Joona Toivanen Trio returns to We Jazz Records with their new album "Gravity". A landmark work for the long standing group, the album showcases the forward-looking sound of the band, moving way beyond the basic scope of the "piano trio". There's a startling sense of telepathy and intimacy at work in the music of the Joona Toivanen Trio, something you can glean from the opening moments of their latest album, Gravity. It's that rare synergy that can only come with years of time spent together onstage, in the rehearsal space, on tour throughout Europe, en route to the next show. To look at the discography of the Finnish piano trio is to see a relationship that stretches back to the year 2000, when they self-released their first album, Numurkah. Only, the connection between pianist Joona Toivanen, drummer Olavi Louhivuori, and bassist Tapani Toivanen goes back even further. "Tapani is my younger brother and we moved to a neighborhood in Jyväskylä in central Finland when I was seven," Joona Toivanen says. "And on my first day at school I met Olavi, who was in the same class as me!" Nowadays, the trio is geographically split between Gothenburg, Sweden (Joona), Copenhagen, Denmark (Tapani), and Helsinki, Finland (Olavi), but the unit sounds together as ever thanks to their extensive track record in developing their band sound.
Joona Toivanen says:
"In a way, looking back to all our albums this far, it's like going through a diary that's written at an extremely slow pace. The debut album Numurkah was sort of a result of the time as a house band in Jazz Bar. We brought more and more original tunes on the bandstand and people told us we should record them. The same year Numurkah was released we also won a Nordic Jazz contest for young bands in Reykjavik, Iceland. Musically we worked more or less in the same way throughout the albums Numurkah, Lumous, Frost, At My Side, and November: we wrote tunes, arranged them, and rehearsed a lot. We had a lot of fun playing the music live, but came to a point where we questioned if we should keep playing as a trio.
Due to some misunderstandings, when we were on another tour in Finland, there was a two-day hole in the tour calendar. A bit too short for traveling home, but just enough for a studio session along the way. We booked a small Finnish countryside studio, Lammaskallion Audio, and recorded whatever came into our minds. This time we didn't have a single clue what this recording would be. We used the instruments we had on the tour and whatever we could find in the studio: a beautiful old Steinway upright piano, tribal drums, a toy piano, old organs, and synths. This is what became the Gravity album.
We really wanted to try out different things in the studio. It was a kind of sonic exploration: what kind of sounds could we create together as a trio? We wanted to go beyond the classic piano-bass-drums-idiom and see the possibilities we could do as three musicians playing whatever instruments and sounds we had at hand. Already when booking the studio, it was clear to us there would be no grand piano. All we had heard was that it was an old Steinway & Sons upright, but the instrument was actually a nice surprise with a very pleasant sound and nice touch. But it's also very different from a classical "big pristine concert grand" sound heard on many piano trio recordings.
I think the music sense because we've known each other since we were kids. We know we have each other and there's no need to rush things. Right now it feels like we're into something new and inspiring, something we are eager to discover more about."
Joona Toivanen says:
"In a way, looking back to all our albums this far, it's like going through a diary that's written at an extremely slow pace. The debut album Numurkah was sort of a result of the time as a house band in Jazz Bar. We brought more and more original tunes on the bandstand and people told us we should record them. The same year Numurkah was released we also won a Nordic Jazz contest for young bands in Reykjavik, Iceland. Musically we worked more or less in the same way throughout the albums Numurkah, Lumous, Frost, At My Side, and November: we wrote tunes, arranged them, and rehearsed a lot. We had a lot of fun playing the music live, but came to a point where we questioned if we should keep playing as a trio.
Due to some misunderstandings, when we were on another tour in Finland, there was a two-day hole in the tour calendar. A bit too short for traveling home, but just enough for a studio session along the way. We booked a small Finnish countryside studio, Lammaskallion Audio, and recorded whatever came into our minds. This time we didn't have a single clue what this recording would be. We used the instruments we had on the tour and whatever we could find in the studio: a beautiful old Steinway upright piano, tribal drums, a toy piano, old organs, and synths. This is what became the Gravity album.
We really wanted to try out different things in the studio. It was a kind of sonic exploration: what kind of sounds could we create together as a trio? We wanted to go beyond the classic piano-bass-drums-idiom and see the possibilities we could do as three musicians playing whatever instruments and sounds we had at hand. Already when booking the studio, it was clear to us there would be no grand piano. All we had heard was that it was an old Steinway & Sons upright, but the instrument was actually a nice surprise with a very pleasant sound and nice touch. But it's also very different from a classical "big pristine concert grand" sound heard on many piano trio recordings.
I think the music sense because we've known each other since we were kids. We know we have each other and there's no need to rush things. Right now it feels like we're into something new and inspiring, something we are eager to discover more about."
TRACK LISTING
1. Gravity
2. Static Model
3. Intersect
4. Density
5. Infinite Fields
6. (Maybe In The) Future
7. Rotating Dust
8. Green Model
9. Implications And Consequences
10. Horizons
11. Zero Gravity
12. (In The) Past
