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Upcoming events
Updated regularly as artists, performance and location details
become available. For further information email: henk@henk.com.au
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July 2010 |
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TOMASZ STANKO QUINTET (Poland/Finland/Denmark) - Performing in Finland
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Tomasz Stanko Quintet

Tomasz Stanko is at the forefront of international
contemporary jazz trumpetism, and holds a status in
international jazz circles similar to where Miles Davis was
in the seventies.
He is one of ECM's leading jazz
recording artists, drawing large concert audiences in
Europe, Australia and the USA. At the age of 67 the
Polish trumpet player hits, once again, a new peak with his
new Scandinavian quintet. The New Yorker recently described
him as "one of the world's most original and innovative jazz
trumpet players", while The Times said of the new 'Dark
Eyes' album (ECM 2009): "Stanko has again made an album,
where every note - and the spaces around it - are full of
impact." .Thrilled by Ornette, Coltrane and Miles, the young
Stanko studied at the Krakow Music Academy and played the
Polish underground scene with his own band, when the film
composer Krzystof Komeda invited him to his quintet. Tomasz
considers his five years in that band as crucial to his own
style: "My lyricism and playing only the essential, my way
of approaching the structures asymmetrically and many
harmonic nuances are all influenced by Komeda." Stanko made
11 albums and a stack of soundtracks with his mentor. Later
he has recorded many albums as the leader of various bands
and collaborated with Krzystof Penderecki, Don Cherry, Arild
Andersen, Bobo Stenson and especially the late great Finnish
drummer Edward Vesala, to name a few. For his new quintet he
hand-picked the hottest young talents on the Scandinavian
jazz scene: pianist Alexi Tuomarila and drummer Olavi
Louhivuori from Finland, bassist Anders Christensen and
guitarist Jacob Bro from Denmark.
http://www.tomaszstanko.com
Members:
Stanko Tomasz, trumpet
Tuomarila Alexi, piano
Bro Jakob , guitar
Christensen Anders, bass
Louhivuori Olavi, drums
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Stanko’s melodies and
parts of his solos could cruise melodically, and then suddenly, like
the sun breaking through clouds, he would unleash a molten stream
of dazzling silver lines, as penetrating as only a trumpet can be…-
arguably one of the most important jazz musicians alive..’ John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald
‘Now in
his 60s Stanko remans a fascinating, mysterious, sometimes rather
severe pioneer of a kind of east Euopean jazz independence..’
John Fordham – The Guardian
"Stanko evokes the spirits of the finest
trumpeters dead and living while creating a mood and a voice uniquely
his own. Yes, you can hear the influences of Miles Davis and Chet
Baker at their most introspective and profound, as well as hotter,
more rasping traces of Lee Morgan and Clifford Brown... 'Soul of
Things' stands shoulder to hiply-slumped shoulder with 'Kind of
Blue', and has an even better sound."
Stereophile, Record to Die For
"Tomasz Stanko's newest release, "Suspended
Night," is a masterpiece of minimalist beauty. A suite of interconnected
compositions, "Suspended Night" simply numbers its "Variations"
I to X. The unaffected simplicity and flexible modal structures
strip down chords and melody lines to allow each of the quartet
members to enter the flow with calm force or lay out with delicate
understatement. At times, the melody line rests on just repeated
pairs of notes -- the right ones.
The quartet has worked together regularly
since last year's equally intricate release, "The Soul of Things."
They let the rhythm drift into comfortable stillness, but aren't
shy to drive ahead either, letting individual notes resonate freely.
Still based in Poland, Stanko and quartet outcool the coolest of
the late '50s jazz groups and make it easy to see why he was awarded
the first European Prize in jazz last year." [2002]
The Japan Times 2004.

Dark Eyes CD |

Dark Eyes CD Review |

Article from Jazzwise UK |

Article from The Guardian UK |
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TOUR
DATES 2010
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Finland: Pori International Jazz Festival: Thurs 22 and
Friday 23 July -
www.porijazz.fi
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September 2010 |
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DIANA CLARK TRIO - featuring DOUG
de VRIES (Australia)
- Performing in
Australia |
Diana Clark Trio - featuring Doug de Vries

Diana Clark Trio -
vocals, guitar, piano-accordion
Diana Clark's rich and mellifluous alto voice & songs
reflect the cosmopolitan scene of music making in Melbourne
and her background growing up in the Northern Territory,
while embracing the powerful rhythms of Brazil, the
intensity and subtle beauty of Rio. Diana's collaborations
with master guitarist Doug de Vries have established
her as a persuasive interpreter of Brazilian Popular Song -
and the pair have immersed themselves in the traditions of
the bossa, samba, and choro revealing an emotive power and
sophistication that is given full flight in the company of
her sublime accompanists - Doug de Vries, and all round
musical virtuoso, accordionist Stephen Grant.
www.dianaclark.com.au -
www.dougdevries.com
YouTube Videos
YouTube: Corcovado
YouTube: Cry No More (Canto de Ossanha)
YouTube: 3 shadows of Blue
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"Singing in alternating English
& Portuguese, Diana's light, melifluous voice
perfectly compliments de Vries' virtuosity on the 7
string guitar. Marrying old and new sounds, they
manage to remain faithful to the 'musica brasileira'
genre while retaining a strong Australian
sensibility." - Lily Bragg, The Age [Melbourne]
“De Vries and Clark feel the music of Brazil down
to their bones. His guitar is full of romance and
her voice is so intimate it could make you blush.
Australia may be halfway around the world from
Brazil but you’d never know it from listening to
their CDs.” - Cadence Magazine [USA]
“Diana’s voice…seductive & engaging…with de Vries
improvising, using an impressive finger-style
technique on 7 string guitar…also complementing Di’s
voice by singing counterpoint melodies while Grant
uplifted the music further still with his
transcendental accompanying…truly a night of
splendour from three of this country’s finest
musicians.” - President Albury-Wodonga Jazz
Society
“…Buoyed by gently vibrant Afro-Brazilian
rhythms, Clark’s warm vocals can soften the
melancholy of a yearning lyric, or coax the vibrant
rhythms around her into a dance of celebration.”
- The Age

Current Biography
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October / November 2010 |
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PAAVALI JUMPPANEN
(Finland) - Performing in
Australia and Singapore |
Paavali Jumppanen

(photo: Petri Puromies)
Virtuosity in classical pianism
from Finland
After his debut Australian tour in
April 2004 performing with the Melbourne and Western
Australian Symphonies and his solo recital program visit in
October 2006, Paavali Jumppanen will be back in Australia
and Singapore with his Beethoven recital, lecture and
masterclass program in October/November 2010. Paavali
Jumppanen has made big impressions in his homeland Finland,
Scandinavia, Europe and the US with a range of distinguished
symphony orchestras and in solo recitals. Paavali studied
with Krystian Zimerman at the Music Academy of Basel in
Switzerland. - See below the links to Paavali's bio, recent
reviews - and to get a taste of Mr. Jumppanen’s grasp
of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas visit:
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/music/artist/jumppanen.asp
Australian/Singapore touring
program
- Mozart Sonata in B-Flat Major K 281;
- Beethoven Sonata in d-minor op 31 no 3 "Tempest"
- Four Preludes by Jouni Kaipainen;
- Beethoven Sonata in f-minor op 57 "Appassionata"
The lecture title and topic:
"Shakespearean influence in Beethoven's music",
The basic idea of the lecture is built on the much discussed
and doubted comment "Read Shakespeare's Tempest", Beethoven
allegedly gave his friend and assistant Anton Schindler
regarding the musical meaning of the Tempest-Sonata. Paavali
will present though some of the early response as well as
some more recent ways to approach the matter. To connect the
recital with the lecture, Paavali will include in his
recital the "Shakespearean" Sonatas by Beethoven (The
Tempest, Appassionata).
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"...his technique is big and his
imaginative daring even bigger..."
The Boston Globe
"...his playing is fresh and exciting..."
The New York Times
" At the Kennedy Center Jumppanen
left no doubt that he has the dexterity of a Paganini and
the strength of a Titan"
The Washington Post
"...his playing is fresh and
bracing, like a cool Artic breeze…"
The Adelaide Advertiser
"...he played this very difficult
piece (Boulez Sonata No.1) with mastery of idiom and an
impressive communication of structure..."
The Melbourne Age
"...he added more glory from his
concerts in Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth to his glowing
overseas reviews, and his Brisbane performance showed they
were no idle claims. He is everything the critics say of him
and more..."
Brisbane Courier Mail
Read another review here:
Boston Globe, March 2010

Current Biography
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November 2010 |
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NAT BARTSCH TRIO (Australia) -
Performing in Germany |
Nat Bartsch Trio

(photo: Petri Puromies)
Nat Bartsch - piano, Josh Holt - bass,
Leigh Fisher - drums
www.natbartsch.com -
www.youtube.com/natbartsch
Young Australian pianist/composer Nat
Bartsch is fast gaining a reputation for playing
touching music with beauty, soul and clarity. Joined by the
young talents of Josh Holt (bass) and Leigh Fisher (drums),
their focus lies in creating unique improvised music with
melodic and harmonic beauty and vibrant rhythmic motives.
Her trio draws influence not only from the modern jazz piano
trios of today, but also from indie, ambient and minimalist
music, such as Sigur Ros, Elbow and Radiohead. The trio
showcases Nat's original compositions, and the trio's own
arrangements of contemporary popular Australian music. They
have performed extensively around the Melbourne jazz scene
and in May 2009 Nat Bartsch made her debut performance in
Tokyo and Fukuoka in Japan, receiving standing ovations.
On 30 November the Trio will perform for the first
time in Germany at the Kongresshall of the Saarbrucken Jazz
Festival. At that time the Nat Bartsch Trio will also
release their new CD recorded in December 2009 in Melbourne
for ABC Jazztrack.
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"Her approach unites lyrical
beauty with unsentimental
abstraction in a fascinating way." - Tord
Gustavsen

Current Biography

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TOUR
DATES 2010
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Germany: Saarbrucken Jazz Festival - Tues 30 Nov - Jazz-Syndikat
Saarbrücken Festival of contemporary Jazz -
http://www.jazz-syndikat.de/ |
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December 2010 |
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IIRO RANTALA (Finland) -
Performing in Duo in Korea with YOUN SUN NAH |
Iiro Rantala in duo with Youn Sun Nah
Iiro Rantala (1970) – piano – Finland
check:
Haiti Concert
After touring the world for 18 years with Trio Töykeät,
Finnish jazz piano virtuoso Iiro Rantala is
refreshingly still at the forefront of international
pianism. The energetic keyboard lion crosses musical genres
and styles with ease and excitement, playing at his
exhilarating and adventurous best. Definitely entertaining,
zany,unconventional and occasionally wicked, yet always
uncompromising. Iiro Rantala is among the most
internationally visible Finnish jazz musicians, and is
second to none when it comes to unsurpassable keyboard
technique and flaring showmanship. The pianist first became
infected by music in the children's choir Cantores Minores
at the age of seven and soon afterwards was already taking
piano lessons. Iiro Rantala is best known as the
founder and pianist of Trio Töykeät, Finland's most famous
jazz group, which became one of the biggest success stories
in Finnish jazz. Töykeät gave over 2,500 performances in 60
countries between 1988 and 2006, and released 8 albums - a
formidable achievement. The development of Iiro
Rantala as a creative pianistic improvisor has been one of
the most astonishing phenomena in the Finnish music world,
and he has been the winner of all major jazz awards in
Finland during his 22 year career.
www.iirorantala.com
In Duo with vocalist YOUN SUN NAH (Korea)
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www.younsunnah.com
Review of London concert in Jazzwise
Review of London concert in London Jazz
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Youn Sun Nah is Korea's rising vocal star - a most formidable, versatile and higly celebrated vocalist with a wide ranging and
original repertoire. She has just recorded (for April '09 international release on the German ACT label) her beautiful new album called
'Voyage', together with Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius and other brilliant Nordic musicians.: As the jazz world welcomes more
female singers, Youn Sun Nah continues to stand out from the rest. With the support of a talented group of musicians,
she has succeeded in making her mark on the jazz scene, despite being outside the typical promotional circuit.
Who is she and how does she define her music? She likes to say that her group’s music is a manifestation of the best
in jazz - free, without borders, constantly evolving - and drawing inspiration from French chanson, pop, and contemporary music.
Youn Sun Nah is a remarkable and most enchanting jazz vocalist from Korea but with a French connection and
cabaret-chanson style vocals, who since the mid nineties has made a most significant mark on the French/European and Korean/Asian jazz scene.
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(photos: Maarit Kytöharju)
"....romantic-classical strivings
in which his famed, composing country man Sibelius
was so good, and with that shakes his head above the
keys as a keyboard lion of the Horowitz type...."
Jacob Haagsma - Leeuwarder Courant - Holland
"...His playing to put it mildly is
virtuoso. One must perhaps go all the way back to Franz
Liszt to find the same kind of virtuosity. At least there is
lots of romanticism in Rantala."
Kjeld Fransden, Berlingske Tidene, Copenhagen
"Pianist Iiro Rantala is a real keyboard
lion. That he sees the grand piano particularly also as a
toy, appears in the many jokes in compositions lie 'Another
Ragtime, 'Unfinnish Tango' and 'Hömppa Humppa'"
Frans van Leeuwen - NCR Handelsblad - Holland
"Iiro Rantala is a pianistic sensation who
makes the strongest case I know to believe in reincarnation
because his pianistic technique and musical sensitivity
speak of depths which appear impossible to have been
achieved in this lifetime alone...."
Gil Goldstein, pianist and arranger, New York City.
"When I first heard the Trio Toykeat play
I was totally bowled over...knocked out. I immediately
recommended them for work...and also started hiring them...
then they started hiring me! Iiro Rantala is one of the
best musicians I have ever known. A RARE talent!"
Lew Soloff, trumpeter, New York City

Current Biography
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CHRISTMAS 2010 TOUR
DATES
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KOREA: 12 - 25 December 2010 - Venues/links to be
announced |
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April/May 2011 |
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PEKKA KUUSISTO & IIRO RANTALA -
VIOLIN/PIANO TANGO DUO (Finland) - Performing
Australia |
PEKKA KUUSISTO & IIRO RANTALA

(photo: Tanja Ahola)

(photo: Maarit Kytöharju)
Out of Finland and coming to you! The Classical violin
and Jazz piano Duo of our decade: Pekka Kuusisto and
Iiro Rantala. Meet these two internationally renowned
virtuosi and let them with their cunning charm and cheek put
the Tango fire in your heart! Pekka and Iiro have
individually toured Australia many times – Pekka with the
Symphony Orchestras – Iiro with Trio Töykeät and solo - rank
among the highest rated musicians in musical Finland and
indeed the world, and they do so because of two reasons:
They are both top-notch instrumentalists but are not afraid
to constantly seek new grounds for expression. Their duo
collaboration submerges into the world of Tango by means
familiar from the hay days of jazz.
www.nme.com/artists/pekka-kuusisto
www.iirorantala.com
YouTube: Pekka Kuusisto: Sibelius Violin Concerto
YouTube: Iiro Rantana: Haiti Concert
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Pekka Kuusisto “He’s a huge, charismatic talent.
Let’s see more of him.”
Richard Morrison, The Times,
February 2007
“Lending his wayward genius to all this was the guest
solo violinist, Pekka Kuusisto. What an extraordinary sound
he makes, tremulous as a reed, often folk-like in its
flatness, and yet so expressive.”
The Telegraph, February 2010
“Other highlights are the gorgeous romancing of the
Cantabile, the effortlessly sweet-singing Sonata in A and
the heroic Tarantella, originally for violin and orchestra:
here Kuusisto really shows his violinistic mettle with some
impeccable double-stopped spiccato and frenzied,
stratospheric twirling.”
The Strad, February 2010
“The brilliant 31-year-old, playing with seemingly
effortless élan and brilliance, brings a breath of fresh air
into the concert hall… [He] is an artist of huge enthusiasm,
energy and imagination, qualities that he transmits to those
around him and the result, at this concert, was an evening
of magical, vibrant music-making, given by players who were
loving what they were doing – and showing it... The drama
and brilliance of Kuusisto’s playing was breathtaking”
Irish Examiner, March 2007
Iiro Rantala
"....romantic-classical strivings
in which his famed, composing country man Sibelius
was so good, and with that shakes his head above the
keys as a keyboard lion of the Horowitz type...."
Jacob Haagsma - Leeuwarder Courant - Holland
"...His playing to put it mildly is
virtuoso. One must perhaps go all the way back to Franz
Liszt to find the same kind of virtuosity. At least there is
lots of romanticism in Rantala."
Kjeld Fransden, Berlingske Tidene, Copenhagen
"Pianist Iiro Rantala is a real keyboard
lion. That he sees the grand piano particularly also as a
toy, appears in the many jokes in compositions lie 'Another
Ragtime, 'Unfinnish Tango' and 'Hömppa Humppa'"
Frans van Leeuwen - NCR Handelsblad - Holland
"Iiro Rantala is a pianistic sensation who
makes the strongest case I know to believe in reincarnation
because his pianistic technique and musical sensitivity
speak of depths which appear impossible to have been
achieved in this lifetime alone...."
Gil Goldstein, pianist and arranger, New York City.

Pekka Kuusisto Bio |

Iiro Rantala Bio |

Duo Bio |

(photo: Lauri Salo) |
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TOUR
DATES 2011
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Sydney: Frid 29 April - Musica Viva Festival -
details to be confirmed -
www.musicaviva.com.au
Other Cities: 30 April - 7 May: venue details to be
confirmed
Melbourne: 8 May - 13 May: ANAM -
Australia National Academy of Music -
http://www.anam.com.au - workshop/collaborations details
to be confirmed
Canberra: Sat 14 May - Canberra International Music
Festival - details to be confirmed-
www.cimf.org.au |
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For all media information, interviews and tour contacts:Henk van
Leeuwen - Australia Northern Europe Liaisons
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