Jazz Articles about Jussi Reijonen

About Jussi Reijonen

Interview

Jussi Reijonen: Memory and Consciousness Not Visited Before

by Dean Nardi
August 16, 2026

In 2025, Finnish guitarist and oud player Jussi Reijonen launched sayr, his intimate series of recordings for solo string instrument with simultaneous release of two stunning albums. One is a fully improvised take at his home studio on steel-string acoustic guitar on an afternoon in March 2025, split into two contrasting arcs--"salt" and “thirst"--as on two sides of a vinyl LP. The other was recorded live in concert in Helsinki, Finland on steel-string acoustic guitar and the Arabic oud, September ...

Album Review

Jussi Reijonen: sayr: salt / thirst

Read "sayr: salt / thirst" reviewed by Marco Iacoboni

by Marco Iacoboni
February 16, 2026

Non è azzardato definire Jussi Reijonen un “nomade sonoro." Ce lo racconta la sua storia. Nato nel circolo Polare Artico, ha vissuto in Medio Oriente per poi stabilirsi in Nord America. Questo nomadismo si riascolta nel suo suono e nella sua tecnica chitarristica. E, meglio ancora, emerge da questo ultimo lavoro Sayr: salt | thirst. A tre anni dal geometrico intenso lavoro di ensemble Three Seconds | Kolme Toista, Reijonen si mette a nudo e lavora per in ...

Album Review

Jussi Reijonen: Sayr: Kaiho--Live In Helsinki

Read "Sayr: Kaiho--Live In Helsinki" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
January 17, 2026

Finnish-born guitarist Jussi Reijonen says, “For there to be motion, there needs to be stillness as its counterpoint and vice versa, since through their dance, each defines the other." Music unfolds over time. Reijonen has released a pair of albums in 2025: Sayr: Salt | Thirst (Unmusic)--a studio solo set employing a late--1940s Gibson LG-2--and now Sayr: Kaiho: Live In Helsinki, with the Arabic oud trading places for the guitar at times. Both sets are deep immersions into ...

Album Review

Jussi Reijonen: Sayr: Salt | Thirst

Read "Sayr: Salt | Thirst" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
November 13, 2025

Listening to Finish guitarist/oudist Jussi Reijonen's Sayr: Salt | Thirst without delving into his rich backstory is a journey into two extended solo guitar pieces that play out as ruminative dream states. Concentrating on just the sound, images of Lightnin' Hopkins might come to mind: the bluesman huddled down in a small, dim hotel room after a show, improvising outside of time. Or maybe it is Howlin' Wolf sitting on the rumpled bed with the guitar on his lap, in ...

Radio & Podcasts

Jussi Reijonen, Ryan Keberle, Andrea Ciceri, Matthias Schriefl & Eddie Daniels

by Ludovico Granvassu
September 20, 2025

Here is a set that explores projects that reflect their authors' fascination with music from far beyond their own birthplaces. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Ryan Keberle's Collectiv do Brasil “Quintessence" Choro das Aguas (Alternate Side) 0:16 Host talks 4:55 Eddie Daniels “For Milton" To Milton with Love (Resonance) 6:29 Host talks 11:56 Matthias Schriefl, Frankfurt Radio Big Band “Muttekopfhütten -Blues" Allgäu Meets India (Jazzwerkstatt) ...

Live Review

Jussi Reijonen At Espoo Cultural Center

by Anthony Shaw
March 16, 2023

Jussi Reijonen Espoo Cultural Center Espoo, FinlandFebruary 24, 2023 Sometimes the best of things come unexpectedly, but considering the one-year anniversary on this date that is certainly not always true. However this gig in the Finnish capital region's Espoo public arts center, including the local library, music school auditorium and cosy basement stage, was an unintended blessing, accompanying a friend and with zero knowledge of this New York-based Finnish artist. Truth to ...

Album Review

Jussi Reijonen: Three Seconds | Kolme Toista

Read "Three Seconds | Kolme Toista" reviewed by Neri Pollastri

by Neri Pollastri
January 9, 2023

Disco tanto sorprendente, quanto interessante, questo Three Seconds | Kolme Toista è la narrazione musicale di un vero e proprio viaggio interiore fatto dal suo autore, il chitarrista Jussi Reijonen. Nato a Rovaniemi, nel nord della Finlandia, Reijonen è però cresciuto prima ad Amman (Giordania), poi a Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Muscat (Oman) e Beirut (Libano), per approdare da adulto negli Stati Uniti, a Boston e infine a New York, dove nel 2011 ha pubblicato il suo primo, ...