KOKO LOFT: RAOUL BJÖRKENHEIM TRIAD

Koko Jazz Clubin uusi konserttisarja kantaa New Yorkin klubitradition kunniaksi nimeä Koko Loft. Uuden, kerran kuussa järjestettävän konserttisarjan ohjelmistoa kuratoimaan on kutsuttu pianisti Seppo Kantonen. Koko Loft esittelee Koko Jazz Clubin hengen mukaisesti sekä kotimaan että ulkomaitten kiinnostavimmat jazzartistit genressään. Ensimmäinen Koko Loft konsertti kuullaan 11.8.2014 kun lavalle nousee avajaiskonsertissa Raoul Björkenheim Triad.

Triad is a fresh burst of energy on the finnish imrov scene, bringing new vitality to compositions by Coltrane, Monk and Hendrix, alongside Björkenheim’s own eclectric pieces. He and Heikinheimo have played together as the duo Heim(o) since 2010, arriving at a near-telepathic level of communication and a fluent sense of form. With Rauhala joining them in the summer of 2013, they found the perfect accomplice with whom to create some glorious mayhem, enriched by overtones of African and Indian music as well as jazz and rock.

Raoul Björkenheim’s fiery guitar playing first appeared in 1985 on Edward Vesala’s “Bad Luck, Good Luck”, featuring Tomasz Stanko and Juhani Aaltonen. The drummer’s seminal album two years later on ECM, “Lumi”, brought him to the attention of the global jazz community and led to recordings on that label for Krakatau, a finnish quartet which toured Finland and Europe avidly during the 90′s. Björkenheim subsequently made many new connections, recording and performing with artists like Bill Laswell, Paul Schütze, Toshinori Kondo, Mats Gustafsson, Lukas Ligeti, Hamid Drake, William Parker and Scorch Trio with Paal Nilssen-Love and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten.

Ville Rauhala began playing the bass in his teens and has performed professionally since 1994, his first groups including blues and jazz influenced Groovy Eyes and Hot Pants as well as the roots rock group Stringbeans. Rauhala’s intense bass playing is deliriously infectuous, and his robust grooves and sensitive lyrical approach make him one of the most versatile bassists in the country. His dedication is matched by the members of Black Motor, the well-established trio from Tampere for which Rauhala is best known.

Ilmari Heikinheimo combines polyrythmical and rubato phrasing in his explosively dynamic and lyrical style, bringing melodic dimensions to his drumming, as well as a keen sense of tonal color . He has worked with many major figures in the finnish progressive jazz/improv scene, with the likes of Juhani Aaltonen, Jorma Tapio, Pepa Päivinen, Hjilmar Jensson (IS) Ulf krokfors and Antti Hytti. His playing has been documented in the re-incarnation of Edward Vesala Sound & Fury’s album “Pulsacion”, which was nominated for the Emma-Award (Finnish Grammy) as the best jazz album of the year 2013.