Jazz Articles about Utar Artun

About Utar Artun

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, ...

Album Review

Jussi Reijonen: Three Seconds | Kolme Toista

Read "Three Seconds | Kolme Toista" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
October 22, 2022

East/West jazz fusion has a long presence on the U.S. jazz scene and that foothold has been growing in the 2000s. Composer/guitarist/oud player Jussi Reijonen is uniquely qualified to bridge musical cultures. Nordic by birth, he has lived in the Middle East, Africa, and the U.S., absorbing native music at each stop. Reijonen's solo debut, Un (Self Produced, 2012), paved the way for Three Seconds | Kolme Toista. The acclaimed debut album incorporated global influences but in a melodic haze. ...

Album Review

Giuseppe Paradiso: Parallel Dimensions

Read "Parallel Dimensions" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
October 16, 2022

Parallel Dimensions steers the listener's imagination through a luxurious multicultural tapestry woven in music by drummer, vocalist, composer, arranger and producer Giuseppe Paradiso and his sextet. It explores broad musical horizons that can sound radiantly bright or dark, often features several instrumental or melodic voices at the same time, and is strongly colored and shaped by African rhythms. Parallel Dimensions sort of sounds the way that the cover of Miles Davis' landmark Bitches Brew looks. Two drum pieces ...

Album Review

Jussi Reijonen: Un

by AAJ Italy Staff
May 23, 2013

Il chitarrista finlandese, ma di base a Boston, Jussi Reijonen riversa nel suo album di debutto Un tutte le influenze stilistiche raccolte durante il proprio percorso di vita, nel quale ha conosciuto culture diverse e molto distanti tra loro. Ne è venuto fuori un miscuglio molto particolare, dove svolgono ruoli decisivi, per la risultante stilistica di questo lavoro, gli interventi del leader all'oud e alla chitarra fretless, le percussioni di Tareq Rantisi e Sergio Martinez e i contributi dei musicisti ...

Album Review

Jussi Reijonen: Un

by Eyal Hareuveni
February 20, 2013

The debut recording of Boston-based guitarist and oudist Jussi Reijonen is a remarkable crystallization of musical concepts and influences from the West and in the East. It is also a mature reflection of the musical experiences that Finland-born Reijonen accumulated in all the places that he grew up, including the Finnish Arctic Circle, the Middle East and East Africa. But more than that, it is the approach that Reijonen, a student of guitarist David Fiuczynski, Palestinian violinist/oudist ...

Album Review

Jussi Reijonen: Un

by Hrayr Attarian
February 19, 2013

Finnish guitarist/oudist player Jussi Reijonen's debut, Un, seamlessly blends multiple ethnic influences into a stimulating whole, crackling with vitality and innovative spirit. The opening “Serpentine" is a sonic tapestry of both eastern and western motifs. His sinuous oud and Palestinian percussionist Tareq Rantisi's resonant beats contrast nicely with Turkish pianist Utar Artun's more western sensibilities. Artun's elegiac lines flow over Swedish bassist Bruno Råberg's and Spanish drummer Sergio Menendez's deeply soulful vibes. The two currents weave around ...