Maria Kalaniemi & Timo Alakotila(RootsWorld may 2012)
Åkerö
Artist Release ( www.timoalakotila.net)
I keep thinking that the mixing of pianos and accordions just shouldn't work. Both instruments can play so many simultaneous notes, that it's just too easy for the sound to get all muddy.
So when I heard about this new recording from Maria Kalaniemi and Timo Alakotila, I approached it with some trepidation. While I'm less familiar with pianist Alakotila, accordionist Kalaniemi has been a favorite of mine since her duo recordings with the violinist Sven Ahlbäck. While violin and accordion are a natural pairing, I was not convinced the pairing with piano would produce satisfying results.
But my, how this works, and Kalaniemi and Alakotila make it work in many different ways. They use the tried and true method of one instrument playing the melody and the other providing harmonic and rhythmic underpinning. Sometimes the melody gets a harmony line, other times a countermelody. And sometimes only one instrument plays. The arrangements here are mostly simple, always spectacular, and often spontaneous. It leaves me wondering how much was worked out or written down in advance, and how much was improvised on the spot.
Most of this record is simply the duo playing instrumentals, although Kalaniemi does sing us one beautiful song, "Koskaan Et Muuttua Saa." But one tune that is very different from the others is "Viola." With the addition of trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and drums, this is more like a brass band tour de force; or a big band jazz piece; or an old Stax record featuring the Memphis Horns. Or maybe something else altogether. This one song makes me want to hear a full record with this lineup just to see where the composing and arranging skills of Kalaniemi and Alakotila could take this ensemble.
I love the way that recordings like this one challenge assumptions and show how great musicians overcome potential constraints, real or imagined, to create great music. Shame on me for thinking this combination wouldn't work. I'm very pleased to report how wrong I was. - Greg Harness
Fiona Talkington presents “Late Junction” on BBC radio 3 and is a well known champion of Norwegian music. For this blog she drags herself a little further east, to Finland and the remarkable JPP.
One of my favourite musical memories is sitting in a large wooden building on a hill in Kaustinen in Finland. It was packed with children of all ages and some parents too, bouncing babies on their knees, toddlers clambering over the seats. On the stage was a man holding a fiddle. Without saying a word he raised his bow. The children (most of whom also had fiddles) raised theirs and then, as with one voice, they played a Finnish folk tune. The man on stage was Mauno Järvelä, one of the most inspirational teachers and musicians I’ve ever witnessed, and he’s one of the brilliant musicians at the heart of my hero supergroup JPP. (That stands for Järvelän Pikkupelimannit which means “the little folk musicians from Järvelä” but they’re best known simply as JPP!)
The other fiddlers include Mauno’s nephew Arto Järvelä who has a solo career too and is a great composer, and on harmonium is the mighty Timo Alakotila. Timo, I have to say, is one of the quietest most humble people who ever walked this earth, yet you’ll find his name as composer, arranger and performer on so many albums. He is hugely respected by everyone who works with him (including another of my personal and musical heroes the wonderful Karen Tweed; they worked on the May Monday project together), and the only time I’ve ever seen him rattled was when the harmonium was refused entry into the security scanner at Edinburgh airport. Karen nearly brought him to tea at my house once and I was so excited that Timo might play my piano and that maybe some of his magic would rub off on it. Next time!! (By the way Lau is also invited – it’s a select few on my guest list!)
To be at a JPP gig is to have a little glimpse into heaven. It’s impossible to come away without feeling that the world is a better place having heard gorgeous tunes, quirky rhythms and immaculate phrasing, with the bass and harmonium giving it a real rootsy, earthy feel. The songs can be witty such as the brilliant ‘Hale Bop’ or heartbreaking (check out Peltonieman Hintrikin surumarssi – a funeral much for a folk fiddler)
Fiona Talkington
Songlines 4/2012
Maria Kalaniemi & Timo Alakotila: Åkerö
Two of Finland's most outstanding musicians celebrated 20 years of playing together last year. Kalaniemi and Alakotila were students when they met at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki 1991. Since then they have both contributed so much to the traditional music scene in Finland and to the jazz and classical worlds as composers, arrangers and collaborators.
It's pleasant to share in their anniversary celebrations on this album which includes some new compositions, some favourite tunes, Finnish-Swedish traditions, dance music, tangos and polskas. Kalaniemi is still the queen of finnish accordion, despite the challenges of younger players. Here tone and phrasing is as impeccable as ever and her singing voice brings a poignant sweetness to the album.
When Alakotila sits at a keyboard -whether it's the piano or the pumping harmonium- something simply magical happens. There,s the melancholic 'Grönbacka', the swirling dance music of ' Kengo-Antas vals' and the vibrant 'Ta in hiid in fiol', which stops all at soon.
This anniversary CD is a worthy landmark for two decades of fantastic work from the finest of ambassadors for Finnish music.
Fiona Talkington
Folkroots 2012
Maria Kalaniemi & Timo Alakotila
Åkerö
The breath-poised, finely-integrated elegance of Kalaniemi's chromatic button-accordion and Alakotila's piano unite again in a rich flow of compositions, mainly their own, some traditional, that draw on the formality of Finnish traditional dance music, the emotionality of tango, the intricacy of Parisian musette and a distinctive cascading, rolling, surging, wind-blown strain of melodious inventiveness that these two have in effect pioneered, individually and together, and has now become a strong aspect of Finnish musical character.
Maria sings, calmly and mellifluously, on one track, and for the scampering, exuberant polka-sourced "Viola" they're joined by trumpet, trombone, alto sax and drums as a full band, like a punchier version of Maria's largeish brass-endowed Aldargaz of the 1990s.
Currently high on the European world music airplay chart, this album is arguably the most well-shaped and complete in Kalaniemi and Alakotila's 20 years of duo projects.
Andrew Cronshaw
Finnish Music Quarterly 1/2012 Maria Kalaniemi/Timo Alakotila : Åkerö (ÅKERÖCD011)
"Mrs Accordion" and "Mr Piano" , Maria Kalaniemi and Timo Alakotila , are both big names in Finnish folk music, and not only as virtuosos of their instruments, but also as undeniable trailblazers. The musicians have collaborated with each other for over 20 years, but Åkerö is only their second album together. The record collects music they've played over the years, and tunes important to them including folk tunes, evergreens and tangos.
The ability to make their instruments sound fresh and jangly is characteristic to both, and listening to Åkerö is like a moment by a bubbly stream. The title track is rich in harmonies and melodies, and other interesting moments are found mid-album: the traditional Viola has been given a raunchy arrangement on winds, Yötuulet and Trädet paint still moments in-between changing sceneries, while Kohti Pispalaa is a prime example of Alakotila's genius and Grönbacka of a working collaboration in composing and arranging.
Maria Kalaniemi and Timo Alakotila play effortlessly and full of emotion, which ensures that the personal nature of the songs comes through and reaches the listener
Riikka Hiltunen
The Irish Times - Tuesday, February 15, 2011
ICO/Kuusisto
RDS, Dublin
TC Kelly – O’Carolan Suite in Baroque Style.
Timo Alakotila – Sketches from Folkscenes.
Vivaldi – Four Seasons.
..."He was as thoroughly consistent in conveying Finnish folk-fiddling flavour with virtuoso aplomb in Sketches from Folkscenes by his fellow-countryman Timo Alakotila (born 1959)".
Alakotila's new works premiered around Europe
Timo Alakotila, an esteemed Finnish folk music keyboardist and composer, has written several works for chamber music ensembles, to be played around Europe with top class Finnish musicians in February.
Alakotila's new Concerto for harpsichord and string trio will be premiered in Berlin, Germany, on 7 February, with harpsichordist Marianna Henriksson as soloist.
String quartet Meta4 will play Alakotila's String Quartet No. 1 "Fiddler Jusslin's Tune" (2010) in Hamburg, Germany, on 13 February, and Norddeutsche Sinfonietta will perform the Concerto Grosso (2007) in Flensburg, Rendsburg and Kiel in Germany on 12, 13 and 16 February 2011.
Moreover, violinist Pekka Kuusisto will play and conduct Alakotila's Sketches from Folkscenes (2009) with Irish Chamber Orchestra in Limerick, Waterford and Dublin in Ireland, on 10-12 February.
Merja Hottinen / Fimic
2 February, 2011
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra: Sketches from Folk Scenes (Timo Alakotila 2009)
TIMO ALAKOTILA
b. Hattula, Finland, 1959
The music of Timo Alakotila, Finnish composer, arranger, harmonium player—not to mention member of the folk group JPP (a group that can boast nine records and a near three-decade career) and a faculty member at the Sibelius Academy—is hard to pin down. Like that of Sibelius before him (with whose imposing prior presence any subsequent Finnish composer must wrestle), his work has a nationalistic bent, but he is in touch with today—or at least with his own idea of today—in a particular fashion. His output is that of someone fluent in plurality, working not only with his band but also with orchestras, a duo he’s formed with an accordionist and a tango orchestra. His is a musical mind never at rest. Even when he’s writing for the more conventional forces of the symphony orchestra, he does not shy away from the music that interests him most. Like many composers of the latter part of the 20th century, he needs no permission to look outside the Great Western Canon; this is particularly true in his Sketches from Folk Scenes. Written for Pekka Kuusisto, this piece is an essay on Finnish folk violin playing, full of bright, jazzy syncopations. It is a rangy and unsettled piece for a particular kind of virtuoso, one who has a grip not only on the technical mechanism of playing but who, like Kuusisto, is comfortable in a range of styles.
The pairing with Bach is not an accident, nor is the ordering of tonight’s program. Between the two different concerti of the old master, Sibelius’ careful, loving take on his own country’s mythology and this final open-throttle offering, the concert is meant as a complete whole. Speaking to a newspaper about this exact concert repertoire, Kuusisto said “Alakotila’s piece will tie everything together.”
FOLK ESEK(The Finnish Performing Music Promotion Centre)gave the intiative to forming Tango-orkesteri Unto,and the band truly is the dream team of Finnish tango it proclaim to be.The band members are mainly top folk musicians,and professional singer Pirjo Aittomäki really can tango(just like she masters many other genres).
The band is led by and the songs arranged by super-talented Timo Alakotila.
Tango classics and new tangos create an even and stylish whole,which should be remembered when planning souvenirs from Finland.
Riikka Hiltunen
Late Junction, Radio 3, 1.12 2010
"...and Timo Alakotila, one of Finland's most in-demand composers, arrangers and performers (with JPP, Karen Tweed and so many more) was there to hear the young students perform".
Fiona Talkington
Meta4, Upper Chapel (Sheffield Telegraph) Thu Feb 25 2010
"The first performance of Timo Alakotila's String Quartet No 1, a work owing everything to his folk music leanings, nevertheless displayed a sure grasp of 'classical' form, as well as providing Meta4's outstanding second violin Minna Pensola with two opportunities to showcase her fiddling talents".
Bernard Lee
Dear Anna-Karin Korhonen
My wife and I have been listening to, and thoroughly enjoying, your CD album KORALLI which features your own piano performances and compositions along with the performances and music of Timo Alakotila. This album was loaned to us by Silvia Terho, a long time friend of ours who was your Kantele student recently in Finland, and who told us how much she enjoyed meeting you and learning from you. She, too, enjoys your album very much.
This is just a note to extend our appreciation for your most effective musical interpretations, and to show that music, like all true art, travels far and knows no boundaries. I do have one rather off-beat question to ask you. I wondered if you have ever heard of, or listened to, the piano music of two American jazz musicians: Keith Jarrett and Armando "Chick" Corea. Not that you sound like them, nor is your music of their genre, but every now and then I thought I could detect some small flourish or ornament in your performances which reminded me of them. I am probably way off base on this and it is merely a musical coincidence, but I was curious.
In any case, you both have your own strong musical currents and such lovely delicate touch, that the music is clearly and entirely yours-and it is a pleasure to listen to.
We thank you, and wish you good health and great music.
19, 20, 21 February 2010,Belfast(International Festival of Chamber Music)
"Another concert of the weekend was presented by the Meta4 String Quartet from Finland. This is a young group with a very solid grasp on their strength as interpreters of complex and monumental music. The Bartok String Quartet No. 5 is as detailed and kinetic a work as you’ll find, and apart from a slightly untidy opening, this quartet met and mastered its every challenge. The next work, a string quartet in name only by Finnish composer Timo Alakotila, was really an exposition of dance themes which somewhat resembled a hornpipe, air, slow slip jig and reel if couched in terms more familiar to an Irish audience. Delightfully, the quartet talked about the themes, and played each one ’straight’ before presenting its variation. This was a work of real personality, fascinating and entertaining. The finale of the concert was the String Quartet in D minor by Sibelius, ’Voces Intimae’. This was a thrilling performance of a remarkable work, full of nuance and intelligence, a definite highlight from a weekend full of delights. Bravo BMS presenting so many facets of the jewel that is folk-inspired music.
Festival review by Andrea Rea
Herald Sun Review, FRIDAY, 20 MARCH 2009
"Also from Finland was Sketches from Folkscenes (world premiere) by Timo Alakotila. It weaves folk music and original material together and uses the harmonium, a key instrument in Finnish fiddle bands whose timbre enhances the open sound of folk string playing. The chunky, pop and jazz-influenced second movement looked a pleasure to play".
Anna McAlister
Tourdates:
Thu 12 Mar, 7:30 PM
Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle
Sat 14 Mar, 8:00 PM
Canberra Llewellyn Hall, ANU, Canberra
Sun 15 Mar, 2:30 PM
Melbourne - Hamer Hall - The Arts Centre, Melbourne
Mon 16 Mar, 8:00 PM
Melbourne - Hamer Hall - The Arts Centre, Melbourne
Tue 17 Mar, 8:00 PM
Adelaide Town Hall, Adelaide
Wed 18 Mar, 8:00 PM
Perth Concert Hall, Perth
Sat 21 Mar, 8:00 PM
Sydney - City Recital Hall Angel Place, Sydney
Sun 22 Mar, 2:30 PM
Sydney Opera House, Sydney
Wed 25 Mar, 7:00 PM
Sydney - City Recital Hall Angel Place, Sydney
Thu 26 Mar, 7:30 PM
Anita's Theatre, Wollongong
Sydney Morning Herald | 21 Mar 2009
When the orchestra played a piece at the end of the program that was based on a folk fiddling style, Sketches From Folkscenes by the Finnish composer Timo Alakotila, the bowing was more engaged with the string, producing a dragging, sustained and satisfactory tone. Alakotila's piece was inventive, contrasting energised, well-scored string textures with the wheezy reediness of the harmonium that gives out the tune in the central movement.
Peter McCallum
"Stunning concert last night. Thank you !! Especially liked the Brandenburg and the Alakotila. I'm going to follow up by buying some of your recordings. Can you provide the name and details [composer/arranger] of the encore piece? to jjmiller@bigpond.com, please".
Jamie Miller
May Monday "Midnight" , 17.March 2009
Label: Own Label; 12 tracks; 62 min
"These twelve tracks are a real treat for fans of Northwestern European accordion music. Karen Tweed and Timo Alakotila are the backbone of May Monday, and Midnight is their second album. Karen's piano box is well known in English, Scottish and Irish folk circles, while Timo has composed and played for many Finnish groups including JPP. Emma Reid and Roger Tallroth add English fiddle and Swedish guitar, and contribute compositions alongside Alan Kelly, Chris Wood, Andy Cutting, Maire Breatnach, Ian Lowthian, Sean Og Graham and others. There's also a couple of traditional tunes: Gerry Commane's, The Silver Slipper, and a long-named Scandinavian polska.It all adds up to over an hour of new and exciting music.
The opening medley starts with a bouncy piano air, then slips into reels: Beoga and Sam's Tune inject pace and power. Karen's Moonbeam Passage is a total contrast, low and wistful, almost mood music. Reverof shifts to Parisian waltzes, followed by Chris Wood's driving Lusignac. Emma Reid leads her air Great Uncle Henry, a charming and spirited celebration. The English tone continues with the swaggering march Ensuite Barn and the organised mayhem of Spaghetti Panic from the Late Blowzabellan era of English folk. A couple more airs written for Karen's friends lead to a medley of cracking if ill-omened jigs, then a lovely tribute to lamented genius Joe Scurfield, and an equally beautiful slow polska. Timo's Jig by Roger Tallroth is more of an exercise than a melody, but Alakotila's piano is invogorating here as elsewhere. The final big set starts with Gettingen Polska and follows that with two great Kerry polkas: maybe it's just me, but the Irish tunes seem to cause a large spike in the musical energy levels. Karen's own Orlando Polecat keep those levels high to round off the track. Timo finishes the album with a piece for his sister, Lumen Valossa, a piano and accordion duet, a beautiful conclusion to an unusual but rewarding CD".
www.myspace.com/maymonday
Alex Monaghan
Christine Sheridan wrote:
Dear Karen,
I have been listening to May Monday --it's my
favourite CD at the moment--It's first class,
beautifully written, arranged and played--I'm
really looking forward to getting more of your music
and Timo's as well. I know about Swedish film, but
until now, nothing about their music, a whole new
world beckons....
Some of the tracks would fit very nicely into film
music--maybe it has used in film been already.(?)
Thanks for putting me in touch with Cube Roots, I
look forward to my next parcel,
if you are playing in Ireland please let me know,
kind regards,
Christine
May Monday:Midnight
"Piano accordionist Karen Tweed and Finnish pianist Timo Alakotila have developed
an uncanny intuitional understanding of each others' musical thought processes.
It's not due to the amount they have worked together,it's something much less tangible-a total meeting of creative musical minds".
"Timo Alakotila is simply one of the finest musicians in the world.An outstanding composer,keyboard performer and arranger,he is respected by everyone he works with and is consequently one of Finland's busiest musicians".
"This is a CD of sheer joy from two fine musicians".
Fiona Talkington
The Weekend planet 8.6 2008
Timo Alakotila/ Karen Tweed
Seven years ago Karen Tweed and Timo Alakotila convened an unusual ensemble which made a singular CD called May Monday. She is an ancestrally-Irish, English accordionist. He is a Finnish pianist. Both are composers and influential, ear-opening music educators. Midnight is a perhaps even lovelier sequel. Its core quartet (now billed as ‘May Monday’) also includes a superb Swedish guitarist and an English fiddler, of Swedish ancestry. A bassoonist is among their various guests. Just a few of many tags which fit: ‘traditional’, ‘brand new’, ‘refined’, ‘robust’, ‘profoundly lyrical’ and ‘nicely quirky’.
Doug Spencer
The Weekend Planet 17 August 2008
Timo Alakotila and Johanna Juhola
Our featured duo’s members are, respectively, one of her and his generation’s key figures in Finnish music. Johanna Juhola was born in 1978. Her ‘creative fury’ moved one approving reviewer to remark that she was one reason ‘Finnish tango is not what it used to be’. Tango is just one aspect! Before she was born Timo Alakotila was already one of the keys to Finnish ‘folk’ music becoming so vibrant, creative, so unconfined by ‘folk’ or any label. On Vapaassa Tilassa {their first duo album} Timo plays grand piano and Johanna two kinds of accordion. The duo performs its own original music, with very nice cameo roles for splendid players of other instruments.
Doug Spencer
Timo Alakotila and Johanna Juhola
Vapaassa tilassa (Texicalli)
One of the fathers of Finnish chamber folk, pianist Timo Alakotila joins forces with accordionist Johanna Juhola (a member of Troka among other projects), in duets, solos and small ensemble arrangements that include musicians Aili Ikonen (voice), Petri Hakala (mandola, mandolin), Jouni Järvelä (saxophone), Pekka Kuusisto (violin) and Roger Tallroth (guitar). Excellent and highly recommended.
Subject: Sunday times review from: Síle NiDhubhghaill 21 November 2006
Blue of the Night, The Sugar Club, Dublin
..."Her Ballybunion roots notwithstanding, Karen Tweed
lured her beloved piano
accordion to geographical corners far removed from
the wilds of north Kerry.
Handling her potentially bullish instrument with
remarkable finesse, Tweed
blithely plied a picaresque journey, accompanied by
the magnificent pianist,
Timo Alakotila.
Content to inhabit countless, highly unusual
collaborations (from Swap to
The Two Duos and with Alakotila, May Monday),
Tweed's rapacious appetite for
genteel music takes quantum leaps when it collides
with Alakotila's
transcendent piano. Her borrowing of Chris Wood's
Etoile De Lusignac was a
particularly divine slice of musical magpie-ism,
with piano accordion and
guitar conjuring the bacchanalian delights of French
life with impish
relish".
RootsWorldTroka:Raharinki
On their third release, Troka continue to present their spirited yet precise take on contemporary Finnish folk music. Active members of the Helsinki folk scene, several of Troka's members are associated with the creative ferment emanating from the Folk Music Department at the Sibelius Academy. In contrast to other Finnish folk players, who emphasize the open-ended, improvisatory nature of the material, Troka's tightly focused, highly structured approach is equal parts chamber recital and Helsinki hoedown.
Accordingly, Troka favor tightly woven ensemble playing over individual soloing. Although Troka typically spin elegiac soundscapes evocative of Finland's fleeting sunwashed summers, the group is not above the occasional well-pitched curve ball, as on "Bulgaarit Kytosavuilla," whose otherwise jaunty tune transforms into a dusky, mournful passage in the break before once again gathering steam. Likewise, "Ruotsalaisia Sotasankaretta," a melancholy, syncopated piece by string player Ville Ojanen ends with an unexpected cluster of knotty, dissonant chords.
Despite their largely apollonian sensibility, the group knows how to cut loose, as on the title track, a traditional polksa played with verve. Other highlights include the jaunty "Strommerin Paluu," which like most pieces in the collection, is anchored by Antti Järvelä's probing double bass. Given the group's obvious musical talents, and their almost uncanny ability to play off of one another, one wishes at times that they would loosen things up by tossing out the sheet music and tapping more deeply into the sly improvisational stance that so characterizes Finnish folk music. Nonetheless, Raharinki represents an important chapter in Troka's musical development, and a logical extension of Jean Sibelius' goal of blending the music of the conservatory with Finnish folk music.
Michael Duke
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Thurs 30 September, 7.45pm
Jaakko Kuusisto conductor
Maria Kalaniemi accordion
JPP folk ensemble
Fiona Talkington presenter
The cream of talent from Finland on stage with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Late Junction presenter Fiona Talkington. With its arresting blend of fiddles, harmonium and double bass, JPP is one of the best-loved and most innovative folk music groups in Finland. Their foot-tapping dance music and distinctive arrangements of traditional melodies have made them international stars. Maria Kalaniemi, one of Finland’s leading contemporary accordionists, has wowed audiences across the globe with her style, elegance and sheer fleet-fingered brilliance. Blend this with some captivating arrangements and original compositions by Timo Alakotila (member and founder of JPP) and music by some other great Finns to create an evening that will take your breath away!
Programme to include:
Erkki Melartin Festive March from Sleeping Beauty
Einojuhani Rautavaara Fiddlers
Sibelius Symphony No. 7
Timo Alakotila Original works and arrangements
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Thursday, September 30, 2004 Nordic Adventures: Finland
Timo Alakotila Moraine [BBC Radio 3 commission: world premiere]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maria Kalaniemi (accordion)
JPP (Little Folk Musicians of Järvelä)
BBC Concert Orchestra
Jaakko Kuusisto
..." The same line-up (albeit with an expanded BBCCO) returned after the interval for Moraine, Alakotila's 10-minute sequence of folk-tinged original tunes, skillfully assembled to make the most of their inherent emotional contrasts – commissioned for the concert by BBC Radio 3, and which will be heard on its “Late Junction” programme in the near future".
Reviewed by: Richard Whitehouse
Timo Alakotila
by Harri Römpötti :: 2004(Fimic)
Kaustinen-born Timo Alakotila is one of the founding members of the superfiddler group JPP, where he plays the harmonium and shares the role of in-house composer with Arto Järvelä. Alakotila's career is an exceptional one in its diversity. First and foremost a folk musician, Alakotila also operates in the jazz and classical music worlds, primarily as a composer and arranger.
One of his latest ventures, Unto Tango Orchestra, salutes the grand old men of Finnish tango, such as Toivo Kärki and Unto Mononen, after whom the orchestra is named. Outside of Argentina, the two countries that are biggest on tango are Japan and Finland, the latter of which is known for its tango madness.
For Unto, Alakotila arranges tango classics for chamber music forces, taking the Finnish tango closer to its Argentinean roots. Unto musicians include Mauno Järvelä, Petri Hakala and accordionist Maria Kalaniemi, a fellow musician for over ten years from the group Aldargaz.
Alakotila teaches at the Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory and at the Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department, and plays folk music with Troka. Musicians that have benefited from his arranging skills include the Värttinä sisters Sari and Mari Kaasinen, Värttinä themselves, and the Japanese singer Halo. As a producer, Alakotila has worked on albums by groups like Aldargaz, Tallari and Burlakat.
As a composer one of Alakotila's biggest projects is Folkmoods West, featuring original compositions for big band and large folk music ensemble. In 2004, he was commissioned to compose a new work for the BBC Concert Orchestra. Alakotila's compositions include a Concerto for Accordion and Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Concertante for big band, and large-scale works for the Tsuumi dance group.
Different roles as a performer have taken Alakotila all around the globe, even performing for Queen Elizabeth's private reception with Aldargaz. Recently he has teamed up with JPP's Arto Järvelä and Swedish fiddler Hans Kennemark. He is also joining forces with Swedish guitarist Roger Tallroth of Väsen.
Translated by Hanna-Mari Latham
Timo Alakotila :: Fimic
Maria Kalaniemi Trio and Groupa Queen Hall, Edinburgh
Herald Tribune
Five Stars
Maria Kalaniemi is a world class musician and pretty much the only one playing the large freebass accordion. Regarded as a genius in her Finnish homeland, with a newly created special post for her as Artistic Professor at the Sibelius Academy, Kalaniemi composes music that takes you deep into the Finnish psyche while painting impressionistic mood pictures of a subtly changing landscape. Equally at home with a concert orchestra (recently with the BBC Symphony) or her own trio, her music captures as much a sense of welling pools of emotional memory and bittersweet yearning as it does a spacious vision of panoramas ahead. In a stunning recital with Timo Alakotila on piano and Olli Varis on guitar she included pieces given her signature early on like the wedding match 'Napoleon', a fine Alakotila arrangement of classic Finnish tango 'Satumaa' and the exquisite Ahma.
Sweden' s foursome Group complemented Kalanimei perfectly. With viv and verve the sparring rapport between fiddler Mats Eden's fiddle and flute man Jonas Simonson was matched by the awesome improvising piano of Rickard Åström. Percussionist Terje Isungset created breathtaking soundscapes, cracking, slapping, throbbing, luminous moments from drums, twigs, sheets ofbamboo, bells jews harp, tambourines conjuring up images of wild nights Olli wanted to never end.
This was a totally thrilling evening: these two Scandinavian groups prove the irrelevancy of classifying music: when it's great, it's great, and there can be simply no argument about it.
JAN FAIRLEY
Maria Kalaniemi Trio : Tokyo Concert (Amigo)
As one who has seen composer/accordionist Maria Kalaniemi perform live numerous times over the last decade, I can tell you that there is a unique character to her concerts that is never quite captured on CD. So it's a huge pleasure to finally have a record of one of those shows that I can slip into the machine any time, and while its never 'like being there,' this recording is a damn fine approximation of the experience. These 13 tracks, recorded in Tokyo and performed with her regular compatriots Timo Alakotila (piano) and Olli Varis (guitar), exude the wide range of emotions she is capable of bringing out of her instrument and more importantly, out of the compositions (primarily written by she or Alakotila). For those who have seen her in concert, this will bring back some of the "chill down your spine" feeling I often get listening to her perform. For those who have not had the good fortune, this is a brilliant start.
Maria Kalaniemi Trio features three of the most talented and distinguished musicians in Finland today. Continuing in the spirit of their previous group, Maria Kalaniemi & Aldargaz, the trio is known for their exceptional skills in composing and arranging as well as for their brilliance as players. Maria Kalaniemi Trio perform mostly original compositions by accordionist Maria Kalaniemi and pianist Timo Alakotila, with some Finnish traditional pieces.
This remarkable live recording from Tokyo may very well be Ms Kalaniemi's best yet. Timeless music that defies the boundaries of genre.
CD ROOTS
FolkWorld CD Reviews
Karen Tweed and Timo Alakotila "May Monday"
Label: Fyasco Records;FYCD003; 2001
Karen Tweed, the well known accordionist from England (duo with Ian Carr, The Poozies, Swåp, Two Duos), has finally something like a solo CD - not that it is really a solo CD. More a project with plenty of well known musicians of the English and Nordic folk world. She has teamed up with the Finnish pianist and composer Timo Alakotila. The album features also Väsen's guitarist Roger Tallroth, the Finnish accordeonist Maria Kalaniemi, Finnish violinists Mauno Järvelä and Matti Mäkelä, Helka Hakasalo on viola, Shanti Paul Jayasinha on flügelhorn, Timo Myllykangas on double bass and Marion Göbel on cello.
As you can imagine, the result is excellent. The album wanders between different influences between the British isles and the Nordic countries, being steepted in the two music traditions that Karen Tweed is in love with: the Irish and the Swedish. The album displays and celebrates the result of sessions with other bands during diverse festivals. It features both traditionals from England, Ireland and Scandinavia and newly composed music by musicians such as Karen Tweed herself, Sarah Allen, Andy Cutting and Chris Wood.
This is laid back music, blending not only diverse folk music traditions, but also diverse styles. Mainly it is quiet music, along with a few livelier tunes. Plenty of wonderful music. The music project "May Monday" is just about to embark on a mini tour in England at the start of September, watch out for them!
Karen Tweed's Homepage
Michael Moll
LIVING TRADITION cd review
KAREN TWEED & TIMO ALAKOTILA "May Monday" Fyasco Records FYCD003
Karen Tweed had discounted suggestions that she should record a solo CD, she says in the notes to 'May Monday', "because I dislike playing solos and felt I could offer little that hadn't been recorded thus far". Whilst being disarmed by her modesty (because there's a great deal that's new on offer here), one may reflect that Tweed has probably simply been too busy to get around to it. There's the work with The Poozies, SWÅP and Ian Carr, The Chase dance project, the currently-unnamed project involving musicians from Finland and JPP, a forthcoming CD with Andy Cutting and production of the new Bill Jones CD, 'Panchpuran'. When does she sleep?
If Tweed isn't keen on playing solos, you'd never know it. Admittedly, she has a little support from the musical friends encountered variously in Denmark, at Glasgow's Celtic Connections festival and in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The seminal meeting was at the Halkaerkro festival when she busked in a café with Alakotila, a pianist of immense taste and sensitivity who was performing with Troka.
'May Monday' is a mind-blowing mix (with not a synth in sight!) of English, Irish and Scandinavian traditional material arranged by Tweed and Alakotila and compositions by the likes of Andy Cutting, Sarah Allen, Chris Wood, Ian Lowthian and Tweed herself. It is superbly produced by Olli Varis. There are elements of jazz and sometimes the sound is almost symphonic. The quality of the ensemble playing is exceptional, and the empathetic interplay of Tweed and Alakotila is reminiscent of the electricity which arcs between Hayes and Cahill or Wood and Cutting in performance. "May Monday" is folk music which needn't touch its forelock to anything the classical mob can put up; it's genuine art-music performed by a virtuoso at the height of her powers.
Dave Tuxford
Pop Rocks july 2001
Karen Tweed and Timo Alakotila
May Monday
This record of duets featuring accordion and piano is a sublime mix of English and Swedish folk songs. Playing with confidence and sensitivity, Tweed and Alakotila's chemistry manages to transcend "jazz," "world" or "new music" genres. By organically fusing these styles, their music ought to satisfy fans of Eastern European-influenced jazz, as well as folk purists. At times thoughtful and humorous, most songs are medleys of both traditional and original compositions, with Tweed's sprightly accordion work and ornamented melodic style, a decidedly Celtic influence is at the core of most tunes. The album is taken up a notch when Tweed and Alakotila are joined by another accordionist, an acoustic guitarist and a mystical sounding trumpeter. Despite the absence of low-end instrumentation, the lush textures never miss the addition of bass or drums, their energetic arrangements carry on until the closing track, "Riverside May," when beautiful string arrangements accompany the relaxed duo. (Northside)
By Michael Johnston
By John Abbott (San Francisco, CA)
5.0 out of 5 stars folk instrumentals with a classical influence, September 22, 2001
This review is from: May Monday (Audio CD)
"A collection of mostly new compositions in the Irish and Swedish folk traditions. The pieces are centered around Karen Tweed's piano accordian and Timo Alakotila's classically-influenced piano playing, but around half of the tracks also feature a chamber group made up of a second accordian, guitar, flugelhorn and strings. The accordian playing is intricate but relaxed, the seamless long melodic lines superb. Although it's using a different musical tradition, the approach reminds me of Gideon Kramer's chamber renditions of Piazzolla's tangos on Hommage a Piazzolla. Highly recommended, even for those (like me) not normally attracted to folk music".
Maria Kalaniemi and Timo Alakotila, Ambra (Amigo, 2001)
Maria Kalaniemi is perhaps the best known and certainly one of the most prolific of the new school of Finnish folk musicians who are pushing the boundaries of their music. The accordionist, a graduate of the prestigious Sebelius Academy, combines folk, classical and jazz from Europe and the New World into a concoction that is at once cosmopolitan and recognizably Nordic.
On this album she duets with pianist Timo Alakotila, with whom she has worked and played for more than a decade, particularly in a contemporary music group called Aldargaz. It's a delightful match, as the two take turns as soloist and accompanist. The tunes range from traditional polskas and marches, to minuets and polkas, some tango-influenced excursions, and some unadulterated bal musette. Mostly cover tunes or arrangements of traditional pieces, Ambra also has several originals by one or the other, or both of the artists.
The album opens with a series of cold, crystalline piano arpeggios that build in tempo into the jazzy Nordic take on musette of "Blauer Pavilion," a delightfully melancholic air, a musical picture of the memory of a carnival. On "Indifference," a fast bal musette waltz, both musicians' control of their instruments' dynamics is impressive, transforming what could be just a flurry of notes into a controlled cavalcade of sound that is at once bright and still blue.
After a short break for "Lappfjard," a stately and delicate traditional wedding march based on a fiddle tune, here featuring mostly Kalaniemi's accordion, we're back in warmer territory with Kalaniemi's composition, "Oradea." Reminiscent of a tarantella, this multi-tempo piece sees the two instruments repeatedly switching from lead to accompaniment through the alternating fast and slow sections.
The title track, written by Alakotila, is a contemporary piece of light jazz, in which the musicians again take turns, this time embellishing on the simple fugue-like melody as they toss it back and forth. Two short and fast polkas representing different Finnish regions lead into Alakotila's tango, "Kuujarvi." It's a piece of many moods, as befits a tango, starting slow and building in intensity.
The swirling musette waltz of "Soir de Paris," leads into a traditional set, with a lovely and lilting minuet leading into a rhythmic polska, titled "Haudanmaa." For a finale, the musicians are joined by a string quintet of two violins, viola, cello and bass on a striking arrangement of Reino Helismaa's suite, "On Yo Ja Tahdet Taivahalla." It's a dramatic, cinematic piece of more than seven minutes that travels through a variety of moods, at turns tender, pensive and expansively romantic.
Ambra is another exquisite listening experience from Maria Kalaniemi and friends.
[Gary Whitehouse]
The Bath Chronicle 10.9 2001, Michael Tippett Centre, Bath Spa University
"Perfectly paced rhythms and wellrounded melodies were the order of the night as Karen Tweed ked the ten members of the band on a musical journey across northern Europe from Ireland to Finland.
The May Monday project,inspired by Karen's work with finnish pianist Timo Alakotila,fuses the different styles and musical traditions of the far north with some unexpected contemporary musical references".
"The flowing notes combined with the comfort and warmth of the venue created just the right atmosphere for the music to gently wash over the audience generating a mood of relaxed enjoyment.
The concert was recorded by the BBC and will be broadcast on Radio 3's Late Junction starting this evening-highly recommended.
A very special evening and the perfect start to a new concert series of folk music".
Rosie Upton
All Music
Alakotila Timo is a Finnish musician. He is incredibly active, working with four musical groups at the same time, and collaborating with several other musicians. His full-time musical projects are JPP, Troka, Aldargaz, and Luna Nova. Looking at a chronological take of the discographies of those groups truly shows just how little time Timo must have. He first recorded with JPP in 1986, releasing Laitisen Mankeliska. Two years later they followed that one up with a self-titled album. In 1990 that group released I've Found a New Tango. Following the every-two-years pattern, they next released Pirun Polska. It wasn't until 1994 that Timo started doing double duty with both Kaustinen Rhapsody being released by JPP and also Troka's self-titled debut. The following year, Iho, the first album by Aldargaz, was released. In 1998 JPP's next release, String Tease, came out. 1999 saw two albums featuring Timo released, Troka's Smash and Adargaz's Ahma.
Gary Hill
The Muse's Muse
CD REVIEW: Maria Kalaniemi & Aldargaz - Ahma
By Ben Ohmart - 05/21/2007 - 10:34 AM EDT
Artist: Maria Kalaniemi & Aldargaz
Website: http://www.noside.com/
Genre: World
The accordion has never sounded as good as it does beneath Maria's expert cuticles, helped on by all the top players from the Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department, which comprises the band Aldargaz. Sibelius? That's in Helsinki, Finland, mate.
The playing is inspired, and more akin to jazz than any World Music mask you make it wear. Instrumental on the whole, there are times when a da dada voice comes in to make itself a part of the orchestration, as in the jig-like 'Melos', king of the bar room set. Jovial, social, a real swing at the fences.
A far cry from the one that follows it, a moody 'Lovina' that seems to sweep the Finnish countryside, using the soft violin as a divining rod for locating old ghosts, while the accordion which brushes the main tune on in gentle dabs stays well out in front, never afraid, only yearning.
Ahma is said to combine Finnish folk, jazz improv and Argentinean tango into Maria's 3rd solo release, and the first cd for the great NorthSide label. Oh yes, the melodies are superb, almost multi-layered, needing more than one listen to hear everything going on behind the ears. 'Namas' itself takes traditional music further than the typical ballad, melting lush components together for a rich landscape of sounds that are of their own time. Not now. Not then. They are of a different definition of classical (music), a beauty to behold. Timo Alakotila's piano and Olli Varis' acoustic guitar are only several compartments into which your thinking mind will fall and try to fathom its way out.
They call her Queen of 5-Row Accordion. Maria's talent is obvious, but the mark of a Good queen is to surround herself with the best musicians the world has to offer. Already a good one, this would then have to make her Great.
By Ben Ohmart - 05/21/2007
Maria Kalaniemi and Aldargaz:Ahma
Rockadillo (Finland) / Northside (US)
In three recordings on her own (plus side gigs and other ensembles too numerous to list) and in the concerts I have been lucky enough to hear, accordionist Maria Kalaniemi has proved herself a phenomenal technician, a sensitive player with an unusually vibrant, physical approach to the instrument, a strong composer and a vital interpreter of other writers. She has toured the world, introducing us to her brand of "newly composed folk music" from Finland, and has handily thrown the term "folk" into chaos as she and her fellow musicians push into pop, jazz and art music in a way that makes the music impossible to categorize.
Ahma is a composers' album, with contributions from Kalaniemi, a number of new works by pianist Timo Alakotila and one each from guitarist Olli Varis and bassist Tapani Varis. The writing runs from the exuberant ("Ahma" and the brief burst of hyper-energy that is "Kampi") to the pastoral ("Kaamos"), from the romantic ("Ängskär") to the austere (T. Varis' "Nautilus"). It is also an arrangers' album, and the collaboration of Kalaniemi and Alakotila has never been stronger on that front. The six piece ensemble Aldargaz includes Petri Hakala on mandolins and Arto Järvelä on violin, and the group is as fine-tuned as they could be; Aldargaz has hit its stride, with enough time now to have developed that unifying sixth sense that marks great ensemble playing. They are aided and abetted by the fiddlers from JPP and occasional outbursts from a drummer and a horn section, all pulled tightly together by arrangements that can surprise and one or twice amaze. Ahma finally takes Kalaniemi out of the "folk" music box and into the broader world of popular composer and musician, and she seems poised to move even further outside in the future.
Cliff Furnald
RootsWorld/1999 Troka:Smash
Despite the title, this is not one of the head-banging bands to emerge from the growing wave of Scandinavian neo-traditional musicians. This Finnish quintet is an acoustic group composed of two fiddlers, an accordionist, a bassist and a harmonium player (Timo Alakotila, who also plays with the fiddle group JPP and Maria Kalaniemi's Aldargaz). No grunge guitars, and nothing really gets smashed, except maybe some expectations. Troka does not have the mussy-haired, barn-dance spirit of fellow Finns JPP. Troka has a more lyrical and elegant sound. The band plays with a wonderful vibrancy that also separates them from their more stately, string-playing colleagues in chamber music.
This all-instrumental collection is mostly made up of original compositions and explores a range of tempos and textures. The wedding waltz "Sand" conjures up a bridal party gliding across a manicured lawn on an impossibly beautiful day, while "Sodoma" explores starker landscapes and "Summer Night Twist" breezes by like a brisk wind. These talented players and composers smoothly sail the waters between the folk and classical worlds, and could easily charm those looking out for something different from both shores.
Marty Lipp
RootsWorld 1998
I have heard JPP perform many times and have always had high praise for their performances as well as the talents of individual members of the band. Harmonium player Timo Alakotila is one of Finland's best composers, and an arranger sought after by anyone there looking to add a special character to their work. Arto Järvelä is a master fiddler who has appeared on more records than can be counted. He and Alakotila are integral members of some of the nation's best new folk ensembles. Mauno Järvelä is not only an important performer on the fiddle, but has led a national crusade to make the folk music of Finland part of every day life through his school teaching and the development of a teaching system, a sort of "Suzuki of the north." They have been the core of JPP since its earliest days. The newer members of the group are no less talented; Matti Mäakelä and Tommi Pykönen's violins are flawless, and double bassist Timo Myllykangas can exhibit a jazzy sensitivity or the straight-time thump so critical to the classic Finnish sound.
JPP's recorded output though, has always seemed to be slightly less than the sum of its formidable parts. Save for occasional outbursts, they have kept a pretty straight course, taking the tradition seriously, playing beautifully, even brilliantly, but never really stepping out or pushing the limits. Not so here.
Hale Bopp
String Tease offers a wide variety of feeling for a band comprised of only strings and a harmonium. The Alakotila/Mauno Järvelä song "Hale-Bopp" is a gem, delivering a memorable melody with taunt energy and a restrained elegance. Equally elegant is Arto Järvelä's "Wedding Suite," which not only shows off his fiddling, but gives the JPP wall of fiddles a chance to show their wonder. The traditional "Lundgren" takes full advantage of the fiddles, and gives the listener a taste of the rarely heard full orchestra of a dozen players, usually reserved for special live occasions. String Tease also gives the band a chance to collaborate with Sweden's acoustic powerhouse, Väsen. A Swedish polska throbs with cello, bass and harmonium, driven by the fiddles and Olav Johansson's nyckelharpa. A slangspolska gives Väsen the front seat in a vibrant, lively tune with an abundance of fiddles to rival anything in Texas and adding percussion for an interesting new sound.
With String Tease JPP has really taken the leap. Excellent musicianship and innovative arrangements come together and lead them to produce the recording they were always meant to make.
Cliff Furnald
RootsWorld 1995
Iho
Olarin/Finland, Ryko/US
A striking recording. Kalaniemi's backing band, Aldargaz, is the best of the bunch in Finland, a small place with plenty of great artists. Timo Alakotila contributes harmonium, grand piano, arrangements, and a few of the best songs on the album. The stellar fiddler Arto Järvela is there, along with bassist Tapani Varis and guitarist Olli Varis (more mature and showing signs of greatness!). While not a regular member of the band, the presence of mandolin player Petri Hakala is also felt throughout the album.
The original quintet has been working together for years, and have become an intuitive force that lends itself to the more complex arrangements and intricate melodies that mark the new work. They are joined on record by string and brass ensembles for a few tracks, giving an orchestral fullness to "Napoleon" (Real Audio file) a traditional tune that shows all the character of an Alokotila production. The other is "Linjärv," which starts as a jazzy, Swedish tinged accordion solo that shows off why Kalaniemi is one of the best in the world, and then grows into a strange blend of acoustic power pop and classical chamber music. Perhaps at the core of the new album is the lush "Green Score," a tune that literally brought tears to the eyes of a friend listening to it live a few years ago. This composition by Timo Alakotila seems at first just nice and breezy, but builds almost imperceptibly into something indescribably romantic, not in a cheesy cinematic way, but on a more mature, personal path. Kalaniemi's playing has never been more expressive, the songwriting never stronger than it is on Iho.
Cliff Furnald
Dallasvietty (Iho)
Beautiful. Elegant. Thoughtful. The Finnish accordionist Maria Kalaniemi produces exciting folk inspired music which stretches the bounds of traditional folk harmonies and melody shapes.
One of my favorite albums of hers is Iho (click here to hear a taste). An album of rollicking and equally peaceful portraits of accordion and a beefed up string ensemble called Aldargaz. The arrangements, by equally brilliant Timo Alakotila, are particularly interesting to me. Like track 9, Säde, a tune based all around singable melody which sits from the very beginning upon a bed of poly-rhythmic instrument parts.
