Soundscapes #5 in Helsinki

by Luciano Rossetti
June 4, 2025

Telakka Jazz 2025: Finland��s Second City Gets Spiritual

by Rob Garratt
January 22, 2025

Telakka Jazz 2025 Ravintola Telakka Tampere, Finland January 3-4, 2025 “Tampere is the heart of the Finnish jazz scene," a Helsinki record shop clerk proudly told me, when I announced I was heading north for the former, smaller city's Telakka Jazz fest. “In that case, Helsinki is the ...

Anett Tamm and the David Chevallier Trio At the Vuotalo Cultural Center

by Anthony Shaw
November 30, 2024

David Chevallier and Anett Tamm Vuotalo Cultural Center Borders Tour Helsinki, Finland November 19, 2024 The concert in the eastern suburb of Helsinki marked the first of 24 concerts spread over far-flung cities in Finland and Estonia in November and December, 2024, seeing the artists trek through ...

Gong at the Louhisali Theater

by Anthony Shaw
November 29, 2024

Gong Louhisali TheaterEspoo Cultural CentreEspoo, Finland November 19, 2024 If writing about music is as senseless as dancing about architecture maybe we should take a leaf out of the antics of Gong's lead guitarist and singer Kavus Torabi. Maybe it was a consequence of the bite of a chill wind ...

Seppo Kantonen Trio at the Loimaa Arts Center

by Anthony Shaw
October 2, 2024

Seppo Kantonen Trio Loima Arts Center Art in Autumn Loimaa, Finland September 17, 2024 When a two hour drive through the bucolic Nordic autumn countryside culminates in a location as tasteful as any artistic milieu of the city, the subsequent musical experience is almost certain to be positive. For keyboard ...

Flow Festival 2023

by Rob Garratt
August 25, 2023

Flow Festival Suvilahti, Helsinki, Finland August 11-13, 2023 The stark quantity and sheer quality of improvised and instrumental music on offer at Finland's Flow Festival only starts to make sense when you dig into its roots. Once loudly crowned by Vogue as “the Nordics countries' coolest festival"--a fact the event's ...

Rent Romus

Born: January 6, 1968

Rent Romus is a saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, music producer, and community leader hailed by Downbeat as having "...a bold sound, unmistakable sincerity and conviction". A third generation Finnish American born in Hancock Michigan of the Upper Peninsula and growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Romus' work on the saxophone has been dubbed “ferocious” by the San Francisco Weekly and “central to the creative music world of the West Coast” by writer jazz critic Frank Rubolino. From his very beginnings as a student of jazz while being exposed to the twilight tutelage of Stan Getz he found himself drawn to the outer realms of Sun Ra and Albert Ayler, as well as Arthur Blythe, Derek Bailey and Merzbow.

He runs the Lords of Outland a free jazz unit since 1994, the Life’s Blood Ensemble a contemporary original ensemble, and works with pianist Thollem McDonas in the Bloom Project, composer bandleader Heikki "Mike" Koskinen, the collective improvisation group The Ruminations and other various projects.

Rent Romus has recorded music exploring improvisation and composition in a wide variety of musical settings both as a leader and sideman which have included Chico Freeman, John Tchicai, Vinny Golia, Thollem McDonas, Heikki "Mike" Koskinen, Stefan Pasborg, James Zitro, Kash Killion, and Jon Bridsong to name a few.

He is the founder of Edgetone Records with over 30 years of independent music production, and performance experience as well as the founder and Executive Director of the non-profit Outsound Presents under which curates the bi-weekly music series known as SIMM at the Musicians Union Hall, the weekly Luggage Store Gallery Creative Music Series, as well as annual Outsound New Music Summit, the Bay Area's creative music festival held every summer in San Francisco.

Jussi Reijonen At Espoo Cultural Center

by Anthony Shaw
March 16, 2023

Jussi Reijonen Espoo Cultural Center Espoo, FinlandFebruary 24, 2023 Sometimes the best of things come unexpectedly, but considering the one-year anniversary on this date that is certainly not always true. However this gig in the Finnish capital region's Espoo public arts center, including the local library, music school auditorium and ...

Jukka Haavisto

Haavisto, a celebrated fretless bass player and composer, is no stranger to innovation. Known for blending jazz fusion and world music with skillful improvisation, he continues to push boundaries while paying homage to the golden era of 1970s fusion jazz. His work captures a dynamic range of emotions, from the nostalgic to the adventurous, with Opus nr. 8 standing as a testament to his artistic vision.

This latest release follows Haavisto’s acclaimed 2022 debut album, Reflections, which introduced audiences to his guitar-driven fusion sound. With influences rooted in iconic 70s fusion jazz, Reflections was praised for its compelling compositions and the synergy between Haavisto and his bandmates.

Blaser Ducret Bruun Trio at Hakasalmen Huvila

by Anthony Shaw
November 20, 2022

Blaser Ducret Bruun Trio Hakasalmen Huvila Finnish Tour Helsinki November 14, 2022 Samuel Blaser has a glittering past, with glowing reviews of his considerable career in journals from around the globe. The performance of his trio in this modest-but-elegant salon a stone's throw from Helsinki's main railway station, alongside ...