My History Of Jazz Iiro Rantala with Lars Danielsson & Peter Erskine

• 1 Aria / Goldberg Variation No. 1 04:42
• 2 Liza 02:55
• 3 Goldberg Improvisation I 00:52
• 4 Caravan 06:55
• 5 Eronel 04:18
• 6 Goldberg Improvisation II 01:06
• 7 Americans in Paris 04:30
• 8 Bob Hardy 04:36
• 9 Goldberg Improvisation III 01:27
• 10 September Song 03:49
• 11 Danny´s Dream 05:06
• 12 Goldberg Improvisation IV 01:29
• 13 Smoothie 04:35
• 14 Goldberg Improvisation V 02:44
• 15 What Comes Up, Must Come Down 04:34
• 16 Uplift 04:29
• 17 Aria 02:22
• Total Runtime 01:00:29

Info for My History Of Jazz

A unique melody-based mixture of the most diverse atmospheres: On “my history of jazz” Iiro Rantala presents his very own view of the evolution of jazz. With his special combination of humour, intelligence and “almost limitless techniques” (German radio station hr2) he frames the album with compositions by Bach.

That old discussion has broken out again: What is jazz? Who does it belong to? Where does it begin? The latter of these questions is at least not an issue for the Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala: 'Johann Sebastian Bach and his music came into my life when I was six.' So it comes as no surprise that Bach ties up his new ACT album 'my history of jazz' - Rantala's personal history of the music that captivated him when he was 13 is embedded in the classically rendered aria: 'Ever since then I always wanted to become an improviser, composer, stage performer and bandleader'. A universal concept shown on the five greatly varied improvisations on the Goldberg Variations, upon which Rantala threads the album like a string of pearls.

“My history of jazz' is the logical counterpart to Rantala's ACT debut 'Lost Heroes', on which he built a unique personal monument to past musical paragons and kindred spirits – so unique, in fact, that it won him the Echo Jazz and the annual German Record Critics Award, amongst others. There too, the Finnish classical composers Jean Sibelius and Pekka Pohjola were of course also among the inspirations, as were the entirely dissimilar jazz piano legends Art Tatum, Erroll Garner and Michel Petrucciani. This time, great composers find their way into Rantala's kingdom, like George Gershwin ('Liza'), Kurt Weill ('September Song'), Duke Ellington and his valve trombonist Juan Tizol ('Caravan'), Thelonious Monk ('Eronel') and the Swedish cool jazz saxophonist Lars Gullin ('Danny’s Dream').

With 'my history of jazz' Rantala places himself at the head of a new pianist generation that liberates itself from the inflated cult of the 'all new' and instead returns to build on the old jazz tradition of studying the great inventors of the genre, of admiring them and of using them for one's own sound. 'The great thing about being a musician is that you don't have to invent everything yourself,' Rantala says. 'You can listen to the people who were there before you and learn from them. Many people ask me what my influences are, who I like and who I've arranged for myself. I've always been very open-minded about that.'

The five Rantala compositions on “My History of Jazz” are perhaps the hardest to get out of your head. Whether reanimating the romantic jazz tradition in 'Americans In Paris' – which itself is based on the German and French Impressionists – or whether breaking down the swingbob rhythmic from hot to modern jazz as in 'Bob Hardy'; whether he gives his minimalistic answer to the Nordic jazz revolution of recent years in the stirring 'Smoothie', which is perhaps the catchiest tune on the album, or whether he makes his contribution to the escapist piano solos of the moment with 'What Comes Up, Must Come Down'; even when he embraces pop with 'Uplift',

Rantala always impressively demonstrates that he is a talented stylist, one who breaks down styles and reconstitutes them – borne by unrivalled technology. And that with an unprecedented versatility that he explains as follows: 'I was never devoted to blues piano or what people call 'mainstream jazz'. That is why that is missing on 'my history of jazz'. Apart from that I don't think anybody can complain about a lack of stylistic variety on the album: There's baroque, ragtime, bebop and swing to be heard on it, Scandinavian melancholia, ballads with a French character, fusion, smooth jazz and even tango.'

For this unique mix of various moods, focused entirely on melodies, Rantala found congenial comrades-in-arms: the delicate Danish drummer Morten Lund, who has proven his extensive understanding of jazz with, for example, Italians like Enrico Rava, Paolo Fresu and Stefano Bollani. Then there is the bassist, cellist and ACT star Lars Danielsson, who brings an unmistakable voice to the strings. And finally the most recent ACT discovery Adam Baldych, the violinist with not only classical training but also perhaps the biggest variety of tone qualities and the strongest expressiveness that jazz has ever had – just lend an ear to his plucked intro to 'Smoothie'.

For piano enthusiasts it may be a bonus that Rantala makes use of two other, fantastic pianos on this album, alongside the Steinway from Tia Dia Studios in Sweden's Mölnlycke: 'September Song' resounds from Alfred Brendel's Steinway D, 'Caravan' from the Bösendorfer Imperial from the Montreux Jazz Festival. That too awakens associations, and so Rantala's 'my history of jazz' can be rounded off as one man's response to the much-discussed questions of the time: When a creative spirit condenses the history of music into one moment with outstanding mastery of his instrument, jazz can be the new classical.

Iiro Rantala, piano
Lars Danielsson, bass & cello
Morten Lund, drums
Adam Baldych, violin

Produced by Siggi Loch with the artist
Recorded by Bo Savik, April 19 & 20, 2012 at Tia Dia Studios Mölnlycke, Sweden

“September Song” was played on the 'Alfred Brendel - Steinway D' and recorded by Klaus Scheuermann, June 18, 2012 at the ACT Art Gallery in Berlin

“Caravan” was played on a Bösendorfer Imperial and recorded by Antoine Desmons, July 9, 2012 at the Montreux Jazz Festival (Petit Theatre / Montreux Palace), Switzerland

Notes to Track 16: The effect (paper between the strings) is from the artist intended.

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, NY.

After touring the world for 18 years with Trio Töykeät, Finnish piano virtuoso Iiro Rantala is refreshingly still at the forefront of international pianism. The energetic keyboard lion crosses musical genres with style, ease and excitement, playing at his exhilarating and adventurous best. Definitely entertaining, zany, unconventional and occasionally wicked, but always uncompromising.

Iiro Rantala is among the most internationally visible Finnish 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 Finnish children's choir Cantores Minores at the age of seven, and not long afterwards was taking piano lessons. Iiro’s piano studies took him to the Oulunkylä Pop/Jazz Institute, and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and also included studying piano at the Manhattan School of Music in New York for two years in the early 1990s. Rantala is best known as the founder and pianist of Trio Töykeät, Finland's most famous and longest running jazz group (until 2006), which became one of the biggest success stories in Finnish jazz, and gave over 2.000 concerts in 40 countries since 1988, and released eight albums. The pianist has been the winner of all major jazz awards in Finland during his more than 20 year career.

Exploring the boundaries between musical genres is a strong characteristic of Rantala’s artistic personality. He appears in Finland with symphony orchestras, performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Mozart’s No.23 piano concerto, and his own Concerto in G#majAs, first premiered in 2003 with the Tapiola Sinfonietta. Rantala’s creative diversity has also seen him intensively engaged with music for children’s theatre, as well as performing with cross-over classical musicians, including the Finnish vocal group Rajaton, and recently as a tango duo with world renowned virtuoso violinist Pekka Kuusisto.

Iiro Rantala has hosted his own music talk show on the Finnish national broadcaster YLE, started 2006 and continious today.

Since 2010 Iiro Rantala has focused on the development of his solo piano career. His ACT debut “Lost Heroes” is his first solo recording and a very personal homage to outstanding musicians in history like Jean Sibelius, Esbjörn Svensson, Oscar Peterson, Jaco Pastorius and Luciano Pavarotti.

Booklet for My History Of Jazz