MIKKO INNANEN _SAXOPHONIST/COMPOSER

An article by Peter Margasak in the April issue of Down Beat

Apr 13 Firehouse Space, Brooklyn, New York (US)
Mikko Innanen Trio with Joe Fonda & Lou Grassi

Apr 16 8 pm Sycamore, Brooklyn, New York (US)
Pascal Niggenkemper, Mikko Innanen, David Grollman

Apr 21 10 pm Prospect Series, Brooklyn, New York (US)
Mikko Innanen, Simon Jermyn, Mat Maneri, Joe Hertenstein

Apr 29 7:30 & 9:30 pm Trumpets Jazz Club, Montclair, New Jersey (US)
John Ehlis Ensemble with Mikko Innanen

May 1 9 pm The Jazz Gallery, New York (US)
Karl Berger's Improvisers Orchestra

May 3 8 pm Douglass Street Music Collective, Brooklyn, New York (US)
Klaus Suonsaari, Mikko Innanen, Frank Carlberg, Pat O’Leary

May 18 7 pm Downtown Music Gallery, New York (US)
James Ilgenfritz (bass) & Mikko Innanen

May 18 10:00 & 16:00 Jazz Sous Les Pommiers, Coutances (FR)
Gourmet

Mikko Innanen Intercontinental Extravaganza

June 1-2 @ I-Beam, Brooklyn, NY

June 1 8 :30 pm Mikko Innanen & Sylvie Courvoisier Duo

June 1 10 pm Mikko Innanen Trio with Ken Filiano & Lou Grassi

June 2 8 :30 pm Mikko Innanen & Andrew Cyrille Duo

June 2 10 pm Mikko Innanen Quintet with Thomas Heberer, Steve Swell, Max Johnson & Joe Hertenstein

June 16 Kerava Jazz, Kerava
Delirium

July 7 Villa Tomtebo, Helsinki
Seppo Kantonen (piano) & Mikko Innanen

July 7 16:00, Jazz-Espa, Helsinki
Wade Mikkola's Contrasts

July 16 16:00, Jazz-Espa, Helsinki
Mikko Innanen & Innkvisitio

photo: Risto Kantola

photo: Christopher Drukker

Mikko Innanen & Innkvisitio: Clustrophy

"HEY – if you don’t get another CD this year – GET THIS ONE!  Listeners who can’t be without the latest & greatest in jazz will kick themselves if they overlook this one!" Improvijazznation Magazine

Great new reviews of Clustrophy: PopMatters, New York Music Daily, All About Jazz (Eyal Hareuveni), All About Jazz (Jerry D’Souza), Canadian Audiophile, Jazmuzic, Improvijazznation Magazine, Something Else!

"Clustrophy introduces us to a new incarnation of Mikko Innanen & Innkvisitio, a group led by the highly talented and increasingly well-known Finnish saxophonist Mikko Innanen. Whereas the group´s first recording, Paa-da-pap (TUM CD 019) in 2007, featured a quartet of Finns, Clustrophy show-cases a five-piece band with a truly pan-European three-some of saxophonists: Mikko Innanen from Finland, Fredrik Ljungkvist from Sweden and Daniel Erdmann from Germany."

Gourmet: Cosmopolitan Sideshow

Delirium: Green Side Up

"Volcanic Finnish reedist Mikko Innanen is joined by three of Denmark’s best players – bassist Jonas Westergaard, trumpeter Kasper Tranberg and drummer Stefan Pasborg – and they peerlessly navigate sharp post-bop heads, rhythms that veer from swift swing to kinetic turbulence and extended improvisation that careens from astute motific development to bulldozing free blowing." Down Beat

Read full reviews at Delirium's Facebook site here

HIK: PIKNIK

"Paskaa paketissa !?" review in Voima magazine here (in Finnish)

QUOTES

"Volcanic Finnish reedist" DOWN BEAT

"Finland was representing, via the fascinating, feisty band Mikko Innanen & Innkvisitio, guided by the strong, free-minded alto saxist, and with keyboardist Seppo Kantonen winning special points for originality. Think Ornette Coleman in a honky tonk, updated and glazed with dry Finnish wit." DOWN BEAT

”Innanen, who exhibits great control over his vocabulary of squeals and squawks,
can also play it straight on his horns when he wants to.” THE IAJRC JOURNAL

“Employing saxophones in all sizes (and occasionally a whistle), Innanen staked his claim as the Finnish jazzman of import…” JAZZTIMES

“But the star here is Innanen's take on past and present jazz tradition. His multi-part compositions, not such a far cry from Mingus's volatile style, have enough meat to sustain deconstruction and evade the trap of eclecticism” THE WIRE

"Innanen välttelee viisaasti ohjelmallisia julistuksia, mutta nyrjähtäneesti svengaavan ja kiertelemättä iskevän Clustrophyn läpäisee jälleen hänen kiinnostuksensa 'retro-futurismiin', ajatusleikkeihin menneen jazzin vaihtoehtoisista ja tutkimatta jääneistä tulevista teistä." HELSINGIN SANOMAT

"Saksofonisti Mikko Innanen onnistuu jälleen johtamaan yhtyettä, joka tavoittaa jotain ennalta arvaamatonta, jopa ennenkuulematonta musiikkia. "Clustrophy" suorastaan pursuaa free jazzia, kulmikasta svengiä, outoa huumoria, karheaa kauneutta, rujoa rutista; vahvaa uutta jazzia, joka ei kiellä perinteitäkään." POHJOLAN SANOMAT

"Kort fortalt, så er «Clustrophy» en aldeles utsøkt plate. Den har alle ingredienser en moderne jazzplate bør ha. Musikerne spiller gnistrende godt sammen og det hele er
en fest fra start til mål! Strålende karer!" JAZZNYTT) read more

Mikko Innanen & Mika Kallio: Silence (FRCD-43)

"Why “silence”? Well, the CD is voluble and packed to the gills with sound - noise, if you will. That said, the sounds are so finely rendered and the interplay so perfectly soldered, the final product becomes a neverending process of inducing serenity into a world likewise packed with noise."
The New York City Jazz Record

Pekka Tuppurainen: Röd/Blå
(AECD 1091 / 2CD)

A fascinating new Ilma Records / AEON release!
Magnus Broo, trumpet etc.
Mikko Innanen, sax etc.
Pekka Tuppurainen, electronics etc.
Aki Rissanen, piano etc.
Joonas Riippa, drums etc.
+ Jori Hulkkonen & Antti Lötjönen

PLOP: AN SICH (FRCD-47)
Mikko Innanen – saxophones etc.
Ville Herrala – bass etc.
Joonas Riippa – drums etc.

Mikko Innanen & Mika Kallio: Scratch
(FRCD-23)
"The extroverted duo of Mika Kallio & Mikko Innanen is basically a saxophone and drum combo, but on Scratch both men are ready to use anything at hand to create sound. When the credits include wood blocks and bird calls, you know you´re in for a special sort of fun. Innanen, who exhibits great control over his vocabulary of squeals and squawks, can also play it straight on his horns when he wants to." The IAJRC Journal
order here

photo: Christopher Drukker

Mikko Innanen with Cedric Piromalli,Teppo Hauta-aho & Paul Lovens

Mikko Innanen & Innkvisitio