Water Music
Drummer and percussionist Pekka Saarikorpi was intrigued by the idea of arranging his own compositions for different ensembles. This is how Water Music came to be – an album best described as a composing drummer’s debut. It is deep in personal flavour – strongly percussive but simultaneosly lyrical and minimalistically melodic. The recording contains Saarikorpi’s solo pieces for marimba, percussions, and drum kit, as well as arrangements for varied ensembles, among others a jazz quintet.
In the Winter of 2007, the Finnish Cultural Foundation wanted to encourage musician Pekka Saarikorpi’s composing by giving him use of a marimba. The outcome was Water Music, an album of instrumental pieces and a narrative that joins them together. The powerful moods and stories of the pieces sweep the listener away, placing him in a sailing boat alongside Saarikorpi.
Music:
West African rhythmics and the uninhibited stream of consciousness of free jazz
Saarikorpi’s method of composing is strongly based on West African popular music, where rhythmic motifs are essential compositional building blocks for all instruments. The album’s rhythmicality, the way the rhythms interweave, and a repetition based melodic minimalism together create a tone language that hasn’t been heard all that much on the Finnish music scene.
Saarikorpi himself defines his music as follows:
“The complexity that is characteristic of jazz music is expressed in my compositions more through rhythmics than through melodic or harmonic lines. The starting point for my pieces lies in a specific kind of minimalism where intense cinematic moods merge with the aesthetics of free jazz.”
Saarikorpi Brom
Part of Saarikorpi’s compositions ended up on Water Music as his own solo pieces, but he wanted to arrange a large part of the material for different jazz and folk music lineups. This was the beginning of Saarikorpi Brom, a group that consists of young, promising Finnish musicians, as well as of more established profiles on the jazz and folk music scene. The personality of the musicians and the broad range of the instrumentation created a perfect base for Saarikorpi’s compositions and arrangements. The album’s distinctive sound and character springs from the ability of the musicians to morph into different ensembles and instrument groups inside Saarikorpi Brom. Together they create a space where West African rhythmics and cinematic and minimalistic melodies and harmonies fuse with Nordic folk music and the uninhibited stream of consciousness of free jazz.
The musicians of Saarikorpi Brom are:
Pekka Saarikorpi: drums, percussion, marimba, compositions and arrangement
Uffe Krokfors: doublebass
Juha Kujanpää: piano and harmonium
Joakim Berghäll: tenor and baritone saxophone
Joonas Outakoski: alto and soprano saxophone
Pekka Saarikorpi’s other jazz and folk music groups are, among others, Korpi Ensemble, Veljeni Valas, Kurkirku, Nuria, and Pasi K. & Hurmos. Bassist Uffe Krokfors is already a living legend on the Finnish jazz music scene. He has played on numerous acclaimed albums and worked with a number of awarded groups and musicians, for example Iro Haarla, Edward Vesala, Juhani Aaltonen, Esa Pietilä, and the Krakatau ensemble. Pianist Juha Kujanpää plays in and composes for the groups Kirjava Lintu, Juhola–Järvelä–Kujanpää -trio and Poutaja, to name a few. Saxophone players Joakim Berghäll and Joonas Outakoski are familiar from several jazz and folk music ensembles. Both have, for instance, played with the Finnish-Norwegian group Frigg. Berghäll also plays in Tsuumi Sound System, and is known from the Finnish-Norwegian-Danish free jazz-group Trio Creepy. Outakoski, on his part, plays free jazz in Veljeni Valas.
The composing and release of this record has been supported by The Finnish Cultural Foundation, The Conservatoire Association of Finland, the Arts Council of Finland, and the Finnish Performing Music Promotion Centre (ESEK).
www.pekkasaarikorpi.fi
www.myspace.com/saarikorpipekka
Yhteystiedot:
Matti Kervinen
matti@presencerecords.fi
+358-40-7685436
Pekka Saarikorpi
pekka.saarikorpi@gmail.com
040-5484788
Jakelu:
Töölön Musiikkitukku
www.toolonmusiikkitukku.com
Pekka Saarikorpi
Drummer and percussionist
Pekka Saarikorpi (b. 1977) feels a predilection for Brazilian and West African rhythms, free jazz and the European tradition of jazz: styles of music close to his heart. Pekka’s way of playing drums has a strong legato feel to it – even light touches set off the tone and make the heads resonate. On the other hand, he has a talent for bringing out the percussive side of the instrument, making the kit sound like a complete African or Brazilian drum group.
Ensembles
Over the years, Pekka has worked as drummer and percussionist in a number of groups, among others Korpi Ensemble, Kurkirku, Veljeni Valas, Nuria, and Pasi K. & Hurmos. In October 2006, Korpi Ensemble released its third album, Trails, which was hailed by Helsingin Sanomat (the leading newspaper in Finland) as one of the best records released in 2006 (H.S. 15. 12. 2006). Kurkirku released its debut album The Mesh in Autumn 2007, and was nominated for the Finnish Jazz Emma-award that year.
The second album of Veljeni Valas, released in 2008 and entitled puita, sanajalkoja ja kanervaa, received an enthusiastic reception as well. Pekka has also worked as a session musician on numerous recordings.
Apprentice and Master
Pekka’s teachers include Mika Kallio, Marko Timonen, Kepa Kettunen, Sakari Löytty, Fernando Paiva (Bra), Ramiro Mussotto (Bra/Arg) and John Riley (USA).
Currently, Pekka teaches drumming and rhythmics himself at the Joensuu Conservatory, the Pop&Jazz Conservatory in Helsinki and at the Arla Institute in Espoo. In addition, he has worked as a visiting teacher at the Georg Ots Conservatory in Tallinn.
Sea and Family
In his free time, Pekka is passionate about sailing and during the Summer months enjoys spending time with his wife Kaisa and daughter Iida in their old wooden sailing boat (Nordic Folkboat F-195, Veljeni Valas). They sail on the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea off the Finnish coast.