Arts Centre, Saturday February 22
The Cairns jazz fraternity is now reaping the benefits of the partnership between MusiCairnS and promoter Hank van Leeuwen's Northern Europe Australian Liaisons. After the well received opening concert in the Jazz up North series earlier this month, music fans were enchanted by a young Finnish trio.
The enchantment reached beyond their musical talent. The very youthful trio, brothers Toivanen, Joona (piano) and Tapani (bass), and drummer Olavi Louhivuori appeared on stage totally at ease: Olavi was bare-footed, Tapani in socks, and the leader Joona, probably in deference to his role as the MC, wore sneakers. A few minutes earlier, in their cavernous Tanks dressing room, they had been wiping their sweaty brows while lauding our tropical climate. But when the three Nordic youths appeared on stage fresh-faced; they immediately took control of the musical side of the business, and it was clear from their opening number that this would be a special night.
The program consisted entirely of their own compositions and spanned a variety of elegantly structured pieces with complex musical and rhythmic themes. Their classical training and a strong influence of national music of Finland was immediately discernible. Two tone poems, Vedet Vaienneet (Silent Waters) and Kantele which is a traditional Finnish string instrument, reflected their national pride in which the pianist created a sentimental 'music box' feeling which was contrasted with a modern percussive support.
It is interesting that their CD Numurkah was actually named after a small town in Victoria. The composition of that name by the very talented drummer, Olavi Louhivuori, captures the solitude and isolation through the intricate percussive effects of a lazy stride of a caravan so reminiscent of Joe Morello on Bruebeck's Nomad.
Joona Toivanen, who entertained the audience not only with intricate piano playing, but also with his announcements, and mesmerised us with the intricacies of the Finnish language, related the genesis of the CD title and the trio's special visit to this lonely town which most Australians have not even heard of.
The opening, a brief melodic theme Tuulen Pinnalla Puhuen modulated into the driving Lumous, both compositions by the drummer, gave the audience their first glimpse of Olavi Louhivuori¹s remarkable talent and technique. And there were more surprises to come from this trollish, bare-footed percussionist who was intent on playing music and was not there just for the spectacular breaks. The most pertinent comment came from one gentleman in the audience: "It's ages since I heard a drummer who is as sensitive as that. Usually I find that jazz drummers seem to crowd the music out, but his classical training is coming out here because he is understated and always there."
It would be unfair to single out the drummer in this superbly integrated trio. Tapani Toivanen¹s bass work, though obviously not as spectacular visually, had some exquisite passages and he shone through in Vedet Vaienneet (Silent Waters) and the appropriately titled Yksin (Alone) where he laid down a melodic line which was be picked up by the piano and gently kicked along by some delicate brush work.
The leader, pianist and composer Joona Toivanen, except for his announcements, was almost recluse on the piano. Hunched over the key-board, rhythmically swaying his body and occasionally, when the rhythms became so complex, kicking the tempo along with his foot, was pure lyric. He seemed intent to search for the right notes almost in between the keys, his left hand often turned through 90 degrees, so close to the other hand, coaxing the notes and chords from the piano. Joona's mastery of his instrument came through in his own composition but was highlighted in Olavi's Haltia (Elf) and, of course, in his beautiful opening Tuulen Pinnalla Puhuen (Speaking on the Surface of the Wind).
This was indeed a night for fresh, intelligent, modern and intriguing jazz. The evolution of the music of Toivanen Trio its genesis in the Finnish folk tradition has developed in a manner that seems holistic rather than merely eclectic, yet illuminates and reflects the rich facets of jazz and of its close links with contemporary music on a universal stage.
- W. (John) Kotow