Guitarist, Oud Player And Composer Jussi Reijonen Selected To Showcase His Music At JAZZAHEAD! 2023

Guitarist, oud player and composer Jussi Reijonen has been chosen to showcase music from his acclaimed 2022 album Three Seconds | Kolme Toista at jazzahead! 2023 at Messe Bremen in Bremen, Germany on Saturday, April 29 from 17:45 - 18:30 p.m. at Halle 7 - Stage 7.1.

Reijonen is one of 36 artists selected by an international jury out of 576 applications from 45 countries. The full conference runs from April 27-30, 2023. More information can be found at https://jazzahead.de.

Truly the product of a world without frontiers, Reijonen has lived in Finland, Jordan, Tanzania, Oman, Lebanon and the United States, soaking up the sounds, sights, scents and shades of Nordic, Middle Eastern, African and American cultures. These influences combine on Three Seconds | Kolme Toista, the long-awaited follow-up to his acclaimed 2013 debut, un. On this remarkable and ambitious release, Reijonen delivers an epic transcultural suite that feels as deeply personal as it is expansive and far-reaching.

Joining fretted/fretless guitarist, oud player and composer Reijonen for the performance are a 9-piece ensemble of International Artists with roots stretching to points and traditions across the globe. His bandmates from the album - American drummer Vancil Cooper and bassist Kyle Miles; Turkish trombonist Bulut Gülen; Jordanian/Iraqi violinist Layth Sidiq; Palestinian cellist Naseem Alatrash - are joined by Scottish trumpeter Alistair Payne and Japanese percussionist Kan Yanabe and Ukrainian pianist Maxim Lubarsky.. (The album includes American trumpeter Jason Palmer, Turkish microtonal pianist Utar Artun and Japanese percussionist Keita Ogawa.)

These singular musicians internalize and bring to life Reijonen's emotionally resonant and compositionally breathtaking five-movement suite. They express his vision with dedication and sensitivity, channeling Reijonen's synthesis of influences including the Finnish Arctic's open spaces and silences, Arabic maqamat, the rich rhythms of Africa and the improvisatory spirit at the heart of American jazz into a sound entirely its own.

The album's title, Three Seconds or Kolme Toista in Finnish, reflects an encounter between three strangers or "others." For Reijonen, the meaning expanded to include the revelatory experience of suddenly seeing what had previously been unseen, a vision of distinctly different designs merging into kaleidoscopic unity, achieving symbiosis while simultaneously maintaining their uniqueness.

The recording has earned critical acclaim, including a place on the best of 2022 lists from Tristram Lozaw of Yahoo! Entertainment, Karl Ackermann of All About Jazz and El Intruso, Jim Hynes of Glide Magazine and Raul da Gama and Jason Weiss in the 2023 Francis Davis Jazz Poll.

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