Jazz Interlude, in collaboration with Jazz Club Jury and Koko Jazz Club, presents a ‘Jazz Interlude with Contrast No.2‘ group consisting some of the leading musicians in the Finnish jazz-scene.
The main act of the second Jazz Interlude will be the band led by Finnish bassist Atro ‘Wade’ Mikkola. Born in Helsinki in 1956, he started being interested in jazz music at the age of thirteen. Books, articles, records… the young Wade accessed the music genre in all possible forms. In the mid ’80s he moved to the United States and enrolled at the Department of Music at the University of Massachussetts in Amherst, where he graduated, with distinguished honours, and received the Master’s degree. Having chosen the bass-violin as his primary instrument he enjoyed the collaboration and experience through a great many appearances by well-known performers, like Max Roach, Billy Taylor, Yusef Lateef and Archie Shep.
In 1993 Mikkola moved to New York City where he was even more able to pursue his writing and arranging interests, culminating in the production of his debut CD, entitled On The Way. The personnel includes some of the Big Apple’s leading instrumentalists: tenor-saxophonist Eric Alexander, drummer Joe Farnsworth, pianist Peter Mihelich and himself as bassist. Since then, Wade Mikkola has been performing and teaching around Europe and the US.
In Contrasts No.2, Mikkola is joined by a quartet of extraordinary musicians: the horn section-duo of Larry Price (alto sax) and Jussi Kannaste (tenor sax), drummer Klaus Suonsaari and Riitta Paakki on piano. The concept of the band is to bring out the musical and soloistic contrasts between two soloists who have created an individual voice on their instruments. With a repertoire made of original compositions by its members and unique arrangements of standard tunes, Contrasts No.2 use the swinging groove of jazz and its other elements with an unusual blend. The result is Finnish top-class music!
”…So one more time: I think this is an excellent Finnish jazz-record by excellent
artists… It most definitely belongs to the record-shelf of every expert jazz-digger!”Jazzrytmit – Osku Rajala
“The band expressed the knowledge of the history of jazz and the canon of the ‘60’s,
but also the improvisatory sparkle and playfulness of the mind searching for
something new…The idea was very successful…Contrasts has the means for a stylistic
crossover-breakthrough!”Jukka Hauru – Helsingin Sanomat
A critically acclaimed band, Contrasts No.2 is the perfect pick for transforming a cold winter night into a hot, explosive and highly entertaining Saturday night show!
Jazz Interlude with Contrasts No.2 will be on Saturday February 16th, starting from 21, at Koko Jazz Club. The admission fee is 15€, 10€ for students and seniors.
More information on the event here
You can read the Helsinki Times article about the show here
