the third member) and more recently as a duo. Short Stories is the result of an impromptu session from June 1998. It is improvised music at it's purest: no recording engineer, no written music, no preconceived notions of what the music is going to be. Just two musicians with their instruments, a recording device and two microphones ready to capture the magic.
Delirium is a quartet made up of Finnish saxophonist Mikko Innanen and his three Danish compatriots, including Kasper Tranberg on cornet, Jonas Westergaard on bass and Stefan Pasborg on drums. Eclexistence, the second album of Delirium, is characterized by a sense of musical adventure. Combining the tradition of modern jazz with their own fresh take on that tradition, there is a definite joy of freedom and will to experiment that guide the quartet's approach. New elements, such as increased ethnic influences, enrich the music even further from their debut recording.
Innkvisitio, led by the highly talented saxophonist Mikko Innanen, is an energetic quartet of players, each of whom is much sought-after on the current Finnish jazz scene. Pianist Seppo Kantonen, who performs exclusively with synthesizers in Innkvisitio, and drummer Joonas Riippa form the nucleus of Innkvisitio with saxophonist Timo Lassy joining Innanen in the front line on this recording. Their debut, Paa-Da-Pap, captures the group during an innovative and vital phase, touring across Finland, as it is extracted from hours upon hours of music recorded during that tour. The album title refers to an onomatopoetic extract of a birdsong as perceived by Innanen, an analogy quite fitting to the band's organic concept of sound.
