Wind, Frost & Radiation Kari Ikonen Trio

• 1 Harmattan 07:39
• 2 Pripyat 07:05
• 3 Levoton 05:18
• 4 Kuru 06:14
• 5 Beatamente 09:05
• 6 The Roaring Frost 04:13
• 7 Waltz from The Masquerade Suite 06:02
• Total Runtime 45:36

Info for Wind, Frost & Radiation

Kari Ikonen is not afraid of the light. His 'ultra-positive' afro-pop-jazz project Trio Toffa is living proof of that. Lately, however, his Finnish background seems to have drawn him to the wintertime and darker moods of the soul. Wind Frost & Radiation is a search for his roots, a quest for the Nordic qualities in music. Spaces of biting cold and horror, of inhumanity and transience – these are the fundamentals of the Ikonen Trio's third studio album.

The contrast with the sensual late-night-jazz of predecessor Beauteous Tales and Offbeat Stories could hardly be more obvious. And yet, experiments have always come natural to this band and its members. Olli Rantala is equally capable of creating danceable grooves in one moment and making his bass sing like a cello in the next. Markku Ounaskari is as adept at laying down a ferocious swing as he is at breaking his percussive patterns apart into insular dots. And Ikonen himself has just hit his creative peak with his eccentric project Ikonostasis. Clearly, these musicians would find it hard to record a single unoriginal note!

Still, the depth of their commitment to extremes is remarkable. On "Pripyat", they visit the forlorn ghost town near the burnt-out Chernobyl reactor. And in the closing track, they completely disassemble Aram Chatschaturjan's famous waltz, leading it into a wondrous shadow world. The pulse of the music slows down to a glacial melt, the music penetrates the moment like a scalpel, in search of the nerve that hurts the most.

What has remained is the familiar separation of the album into a distinct a- and b-side. It is a sign that the Ikonen Trio hasn't entirely left tradition behind. In fact, breaking with the past and re-building it from scratch has always been an essential part of jazz right from the start.

Kari Ikone, piano, voice
Olli Rantala, double bass, voice
Markku Ounaskari, drums
Mia Simanainen, voice (on ”The Roaring Frost”)

Kari Ikonen
born 1973, Korpilahti, Finland is a pianist and composer. After having studied piano for four years (1989-1993) in Jyväskylä Institute of Music, Kari Ikonen continued his studies in 1994 in piano and later in composition at the Jazz Music Department of Sibelius Academy, with such teachers as Jarmo Savolainen, Jukkis Uotila, Anders Jormin, Mike Gibbs, Sonny Heinilä and Olli Kortekangas. He also spent a semester of 1996 in Rotterdam Conservatory, where he studied with Rob van Kreevelt. He got his master's degree from Sibelius Academy in 2001.

He has performed with many different groups and musicians, for example Karikko (as a leader), Mr. Fonebone, Quartet Coyote, Ahava, Gnomus, Ingrid Jensen, Henry Lowther, Eero Koivistoinen, Jukkis Uotila, Sonny Heinilä etc. With these artists he has performed at many domestic and international festivals, including Pori Jazz, April Jazz, ITA Festival, Boulder, Colorado and Appleby Jazz Festival, England.

His compositions have been played by various small and large ensembles, such as UMO Jazz Orchestra (Finnish Radio Big Band), which has premiered several his compositions, including "Unia" (1997), "Nosreglo" (1998) and "Luoto" (2000). The last-mentioned won the first prize in the Jazz Orchestra category of the Jazz Composers Alliance/Julius Hemphill Composition Awards in USA, 2000 (he was also among the finalists in Small Group category). Another victory came in August 2002, when Ikonen's composition "Peikkola" (2002) won the first prize in "Scrivere in Jazz" competition in Sardegna, Italy.

He has also worked as a teacher (jazz piano, ensemble, solfege) in Jyväskylä Institute of Music 1993-94, Jyväskylä University music education program 1993 and Sibelius Academy Jazz Music Department since 1998.

Booklet for Wind, Frost & Radiation