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Music, Etc. by Oren Tikkanen
Columns about Finnish and Finnish American music published in the New World Finn since 2001
All of this material is copyrighted by Oren Tikkanen, please contact him for republication rights -orentikk@up.net
Oren Tikkanen, third from left, with Eric Peltoniemi, Toni Tikkanen, Kip Peltoniemi, and Arto Järvelä.
Oren Tikkanen has been writing about Finnish American and Finnish music - folk and old-time styles for about one decade. He first began his writing for the Finnish American Reporter, then became a columnist for the New World Finn. On this webpage you can read his most recent columns for NWF.
Oren is also well-known as a musician, and as a producer of recordings of traditional Finnish American music for which he and his wife Toni have received numerous awards. When they received the Michigan Heritage Award from the Michigan Traditional Artsa Program at the MSU Museum, they were commended for their promotion and support of traditional music and dance. The commendation continued, "Although active with a range of regional groups and traditions, the Tikkanens’ primary work is with Finnish Americans. Their list of accomplishments is commendable. By locating and restoring early 78 rpm recordings, they have been instrumental in preserving the music and song of the immigrant generation and introducing legendary artists and their music to today’s Finnish Americans and to Finnish nationals in Finland. Their efforts were rewarded when the American Folklife Centers selected two of these reissues for the center’s annual list of the best recordings of traditional music for their given year. The Tikkanens also have produced cassette recordings of contemporary local musicians playing traditional music that has great meaning to Finnish Americans."
Autumn 2001: Reviews of Merja Soria and Kip Peltoniemi recordings
Winter 2002: Ruth-Esther Hillila; Martti Pokela; Arto Rinne
Spring 2002: Finn Hall Band; Les Ross, Sr.; Johnny Perona - Peruna Jussi; Petri Hakala & Markku Lepisto; Kiperä
Summer 2002: Night Quadrille music by JPP; Tanya Stanaway’s “Volume 5 — Kokoelma Tanjan Mieluisi”
Autumn 2002: Toivo Tamminen's CD reissue of Viola Turpeinen's first recordings; Helsingin Kaksrivisnaiset: FinnFest 02, etc.
Winter 2003: Suomen Kansanmusiikki 1 – Folk Music of Finland Vol. 1
Spring 2003: Aland Island Music: Stäni Steinbock and Reijo Lainela - Kra; and Barka Vall
Autumn - 2001
Thanks to our new editor, I recently received new recordings by two North American Finns (Kip Peltoniemi and Merja Soria - black and white photo below) who are mainstays of Finnish and Finnish-American folk music on this side of the water. One of these is Merja Soria from San Diego, who, as far as I know, is the only graduate of the Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department living in the USA. Her presence in this country has enriched us musically for over 12 years now. I last saw her at the Seattle Finnfest in 1999, where she brought a group of her ethnically-diverse students to perform the Finnish folk music which she had been teaching to them. As I recall, the band, called “Suddenly Finnish,” was a great success.
On Merja’s new recording, entitled “Arctic Silence,” she puts aside her accordions, and focuses on singing a variety of old folk songs from Finland. Accompaniment is provided by Merja’s 5 and 10-string kanteles, and by a variety of other “world-music” folk instruments. Guest musicians include album producer Jeff Gauthier on violin; John Bergamo, percussion; Jeanette Wrate, percussion and jaw harp; Alex Khalil, over-tone singing and saz; and Anne Whattoff, vocals. For the most part, instrumentation is restrained, keeping Merja’s lovely voice in the sonic foreground. If you heard her sing at the Marquette Finnfest in 1996 with Ritva Talvitie and Pia Rask, you know that Merja is capable of some powerful vocalizing. However, on this recording she chooses mostly to keep her strength in check, focusing on quiet intensity and color.
The selections are a delightful collection of mostly unfamiliar (in this country) songs that sound as ancient as the roll of the seasons. Some of them are basically “mouth-music” with no words, intended as dance-tunes, e.g. Duui Didl, and Rali-Ali. Other songs for dancing, such as Yhden Kerran Minä and Yksi, Kaksi, Kolme, Neljä do have words, and rollick along to a polska beat.
The quieter songs are absolute gems — Jos Mun Tuttuni Tulisi has a melodic and structural elegance similar to Scarborough Fair, but the simpler 2/4 beat and Merja’s shimmering kantele strings make Simon and Garfunkel seem overproduced. Merja gives Kylä Vuotti Uutta Kuuta a more complex and rhythmic kantele part, and evokes the feel of a refined or simplified Värttinä. Other pieces in the same vein are Aamulla Varhain and Melkutus.
The recording also dips into the tradition of women’s ensemble singing which has been developed so well at the Sibelius Academy. However, Merja again keeps it simple, with only two voices—although I can’t tell whether it is always her voice and that of backup singer Anne Whattoff, or if sometimes Merja is double-tracking herself. These songs are some of the most vigorous on the CD, including Kaikk Miä, Likka Istu Kivellä, and the beautifully rising and falling round Alalaarian Alalammi.
Merja rounds out the 15 cuts with two kantele instrumentals, Tutskovi and Maaherran Polska, both played in the strummed style. Merja writes in the album notes, “In these songs, you can hear the silence speak.” Certainly, she has stripped away the rackety style into which many modern players of this kind of music have fallen, and she has produced a shining example of Finnish roots music.
Perhaps on her next recording, she will get out her two-row and five-row accordions and demonstrate her fine pelimanni abilities, also.
One Finnish-American who never gets very far from his button accordion is Minnesota’s Carl “Kip” Peltoniemi. Kip was a guest instructor at the Sibelius Folk Music Department some years ago, and established friendships with many of Finland’s top folk musicians. When he decided to record a CD, he went to Finland and named JPP’s Arto Järvelä as his producer. They lined up a stellar crew of musicians, and the result is “Minnesota Tango—Music from the Finnish Triangle” (Texicali Records OY—TEXCD 038).
Kip, besides his accordion and vocal skill, has a wry sense of humor that informs just about everything that he does. He describes the “Finnish Triangle” as lying in “the central part of the eastern portion of the western section of the southern half of northern Minnesota.” He says that the Finnish settlers discovered that more rocks than they needed for their saunas kept coming up in the fields, “but they stayed anyway, because it is a good thing to have at least one crop that never fails.”
I had heard various renditions of Kip’s song Minnesota Tango, including his live solo performances, and Pinnin Pojat—Kimmo Pohjonen and ArtoJärvelä—singing it in English and Finnish, but this CD’s version must be close to the definitive one. With a full Finnish tango band behind him, including Järvelä on violin and Pohjonen on five-row accordion, Kip can focus his warm baritone voice on the story of the fellow who is begging to not be sent out into the freezing Minnesota winter night by his lady-love. “Just to think that yesterday my life was foul, dear. Now tonight we’re dancing jowl to jowl, dear...” Ah, it is a wonderful love-song to which many of us can relate. But how can he sing so well with his tongue so firmly in his cheek?
Accordions from Hell is a hilarious take-off on many American “supernatural” pop-songs, going back to Ghost Riders in the Sky. In Kip’s song, “a lonesome timber cruiser” took shelter in a haunted Finn Hall during a blizzard. When the ghosts began to dance, he joined them, but then “the devil and his polka band rose up through the floor.” It’s a comic image, but it is also perhaps a reminder of the religious differences that have divided the Finnish-American community, with some folks seriously contending that Finn Hall dance-tunes were “the devil’s music.”
Another target of Kip’s wit is the pseudo-folk style of popular music from the 1970’s. “The Great Elusive Metaphor of Love” has a pleasant, driving melody that reminds one of Snowbird and Gentle on my Mind, and the tasty banjo playing of Janne Viksten reinforces that feeling. However, the lyrics are pure Peltoniemi: “While wandering through the junkyard of my memory, I came across some wreckage of the love that once was ours...”
My personal favorite of Kip’s songs, Pesäpallo Laulu, is a ballad about a local baseball game c.1900-1910, and is a great piece of immigrant Americana: “Today the boys of the hometown team are playing for the crown of the Jackpine League.” Among the players on the starting lineup are “...second base Ranta; shortstop Jokela; third base Peterson (where’d he come from?); Kivijärvi, Keskinen ja Koski in the field; Luoma’s the pomo of the hometown team.” I think I know these guys! Tapani Varis’s jaw harp and Jouko Kyhälä’s harmonica combine to give a proper “country” feel to the song.
Kip also sings The Strawberry Roan, (listen to it at www.kantele.com/strawberryroan.ram) an old cowboy ballad about a legendary bronco. The Popular Wobbly is a humorous look at the unamusing ways that union organizers were treated by the authorities in the early 20th century. The lyrics were composed around 1920 by IWW organizer and writer, Matt “T-Bone Slim” Huhta, as a parody on an earlier popular song.
Original Peltoniemi instrumentals are La Valse de L’Isle de Nicollet, a schottische called Bluff Creek, and a tune for his daughter entitled Minun Pikku Petunia. There are also three tunes from the great Pohjonmaa fiddler, Otto Hotakainen, and I’m glad that one of them is the exquisite Hiljainen Polska, which I first heard when Tallari came through here in 1991. Kip’s club accordion is augmented in the studio by the members of Tallari — Antti Hosioja, bass; Risto Hotakainen (Otto’s son), violin; Ritva Talvitie, violin; Timo Valo, harmonium — as well as by Arto Järvelä and Mika Virkkala, violins; and Eero Turkka, harmonica. What a band, and what a beautiful tune! Thanks to Kip for clearing up a question for me — I’d wondered for ten years why this melody in 2/4 time was called a “polska,” when that dance form is usually written with 3 or 6 beats to the measure. The Peltoniemi explanation is that “polska” has been used at times in western Finland as a generic term for “dance-tune.”
Kip’s comical CD notes are worth the price of the recording alone, but don’t stop there. The recording itself is a classic of Finnish-American humor and Finnish traditional music, with very fine playing by Olli Varis, Pekka Lehti, Jarmo Saari, Marko Timonen, Taito Hoffren, and Hannu Saha, in addition to the musicians already mentioned.
“Ah, yes,” the old man murmured, drawing a little closer to the fire, “now we are falling down into the dark time of the year. We must light candles, sing and dance, be gentle with those who have had losses, and keep close to one another. We will hold back the shadows, and the seasons will swing back toward the light again."
Winter - 2002
This past autumn, I received a copy of the book, Historical Dictionary of the Music and Musicians of Finland, by Ruth-Esther Hillila and Barbara Blanchard Hong (Greenwood Press, 1997). Since then, I have been told that Ruth-Esther Hillila died in November, 2001. I regret that I will not be able to let her know how much I value the book. It is a fine English-language reference source for those of us who love the music of Finland. (Photo on right of Ruth Esther Hillila, many years ago.)
The book, as its title implies, is organized as a dictionary, with entries listed in alphabetical order, so that finding information is easy and fast. It even includes a short biography of Hillila herself, and it appears that she had a musically rich and adventurous life.
Ruth-Esther Hillila was born in Ishpeming, MI, in 1928, majored in music at Northern Michigan University, and spent a year studying with the renowned Martti Nisonen at Suomi College. She earned a master’s degree in church music at Boston University, and went on to study church music in Finland in the early 1950’s. When not working at her studies, Hillila gave many vocal, flute, and organ concerts in Finland, and was instrumental in the founding of the Helsinki Cathedral Cantores Minores Boys’ Choir, an ensemble that continues to exist and perform.
After returning to the USA, Hillila earned a Ph.D. in musicology at Boston University, and embarked on a teaching career that took her to Hong Kong, back to Finland, and eventually to Ohio. Even after retiring, she continued to direct a boys’ choir. Throughout her life, she maintained a strong personal and professional interest in Finnish music, which culminated in this book.
Her co-author, Barbara Blanchard Hong, also has studied and taught in China and Finland, and is a music professor at Western Michigan University.
The contents of the volume, of course, are largely oriented towards classical and liturgical music. There are many, many entries about people and subjects about which I had never heard. For instance, there is the soprano singer Aino Ackté (1876-1943), “one of the most celebrated opera stars of her time.” And then there is Bernhard Crusell (1775-1838), who taught himself to play a friend’s clarinet, went on to study performance and musical composition, and became known as “the Mozart of the North.”
Erik August Hagfors (1827-1913) is described as a “music instructor, composer, as well as medical doctor. Hagfors is considered the father of music education and choral music in the Finnish language.” Osmo Lindeman (1929-1987) was a composer who became interested in electronic music, and became “Finland’s leader in this field.”
Among the Finnish musicians who are better known, the book devotes four and a half pages to Jean Sibelius, two pages to Oscar Merikanto, three pages to Leevi Madetoja, and four to Toivo Kuula. The modern Finnish conductors who have made Finnish musicianship famous world-wide, such as Esa-Pekka Salonen and Jukka-Pekka Saraste, are represented, as are Finnish singers like Martti Talvela and Jorma Hynninen.
Folk music and jazz are not covered in the Dictionary as extensively as I would wish, but these musical genres are not neglected altogether. Jazz saxophonist and composer, Seppo “Paroni” Paakkunainen, has an entry, as does Konsta Jylhä, the fiddler and folk-composer from Kaustinen. There also is coverage of immigrant musician Ernest Paananen, whose career included playing viola and French horn with the Cleveland, Minneapolis and Seattle Symphony Orchestras, as well as recording and playing folk music and dance tunes in Finn halls across the USA. Also to be found in this volume are the 19th century kantele player Kreeta Haapasalo, 20th century songsmith Georg Malmstén, accordionist Veikko Ahvenainen, and the “Finnish troubadour,” Tapio Rautavaara.
Anyone who has any interest in Finnish music and musical history will take pleasure in this book, and it will be an absolute necessity for the libraries of all Finnish studies programs and Finnish cultural centers in Anglophone countries. The late Ruth-Esther Hillila and her co-author, Barbara Blanchard Hong, have opened a valuable window into Finnish cultural history for English-language readers.
One fellow who rated an entry in the above book is Martti Pokela. You may have read in the last issue of New World Finn that Professor Pokela was awarded the National Council of Music Prize for 2001 in recognition of his life-long work in Finnish music, particularly with the kantele. He was born in 1924 in Haapavesi, a part of Ostrobothnia that had maintained the tradition of 5-string kantele playing. He and his wife, Marjatta, began collecting, arranging, and performing Finnish folk songs as early as the 1940’s, and became some of Finland’s best-known entertainers.
In 2001, the Kaustinen Folk Music Institute released a re-issue of some of Pokela’s earlier recordings entitled Tuulikumpu (KICD 71). This fascinating CD is divided into four parts, and is drawn from the same number of sources. The first section was recorded in 1959, when Pokela went to the Finnish National Museum on Mannerheim Street to try out some of the old “hollowed” kanteles housed there. The instruments included 5-string, 7-string, 12-string, and 14-string kanteles from various parts of Finland, Karelia, and Ingria, and perhaps most exciting, a 20-string that had belonged to Kalevala compiler Elias Lönnrot!
Pokela’s playing of these old instruments was recorded at the museum, and nine short melodies from that session are presented on this CD. They are mostly traditional tunes, or are Pokela’s compositions and improvisations.
These charming miniatures vary in style and tempo, and are colored by the moderate-tension tuning of the strings, which gives low-pitched, long-sustaining tones. I was particularly drawn to Pokela’s reverent melody, Eliaan Virsi, which was played on Lönnrot’s kantele (and perhaps was composed especially for that instrument?). On a few of the cuts, one hears the tram rolling by on Mannerheimintie, a sound that inexplicably adds a touch of pathos to the occasion.
The second section of the CD, also from 1959, is called Pelimannimusiikkia isolla kanteleella, and, as one might expect, the music is played on large instruments of 28, 32, or 36 strings. According to Hannu Saha’s notes, these five tunes “...illustrate Pokela’s complete absorption of the Haapavesi playing tradition.” These big diatonic kanteles were reportedly common in Finnish homes, and if I’m reading the Finnish correctly, the 28-string was built by Pokela’s father: Martti Pokelan isän Toivo Pokelan rakentama 28-kielinen kantele. This section is all dance music, including polkas, waltzes, and a purppurimarssi. Hannu Saha writes that these pieces demonstrate Pokela’s “...ease of fingering, strength of tone...rhythmic vigor...precision...and elasticity.” I’ll just add that they are also some darned nice music!
The next two sections of the recording are, surprisingly, music that Pokela composed for ballet. Ivo Cramér, leader of the Cramér Ballet Company in Stockholm, and his Finnish wife, the choreographer, Tyyne Talvo, commissioned Martti Pokela to write the music for Talvo’s dance-works, Tuulikumpu (first performed in February, 1968), and Sauna (which premiered in October, 1968). Although these commissions led Pokela to collaborate with the electronic-music composers, Reijo Jyrkiäinen and Sweden’s Bengt Ernryd, I confess that I don’t hear much electronic manipulation of the sound — the “electronics” must have been used very sparingly.
The third section of the CD is comprised of selections from “Sauna.” This is what I would call “sound effects,” rather than a conventional ballet score. Pokela mixes the sounds of the kantele with humorous chuckles and grunts, maracas, singing, and shepherd’s flute. I imagine that this “soundtrack” makes a lot more sense when one can view the movements of the dancers. I hope to see it someday.
The fourth section has parts of the music for Tuulikumpu, subtitled Kuvia Kalevalasta, and these Scenes from the Kalevala have names such as Väinämöinen ja Joukahainen & Aino and Lemminkäinen ja äiti. The melodies are traditional-sounding, and include some of the old Kalevala tunes that were collected in the 19th century. Again, it would be enlightening to see the ballet that accompanies this music (or vice versa).
Martti Pokela has recorded extensively over the years, and this Kaustinen Institute CD is the first of a series of re-issues of his music which the Institute intends to release. Considering the lofty place that Pokela has in the modern Finnish folk music movement, this ongoing project strikes one as certainly worthwhile, and even overdue. One definite positive outcome will be that those of us who are not very familiar this artist will be able to have relatively easy access to his works. All those who have a love for the kantele and for Finnish folk music in general will want to begin collecting the CD’s as they become available, starting now with “Tuulikumpu.”
Congratulations are in order for Arto Rinne, the singer and mandolinist from the Myllärit group. Finland’s Kalevala Society presented him with an “Appreciation Award for Young Artists “ on November 2, 2001, at the Finnish Literature Society’s Hall in Helsinki. It included a plaque and diploma calling him a “promising interpreter of the spiritual inheritance of the Finnish people.” The accompanying biography describes his studies at the Petrozavodsk State University Finnish Language Department, his participation in the University’s “Toive” folk music and dance group from 1983-94, his performance in the Karelian folk-rock group Santtu Karhu & Talvisovat from 1989-1994, his activities in Myllärit, and his Finnish-language music programs on Karelian radio. The description goes on to say that the Myllärit band is the “calling-card of the Karelian Republic’s modern national culture.”
Myllärit will be touring North America again next summer, with appearances in Sudbury, Ontario; Covington, MI; Calumet, MI; Duluth, MN; FinnFest USA,Minneapolis; and Hallowell, Maine. Wish Arto your best when you see him.
I hope to see many of you at the Hancock, MI, “Heikinpäivä,” January 18-19, on the Finlandia University campus. Onnellista uutta vuotta!Spring - 2002
So far, the year 2002 has been a very musical one for us. It began with the Heikinpäivää in Hancock, MI, which seems to get better every year. Again, there was superb food, a dance that attracted a very pleasant crowd of active dancers, and a bustling tori. Jim Kurtti from Finlandia University is to be commended for starting and maintaining this excellent mid-winter event. I was pleased to reunite with my old comrades from the Finn Hall Band (a.k.a. “Keskilännen Pelimannit”) for the Friday night dance, and even more tickled to join in an impromptu Saturday session at the Finnish Heritage Center marketplace between the two bands with whom I play: the aforementioned Finn Hall, and Will Kilpela and Friends. Voi, voi, that was a jam!
Then it was down to the Hancock waterfront where the polar bear swim was taking place. In my case it was not for an icy plunge, but to accompany some hot harmonica playing. Les Ross, Sr. has been named by the Michigan Traditional Arts Program as a Master Folk Artist, and his son, affectionately known as “Les the Lesser,” (or “Les, Jr.”) had arranged a jam session in his dad’s honor at the Ramada Inn. As it happens, accordionist Will Kilpela and fiddler Helmer Töyräs have also been designated as Michigan Master Folk Artists, and they showed up, along with Johnny Perona, the bones-maestro who received the same honor last year. I suppose that this award from the Traditional Arts Program is Michigan’s version of the Kaustinen Folk Music Institute’s “Master Folk Musician” title, so it’s fair to say that we had four Michiganin Mestaripelimannit performing their musical art—with accompaniment from Ken Holster, Randy Seppala, Paavo Hilska, and yours truly. The cocktail lounge of the Ramada could barely contain the energy of so much old-time music, and although there was not really enough room to dance, Dennis Sotala, Kristin Tepsa, and few other dancing diehards did their best to literally “cut a rug” through the wall-to-wall carpeting. Winter’s backbone suffered multiple fractures at this Heikinpäivä.
In February, Randy Seppala, as apprentice bones-player, arranged a concert at the Little Gem Theater in Lake Linden, MI, to honor his mentor, Johnny Perona (on left). As you no doubt know, Johnny is the concertina, bones and spoons-master from Calumet who was born in 1920 to an Italian immigrant family, and who went on to absorb and play the music of the Finns, Slovenians, Croatians, French-Canadians, and Italians living in his home town. He has some wooden bones carved by a Finnish immigrant named Matt North, so he has joked for years that he has no Finnish blood, but he does have “Finnish bones.” Randy Seppala has carved him another set of wooden bones, so (as Johnny puts it) he is more than ever a “Finnish bone-specialist.” Of course, his Finnish friends could not leave his name alone, and by changing the accent of Perona from the second syllable to the first, and replacing the middle vowel, they’ve transformed him into Peruna Jussi (Potato Johnny).
An enthusiastic crowd joined with Randy, Will Kilpela, bassist Kim Streeter, vocalist Toni Tikkanen, and this correspondent at the Little Gem to honor Johnny’s superb 70 year maintenance of the Copper Country’s folk and ethnic music. Fortunately, the Little Gem has enough space for dancing between the stage and the theater seats, so the ethnic traditions of Upper Michigan—and one of their best practitioners—were celebrated in fine style. A particular treat for me was that with Kim Streeter playing bass and tuba, I got to play my new Godin acoustic-electric mandolin—hurra hoi! a mandolin that plugs directly into the sound system, has its own volume control, and yet still sounds like a mandolin, not like a screechy electric guitar. Mandolinists of the world: we need never fear accordion players and drummers again!
Speaking of mandolins and accordions, mandolinist Petri Hakala sent me the new CD that he recorded with accordionist Markku Lepistö, “Pelimannien Jäljillä.” As I understand it, this is a self-produced recording with the publication number of ZLM CD 006. Petri Hakala will be remembered from his touring in the USA last year with Maria Kalaniemi’s band, Aldargaz, and with the Helsinki Mandoliners. Markku Lepistö is a veteran of the Finnish folk music scene, and has played with more bands than I can remember, including Pirnales, the Progmatics, Doina Klezmer, and currently Värttinä.
Those who attended the 1991 Tanhukurssi in River Falls, WI, will remember that Markku directed our musicians’ ensemble. I still tell people about the spiraling polska that Antti Savilampi led around Betsy Robbins and Al Norgard to celebrate their betrothal, and the dramatic arrangement of Lampaan Polska that Markku conducted on the spot to accompany the dance.
Pelimannien Jäljillä is what I think of as “chamber folk music.” Lepistö plays one and two-row button accordions on this beautiful recording, often using only the right hand to get a delicate English concertina-like single-reed sound. When he does play the left hand on his boxes, it is usually to add only minimal chords or bass notes that add some continuity without drowning out any of the crystalline sounds of the right hand or of Hakala’s plucked strings.
Petri, for his part, plays mandolin or octave mandolin on all the cuts, except for one tune on which he switches to the fiddle. He also overdubs a baritone fiddle part to two of the tracks, but otherwise, the sound is of just two instruments delightfully interacting. Hakala’s mandolin playing is wonderfully fluid, and when he picks up the octave mandolin, the low strings provide a splendidly resonant counterpoint for the accordion.
The tunes on the CD include two originals from Lepistö and three by Hakala. The remaining seven are all traditional melodies from the repertoires of such old Finnish folk masters as Johan Erik Taklax, Vainö Aarnio, Elias Tallari, Vihtori Hiivanainen, and others—hence the title of the CD: “In the Footsteps of the Pelimannit”. This is a wonderful document of old, (and new) Finnish folk music, subtly interpreted by two modern masters of the art.
“Pelimannien Jäljillä” can be ordered on-line from Digelius Music at www.digelius.com, or by e-mail from the Kaustinen Folk Music Institute shop at folk.art@kaustinen.inet.fi. A new source of Finnish folk music located in the USA is CD Roots, and this recording can be ordered on-line at www.cdroots.com or from their telephone order line at 1-877-692-7999. CD Roots also has many other folk music recordings from Finland, several of which have been reviewed in this column, and the prices in US dollars are relatively low for imports. The CD Roots webpage has sound samples of the recordings, so you can listen before ordering. Also, surf over to Markku Lepistö’s webpage at www.markkulepisto.com to find out all about this remarkable musician.
Once upon a time, a group of Sibelius Academy folk-music students joined together to form a folk-dance and folk-music ensemble which they called “Kiperä.” From 1993 until 2000, they performed modern adaptations of folk-dance, accompanied by arrangements of folk-music that were performed with great virtuosity on acoustic instruments. Some of the music was recorded, and in 1997, the Kaustinen Folk Music Institute released the CD, “Kiperä—Nousu ja Uho,” KICD 47. The musicians at the time of these recordings were Minna Ilmonen, fiddle; Maija Karhinen, accordions and vocals; Topi Korhonen, guitar; Kari Kääriäinen, percussion; Matti Laitinen, guitar and mandolin; Timo Myllykangas, double bass; and Mika Virkkala, fiddle and mandolin.
This music was intended to accompany live dance performances, and indeed, some of it was recorded before audiences, but the music stands very well on its own. The interpretations are contemporary, but are not “experimental” in the sense of losing the beauty of the traditional music. The arrangements and playing provide a fine blend of dignified mastery on the one hand, and exuberant earthiness on the other.
Although she is not identified as the group’s leader, one suspects that accordionist Maija Karhinen was a guiding light in the ensemble’s history. She produced the recording with Janne Viksten, and she wrote two of the nine compositions on the CD. The rest of the material is traditional folk-music, running the gamut from the Viola Turpeinen favorite, Ellin Polkka, to polskas and quiet folk-songs. One non-Finnish piece is called Dallas, and must have accompanied an American dance set — it is based on the old Texas tune, Cotton-Eyed Joe, and Janne Viksten is credited with playing banjo on it, although he is not very audible. I particularly like Karhinen’s singing of Voi Ruusuni, which I have been told is a Finnish Gypsy (or Roma, if you prefer) song. Timo Myllykangas’s bass is a leading voice in the arrangement, and it will bring back memories of the first Nordic Roots Festival of a few years ago in Minneapolis, when Myllykangas played this melody as a bass solo. It is also pleasant to hear the use of acoustic guitar in Finnish folk-music performance — something found rather infrequently.
It would have been a wonderful experience to see the dance performances that went with this music. Fortunately, our glass is made at least half-full by the availability of this fine recording. “Kiperä—Nousu ja Uho” can be ordered on-line from Digelius, or by e-mail from the Kaustinen Folk Music Institute Shop, at the addresses given above.
Momentum seems to be gathering for the Minneapolis Finnfest USA in August. The Finn Hall Band and Will Kilpela & Friends will both be playing for dancing, so I’ll be there. See you in Minneapolis if not before.Summer - 2002
I first saw Antti Savilampi dance at the 1982 Kaustinen Folk Festival. His folk-dance group performed on-stage with Minnesota’s Kisarit Finnish Dancers, and I was one of the musicians playing music off to the side. I remember being impressed with his athletic grace, the springiness in his movements, and his commanding presence. What I didn’t know until recently was that at that same festival, he and the fiddle band JPP had just begun what is now a twenty-year tradition — Kaustisen Yökatrilli (the Kaustinen Night Quadrille). While JPP played a nonstop set of music, Antti called out instructions for figure dances to a floor full of dancers, in somewhat the style of an American square dance caller. In the years since then, the Night Quadrille has become increasingly popular, and reportedly goes on all night.
In 2001, the Kaustinen Folk Music Institute released a CD of Night Quadrille music by JPP called “Huutokatrill!” (KICD 75). This is a straight 30 minutes of some of the finest Finnish-Scandinavian fiddling and folk-dance music that one is likely to find on a recording anywhere. There are seven “cuts” on the CD, but they are all played straight – through as a non-stop half-hour set (what stamina!). Each cut is identified as a sikermä or medley of multiple tunes, so that there are many melodies included, ranging from traditional Finnish and Swedish tunes, to original compositions by JPP members Timo Alakotila and Arto Järvelä. The medleys are described as “slow (hidas),” “stimulating the quadrille from slow to fast (kiihdytys hitaasta katrillisikermästä nopean),” “fast (nopea),” “faster yet (vielä nopeampi),” and “seriously fast (tosinopea).” As the speed and excitement build up, it is not difficult to conjure up visions of dancers whirling around the floor of the open-air Kaustinen arena, and to imagine drops of perspiration shining on the brows of the fiddlers. This is superb Finnish fiddling!
I confess that the two times that I have returned to the Kaustinen Festival, I’ve missed the Night Quadrille. Now that I’ve heard some of the music, I’m making a resolve to take part the next time I’m fortunate enough to get there.
I received a call the other day from Anne-Marie Kelly, who is a staff writer for the Marquette Mining Journal. Anne-Marie has become interested in the Finnish-American folk culture of Upper Michigan, and sometimes she can even be seen whirling around the floor at Suomi Kutsu dances and other U.P. Finnish gatherings.
Anne-Marie called to talk about Tanya Stanaway’s new CD, which is entitled “Volume 5 — Kokoelma Tanjan Mieluisia.” Tanya had expressed to Anne-Marie the hope that her audience would expand, because most of her listeners are second-generation Finnish- Americans, and are getting into their 70’s and 80’s. The question arises — will Finnish- American music survive the fading away of the second generation?
I told Anne-Marie that I think that there is reason for optimism. On the one hand, there is what I think of as the “Salolampi generation.” For the most part, my peers and I were not taught the Finnish language, but many of the children of the fourth generation have learned at least some Finnish at the Salolampi Language Village or in other settings. What would be more natural than for these young “Finnophones” to look for songs in the language which they are acquiring?
Tanya’s new CD is another source of encouragement. When she began planning this recording, she serendipitously chose Jerry Kippola to record and produce the project. Jerry is not only an experienced and knowledgeable technician, but also an accomplished jazz and rock guitarist, with ancillary skills on mandolin and dobro. Although Tanya had 13 different musicians play on the recording, Jerry is the dominant instrumentalist, and his musical consciousness adds a new dimension to Finnish- American music.
The partnership of Tanya’s native-born Finnish voice, style, and song selection with Jerry’s eclectic-American musicianship makes for some very appealing music.
Many of us who play the old “Finn Hall” style of immigrant music share a repertoire of tunes and songs which are precious to us, but this is a small sampling of the vast amount of Finnish music that exists, even if we stay within the boundaries of “folk and dance music.” Tanya, as an immigrant from Finland, brings a breath of fresh air by singing the songs, both old and new, that she learned while growing up. Some of them are familiar to us, but she always seems to pull something out of her songbag that gives a broader perspective.
Tanya and Jerry made the wise decision to keep the instrumentation on this CD all- acoustic. That way, when Jerry plays some hot, jazz-informed acoustic guitar licks behind Tanya’s sweet, husky voice on Rakkauden Tuli Palaa, there is a harmonious blend. Similarly, Jerry’s guitar and mandolin solos and fills on Tule, Tule Kultani give the cut a sound like a 1930’s Finnish humppa-orkesteri that has been listening to Django Reinhardt’s “Hot Club de France” records. On Lähteellä, a song with Finnish lyrics by Elias Lönrott, translated from the original Swedish verses written by Finnish poet J. L. Runeberg, Jerry “slides” in an American twang on dobro guitar.
Tähti ja Meripoika gets still another treatment, featuring a lyrical soprano saxophone played by Jerry’s son, Aaron Kippola. My father’s cousin, Ricky Saari, was an old seaman and singer who loved that song, and I’m sure that he would have beamed with pleasure at Tanya’s dreamy, wistful version of The Sailor and the Star.
Of course, Tanya also included some well-known songs and tunes in traditional “Finn Hall” style for her Finnish-American audience. Karjalan Poikia and Johan på Snippen (Renki Jussi) are played as instrumentals by accordionists that include Will Kilpela, Al Reko, and Dennis Halme. They also back her up in various configurations on songs like Kiikuri Kaakuri, Maailman Matti, and Villiruusu. Other musicians at the recording sessions were Dave Ziegner, Less Ross, Jr., Arnold Kippola, Ralph Tuttila, Margaret Norling, Les Ross, Sr., Walt Lindala, and, yes, your respectful correspondent contributed a couple of strums, too.
Tanya says in her liner notes that she chose the material for this CD from requests that listeners had made, and the 18 cuts certainly represent a wide spectrum of Finnish folk and popular songs. Considering the variety of music and of musical styles employed, there should be something to please most listeners.
Dealing with work and the everyday grind of life, I sometimes forget to pay attention to the good stuff. One evening during this Memorial Day weekend, I was sitting and playing my mandolin, blankly staring out the window into the dark, when a flash of light caught my eye. I went out to investigate, and saw that the water in my pond was rippling in the moonlight, although there was no breeze. As I got down to the water’s edge, I realized that the disturbance on the surface was caused by hundreds of frogs, swimming back and forth, and singing lustily. Frogs singing and swimming in the moonlight—some kind of aquatic mating ballet? Sheer high amphibian spirits at the presence of a full moon and open water? I couldn’t say—but the little neighbors raised my mood, and forced me to take a more appreciative attitude about the coming summer.
Hyvää kesää kaikille!Autumn - 2002
In June, Toni and I went to the Iron County Historical Museum In Caspian, MI, to play music for the Scandinavian Midsummer Festival with some old friends who have come together in a new group called the "Finn Woods Ramblers." I was particularly aware of Viola Turpeinen's accordion on exhibit in another part of the building because we were on stage with one of the best heirs to Viola's tradition, accordionist Eleanor Mantila Taylor, and also because I had recently received Toivo Tamminen's CD reissue of Viola Turpeinen's first recordings, "Viola Turpeinen--American Hanuriprinsessa, Volume 1, 1928-1929" (Artie Music OY, Turku, AMCD 1005). The English-language CD notes by Pekka Gronow describe Viola's girlhood, and mention that she lived on Cedar Avenue in Iron River, across the street from "...the Bruno Hall, the meeting hall of Italian immigrants. Viola would often hear the strains of accordion music emanating from the hall..." According to Gronow, there continued to be Italian connections in Viola's musical life: her first teacher being a Caspian resident named Bianchi; her later studies at the Piersante School of Accordion in Chicago; and her subsequent association with Guido Deiro and other Italian accordion masters in New York.
In September of 1927, Viola began a concert tour with the roving Finnish immigrant entertainer, John Rosendahl, and in Cape Ann, MA, Antti Syrjäniemi heard them play for a dance. He wrote and recorded a wonderful song describing the festivities, Viola Turpeinen Tanssit Kiipillä, and that recording, appropriately enough, opens the CD. From there on, the album is purely Viola Turpeinen's accordion and John Rosendahl's violin or tenor banjo, recorded during 1928 and 1929 for Columbia and Victor in New York City and Chicago. These simple duets – with four solo accordion cuts – not only show how fluently Viola could play at age 19 and 20, but also demonstrate how strong and steady her left-hand was, since there was no other accompaniment. Listening to these confident performances, one marvels at the command of self and instrument that this young woman from a small town in Upper Michigan could show.
Toivo Tamminen has done an excellent job of restoring these recordings. The audio quality is probably better than the sound that was produced by the old wind-up phonographs on which these records were played when they were new.
There are at least two more volumes of Viola Turpeinen's recorded music coming from Toivo Tamminen in the next year or so. I am not aware of any North American sources for this first volume, but it can be ordered from Fifty-Fifty Records in Finland. Their website is at www.fiftyrecords.com, and they have English-language instructions for ordering. Get yourself a
copy, pop it in the CD player of your car, drive over to the Iron County Historical Museum to see Viola's accordion, and immerse yourself in nostalgic Finnish-American immigrant history.If it is a long drive for you to Iron County, MI, you may want to take along some other CD's as well. More great accordion music from Finnish women can be found on the CD "Helsingin Kaksrivisnaiset" (Kaustinen Folk Music Institute KICD 39). As the title suggests, this all-too-short (15 minutes) recording is of music played on two-row button accordions by five "Helsinki ladies" from the Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department. The well-known Maria Kalaniemi and Pia Rask were joined by Maija Karhinen, Sirkka Kosonen, and Riitta Potinoja, and were recorded by Teemu Korpipää, although no place or date are given. Nevertheless, the five apparently got together at some time and experimented with the concept of a "two-row ensemble," and the results are charming.
Maria Kalaniemi's original tune,Tsuiluikka, is a sprightly dance tune that is reminiscent of a Karelian quadrille. Mambo Italiano is an old American pop song (was it recorded by Rosemary Clooney?), sung here in Finnish by Pia Rask, and playfully improvised on by the "melodeon ladies." Kaksi Taunoa is a traditional polka that is exactly the kind of tune that I associate with Finnish two-row playing, with a "I-IV-V" chord pattern in a minor key. Maija Karhinen sings the folk-song, Hiljanen Suru, and the accordions give a dreamy, "Impressionistic" accompaniment that Debussy would have loved. Tsuiluikka II is a "remix" of the Kalaniemi tune with percussion. And sadly, that's it for the CD – very good and far too short. I hope that the Helsingin Kaksrivisnaiset get together and record more music someday. They have the ability to coax some lovely sounds out of those little squeezeboxes, and they can sing, too. The CD is available from CD Roots at www.cdroots.com; from Digelius Music at <digelius.com>; or from the Kaustinen Folk Music Institute (and a big thanks to the Institute for sending me this CD).
By the way, please note that CD Roots--a business located in the USA, with US prices – now has an expanded selection of Finnish folk music recordings, including most of the Kaustinen Folk Music Institute releases.
This summer has also been musically rich for Toni and me in terms of performing and catching the performances of others. Joining the "Finn Woods Ramblers" allowed us to renew our old playing partnerships with Eleanor Mantila Taylor and bonesman Johnny Perona, and to explore new nooks and crannies of Finnish-American music with percussionist Randy Seppala. Eleanor and I also played with fiddler and Michigan Traditional Arts award-winner, Helmer Toyras, at an open-air wedding dance at Juhannus time. The Covington Fourth of July Finnish Festival introduced me to members of a new group from Detroit called "Un-Finnish-ed Business" who play dazzling arrangements of new and old folk music from Finland and Finnish America, and who have a CD that I hope to acquire and review for you soon. At Covington we also renewed our friendship with the Myllärit band from Petrozavodsk, Russia (or Petroskoi, Karelia, if you prefer), and we reveled in dancing outdoors to their old and new music in the cool twilight of a perfect Finnish-American evening – "You have Finnish weather tonight," Leo Sevets told us from the stage. In the following weeks, I had two delightful opportunities to jam a little with Myllärit, both times on lovely summer evenings outdoors, with people dancing.
The Aura Jamboree came on a particularly steamy-hot day that took some of the starch out of my shorts, but I managed to get on stage five times with different groups (hey, I don't want to hog the stage, but as Finn Hall bass-player Margaret Norling says, "if you tell them no, they quit calling
you to play").
Les Ross, Sr., the "hulivilli huuliharppu" harmonica player called me to play bass guitar for him twice in Marquette, and a third time in Ahmeek, MI--and I did not tell him "no." Will Kilpela had some potentially serious health concerns in the early summer, but he made a rapid recovery, and when he called about a family reunion gig, I did not tell him "no." All over Upper Michigan, prayers of gratitude and sighs of relief were heard when Will and his accordion returned to active duty.
A poignant but rewarding experience came about when a memorial service was held for the late Professor Fred Waisanen, founder of the Aura Jamboree. The family asked for Jamboree-style music, so Will Kilpela, Helmer Toyras, Mike Roberts and I played old "Finn Hall" tunes to help celebrate the life that Fred lived so well. His presence enriched the world, and we are
grateful to have known him.
Finnfest USA came and went in a blur of hectic activity and exhaustion. I seem to remember playing guitar and flute with the Finn Hall Band, and bass with Will Kilpela, Art Moilanen, Don Reinholm, and Les Ross. I think I accompanied Elvi Jokinen, Ed Lauluma, Toni Tikkanen, and Tanya Stanaway, too. I believe I played the mandolin at some point. The Kajaani Harmonikka Kerho sat in with Will Kilpela's band, and their bass player gave me some brief instruction on accompanying the Finnish tango.
I know that I heard Gay Nixon on accordion with Kim Whittle on flute, and marveled at what pretty music they made, even without the other members of their Northwest Pelimannit ensemble. I also remember being impressed by the playing of "Oivan Ilo" from Massachussetts, and the group's accordionist, Marianne Cygnel telling me that they have a CD almost ready for release. I
guess it's true that at one point I asked for volunteers from the audience to assassinate whomever was responsible for setting up two amplified musical events in the same place at the same time.
I stumbled across Richard Impola's booth, where he and Helvi were sellingbooks. I discovered to my delight that Richard has translated three more of Kalle Päätalo's "Koillismaa" series of novels, and, of course, I bought them. I then stayed up far too late, discussing Päätalo and other writers with Erkki and Eeva Salonen, our former hosts in Helsinki, and now our fellow guests in the home of Larry and Marcelle Williams.
Except for the short set they did at the variety show, I missed the performances by my old Kaustinen colleagues, the Iin Laulupelimannit. I did get to exchange a few words backstage with Unto Kukka, the group's leader and mandolinist, and to learn that he had just bought a new Weber mandolin that day, "made in Montana." I also missed hearing other old pals, such as
Kip Peltoniemi, John Berquist, and Diane Jarvi. I need to find a better way to do Finnfest. I think Finnfest needs to find a better way, too...
Back in Upper Michigan, Randy Seppala had a concert in Lake Linden for his mentor, Johnny Perona, and invited Will Kilpela, bassist and tuba player Kim Strieter, Toni Tikkanen, and me to join in. We had a great time, and "Peruna Jussi" got a well- deserved standing ovation from the audience. I had seen Johnny, Ed Lauluma and Elvi Jokinen knock out the Finnfest audiences the same way, and I made an on-stage observation to Kim Strieter, "Maybe all we have to do is live to be over 80 and still play pretty well, and everybody will love us, too." Kim rubbed his tuba and looked thoughtful, but did not reply...
The summer faded away, and Eleanor Taylor, her drummer-son, Wayne Velmer, and I finished it off in fine style by playing at the South Range Eagles Club Finnish Day Dance. But the fall season looks promising. There are two September gigs in Ishpeming with Will Kilpela and Friends, and October concerts with the Finn Woods Ramblers at the Fortune Lake Lutheran Camp and Michigan Tech. Maybe someone will have a Pikku Joulu in December, and Jim Kurtti tells me that plans for the Hancock Heikinpäivää in January are well in hand. And when I'm not playing music, I still have the Kalle Päätalo novels to read.
As the Alpha "Cordean Man" has lettered on his pickup truck, "It ain't over yet!"Winter- 2003
I was at my desk, writing a report about one of my students, and I decided that I needed some music. My little office boom-box wasn't pulling in any of the public radio stations very well, and I was about to give up on music when I noticed a dusty old cassette tape on top of the file cabinet. The labels had come off the cassette itself, but the insert card said, in my printing, "Muddy Waters, Folksinger" , and "Folk Music of Finland, Volume 1." I put on the side that was cued up, and from the first notes, I recalled the Muddy Waters album from which I had made the tape. The great Chicago blues singer and guitarist who had made the transition from his rural Mississippi blues roots to the big-city electric guitar style that made him famous, had gone into the studio and recorded an album of blues with acoustic guitars, bass and drums. It had been my favorite Muddy Waters LP, and I contentedly sat back down to my report writing, with that deep, magnificent, Muddy voice crooning and moaning, "My home is in the delta...", backed up by the bluesy twang of his bottleneck-fretted flattop guitar.
When Muddy's side of the cassette was finished, I flipped it over and sat back down. As the Finnish folk music began to play, I found myself increasingly distracted from my report, pausing to try to figure out who was on the tape, and what the melodies were. The album seemed to be a sampler of different folk music styles, with kanteles, jouhikkos, vocals, accordions, fiddles, etc., all beautifully played. I could put names to some of the tunes, and I recognized some songs which Merja Soria has performed at various Finnfests, but who were these singers? There were a couple of cuts by a fiddle-harmonium-bass band that sounded typically "Kaustinen", but I couldn't say who they were. All the voices and instrumental styles on this tape sounded hauntingly familiar.
Eventually the report – one of many – got finished, but the mystery cassette kept popping up in the back of my mind. I hoped that I had recorded it long ago from one of my own LP's, and not from someone else's, so when I had a free day, I began sifting through all of my old (completely uncatalogued) record albums. I found several records that piqued my interest, and yes, there at the end of the last row, was Suomen Kansanmusiikki 1 – Folk Music of Finland 1. It had been released by (who else?) the Kaustinen Folk Music Institute in 1988, with the catalog number of KILP 14. I must have bought it on our trip to Finland that very year – I remember having to buy a duffle bag in Helsinki for my clothes because my suitcase was full of LP's.
You may ask how I could mislay an album like this. I can truthfully say that I seem to have a talent for losing track of important things. This particular bit of mismanagement probably came about because in the old days of phonograph records (remember them?), it was my practice to make a cassette copy of new LP's that I liked so that I could play the tapes, and save wear and tear on the records. This usually led to the LP being put away, and possibly not being examined again, even though there might be interesting information in the album notes.
In this case, there is indeed interesting information. Inside the record sleeve, I found a printed folio with an essay in Finnish and English about Finnish folk music by Ilkka Kolehmainen, and extensive notes on all the songs. As for the performers, they are none other than Hannu Saha, Risto Hotakainen, Liisa Matveinen, Tallari, Niekku, and other well-known figures from the Finnish folk music revival.
Kolehmainen's short but scholarly article begins with descriptions of Kalevala-era songs and descriptions of the 5-string kantele. The recording illustrates these early songs with Liisa Matveinen singing a plaintive Kalevala song, Eipä Luultu Luopuvani, which was collected in 1838 by Elias Lönnrot from Mateli Kuivalatar. Niekku gives a rousing Karelian-Ingrian style choral performance of Ei Pitäisi Nuoren Neien, a cautionary Kalevala song for young girls, collected in Ilomantsi – and which I remember from Merja Soria's Finnfest singing with Ritva Talvitie and Pia Rask.
The record also gives examples of 5-string kantele playing by Kaustinen Institute staffers Hannu Saha and Antti Kettunen. Saha's cut is a medley of sparkling tunes from Vilhelmiina Halonen (1840-1914) of Lapinlahti. Kettunen plays a sikermä of charming melodies by Haapavesi's Antti Rantonen (1877-1961), which includes the early plucking style and also the later strumming technique. Later kantele developments are demonstrated by Saha playing The Church Bells of Valamo on the 10-string, and by Eino Tuulikari's 1975 recording of Oskarin Valssi (which I have heard as Herman ja Minna).
Kolehmainen writes that there is speculation that some of the Kalevala's descriptions of the kantele may originally have actually been referring to the medieval jouhikko (bowed lyre). Two lively jouhikko dance tunes from Karelia are played by Risto Hotakainen, the multi-instrumentalist from the Kaustinen Institute's resident folk music band, Tallari. The essay goes on to say that ancient Finland also had as many as 120 different wind instruments, and Ilkka Kolehmainen himself joins Hannu Lehtoranta and Heikki Syrjänen in demonstrating the pine flute, the reed pipe, the goat's horn, the jaw harp (is that a "wind" instrument?) and two types of folk clarinets: the mänkeri from western Finland; and the Karelian liru.
According to Kolehmainen, Finnish folk music changed as ancient Finland became a class-structured society: "The Kalevala meter transformed after many different phases into the rhyming verse." Tallari's compelling performance of the narrative ballad about The Two Children of the King exemplifies this, along with the "broadside" song, Otto ja Olka, sung by Liisa Matveinen, and a "reki" entitled Ei Niin Hiljaa Aurinko Laske, performed by Mooses Pässi.
It was also during this time that accompaniment for dancing seems to have changed from singing to instrumental playing – first using the kantele and the jouhikko, then the fiddle. Eventually the clarinet joined the fiddle, and in the 19th century the accordion almost swept all other instruments off the dance floor. Tallari gives some examples of jouhikko-led dance tunes as collected in 1916 from Karelian jouhikko master, Feodor Pratsu. A 1955 recording of Kusta Järvinen, Tyyskä (which I know as Kukkuva Kello), shows off the fiddle's capacity to play unaccompanied dance tunes.
Kaustinen Institute staff member Simo Westerholm brings in Sifferi Kivisilta's old clarinet to play Purpurin Marssi, and the clarinet also leads Tallari's version Aarnion Marssi, to honor one of the first known folk music ensembles in Finland, the Aarnio Family Band.
Finnish harmonica is ably demonstrated by Erkki Vihinen in a 1982 recording of Satiaisen Polska. Aapeli Hautanen's 1978 one-row accordion recording of Niko Kurkela's Polkka ushers in the age of the hanuri and of the couple dance. It is a fine example of diatonic accordion playing, as is Antti Hosioja's 2-row version of Hiskin Iikko's Polska.
One of the traditional dance music ensembles that successfully resisted the accordion's dominance was the Kaustinen-style wedding band of two or more fiddles, harmonium, and string bass, and the Kaustisen Purppuripelimannit give Purppurin Alotus to begin the Purppuri, a string of dances that became traditional at wedding celebrations in western Finland. The group also closes the record with a composition by one of its former members, the great Konsta Jylhä (1910-1984), composer of dozens of beautiful melodies, including in this case, Museon Varjossa.
All in all, it is a lovely album, and is an important document of very diverse styles in Finnish folk music. Niles Hokkanen recommended this LP in a 1989 article, saying "...you can't find a better place to start listening to Finnish folk music." Unfortunately, you probably can't find this recording any longer, either. Apparently, Folk Music of Finland 1 has not been reissued on CD, so anyone wanting a copy will have to look for a used LP – or else convince the folks at the Kaustinen Institute to run off some CD's.
As for the Muddy Waters, Folk Singer LP – yes, I found that one on my record shelves, too. It was recorded in 1963 for Chess Records, with none other than a young Buddy Guy on second guitar, and was reissued by MCA. And, in case you're interested, this one has been available on CD for some years, and has recently been released on Digital Audio Disc. It's a good one, if you like the blues.
There probably won't be a lot of blues played at the Heikinpäivä in Hancock, MI, but there is a strong likelihood that roots music of the Finnish persuasion will be heard loud and clear. Organizer Jim Kurtti informs me that this year's festival will have Will Kilpela and Friends playing for a dance on Friday, January 17, 2003, at the South Range Community Center (wood dance floor!). Saturday's marketplace in the Finnish-American Cultural Center at Finlandia University will include all-day opportunities for jam sessions, and the dance on Saturday night, again in South Range, will have music by the Finn Hall Band from Minnesota. Bring your dancing shoes.
Have a great winter...Spring - 2003
The Åland Islands comprise one of the more interesting regions of Finland, but this archipelago of 6,500 islands and skerries lying midway between Finland and Sweden in the Baltic Sea is “Finnish” only because of the unpredictable shifts of history. The Ålanders were Swedish from ancient Viking times in terms of language, culture, and political affiliation, but after the 1808-09 war, the Swedish crown was forced to give up Åland – and Finland – and the whole region was ruled by the Russian Czar as a Grand Duchy.
When the Russian empire fell in 1917, the Ålanders petitioned the Swedish government to be taken back as part of that country, but the new republic of Finland put in a claim on the islands. The League of Nations eventually decided in 1921 that Åland should remain as part of Finland, and in return, the islanders were given a great deal of autonomy, with their own parliament and guarantees of Swedish-only language and no militarization. Presently, there are about 25,000 people living in the Åland Islands.
As someone who has only seen the Ålands from the deck of a passing Silja liner, I was vaguely aware that the Ålanders are reputed to be hardy, seafaring folk, and I assumed that they might be also a stern, dour race.
However, in the course of reviewing a couple of CD’s from Åland, I’ve discovered that there is a sense of humor coursing through the islanders’ veins along with the sea-salt and Viking blood.
Stäni Steinbock is a musical adventurer from Åland who has been deeply involved in the Finnish arts and culture scene for many years. He tells the New World Finn that he has recently taken part in some celebrations commemorating the late Åland writer, Joel Pettersson, who wrote about how the world might look to cows and other animals, and about how a gate swinging in the wind feels. One learns quickly that Steinbock’s music has a similar whimsical tone.
During the 1970’s, Steinbock played in bands with comic names like “Den Gamla Vanliga Skalligheten” (The Old Usual Baldness) and “Kirppuharppu” (The Flea Harp). In 1980, Steinbock and his collaborator, Reijo Lainela, started the group called “Kra”, which was named after the raft on which the Norwegian explorer, Thor Heyerdahl, sailed.
They won a composing competition sponsored by the Finnish Broadcasting Company, began recording, and toured in Finland and Sweden during the 1980’s. In the 90’s, Kra became less active as the founders pursued other interests. Stäni Steinbock went to work as a theater sound engineer, and performed original kantele music with a group he called “The Runaway Kantele”. Reijo Lainela followed his muse into Indonesian music by founding “Gamelan Hanuman”, possibly the only Gamelan in Finland or anywhere else in the Nordic countries.
In 2000, Steinbock and Lainela reactivated Kra for a Finnish TV performance and a recording session that produced a new CD. This record was released on the YLE Radio Vega label (KRACD-2002), and is called Guttural Shock, reportedly because of Lainela’s and Steinbock’s fondness for the music of Spike Jones!
So what is the music of Kra like? For one thing, it’s not like Spike Jones – at least, there is nothing slapstick about it, no crashes, no breaking glass, no rude noises. It also does not sound like Finnish folk music, no accordions or fiddles, although there is some 5-string kantele. The basic instrumentation includes drums and a horn section of trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and clarinet, with Lainela playing guitars and Steinbock on bass and guitar. From there, the sound is enhanced at times by musical saw, krummhorn, recorder, baglama, and Lainela’s gamelan instruments, such as gongs, bonang, and rebab.
And what do they do with all this? Well, among other things, they play “ska,” the syncopated Jamaican rhythm that sounds somewhat like a moderately-paced polka with an accented back-beat. On Tribal Pursuit, the horns are relatively smooth over the ska beat, but on Paha Korv, the melody becomes a little spikier, and sounds like Kurt Weil and Berthold Brecht in the West Indies. Then the boys start chanting a Swedish rap about gamelan music, butter, and margarine – all this in a song whose name Steinbock translates as Bad Makkara. Perhaps this where the Spike Jones influence comes in – or maybe it’s all baloney...?
Rosa Moln stays in a Jamaican style but slows the beat down for a reggae instrumental with a whistling recorder taking much of the lead over brass chords from the horns. The electric guitar is tasteful and discreet, and Steinbock’s bass playing is skillful and fluent – a challenge in reggae.
Retrospectrum is something completely different – an exotic and evocative Middle Eastern setting for clarinet, banjo, and trombone with full backing from the band in a slow, complex meter. And then there’s Pulau Gempa Bumi, sung by Poppy Purwanti, with lyrics written by the singer in what appears to be an Indonesian language, and with Steinbock’s 5-string kantele and slide guitar chiming in with Lainela’s gongs and percussion. Wow! The last cut on the 18-minute disc is The Vampire Waltz, a pleasant and quirky melody played on just about everything, including a mandolin.
This charming, all-too-short CD certainly contradicts the stereotype of the grim, humorless Finn, and also provides some very enjoyable music. You can listen to samples online and get more background on the band members at http:///kra.iuma.com. “Guttural Shock” can be ordered via e-mail by following the links at http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/kra/menuone.html.
Barka Vall is an Åland folk-rock band which has released a CD entitled Skogsflot on the Lion Music label (LMC 2009)(“skogsflot” means “wood-tick”). Members include Ella Grüssner, Isabella Sarling, Örjan Sjöström, Torgny Stjänfelt, Niclas Stjärnfelt, Hans-Erik Rämström, and Tony Mattsson. They sing and blend electric rock instruments and drums with fiddle, flute, hurdy-gurdy, and other Scandinavian and world folkloric sounds. Earlier reviews have compared the band’s overall sound to Nordic “ethno-rock” groups such as Garmarna, Groupa, Hedningarna, Hoven Droven and Triakel, and they do seem to fit smoothly into some kind of “ancient-modernist-Nordic-electric-folk” slot. The band’s bass player, “Hanski” Rämström, says that the group’s name is an idiomatic Swedish expression that the old folk musicians use to describe music that is going badly or out of control – more musical Åland humor!
The songs are all in Swedish, and no translations are supplied, but one review posted on the band’s website suggests that the lyrics tell “stories about dungeons, witches, dark forests, blood sacrifices and other heathen rituals.” Rather surprisingly, despite these pagan themes and the ancient-sounding melodies, virtually all of the material was written by band members Ella Grüssner and Isabella Sarling.
Skogsflot is a well-produced and beautifully recorded album. These musicians have a good ensemble mix, and a deft hand with dynamics. They go effortlessly from hard, electric vibes to a light-footed acoustic sound.
The women often take the lead vocals, solo or in harmony duets, and Ella Grüssner’s supple fiddle leads the instrumental charge. At other times, the men sing lusty harmonies that fit well in the mental landscape of stones and water that this music suggests. The melodies are mostly in minor modes, which also enhance the antique tone.
The combination of droning fiddles, bagpipes, and hurdy-gurdy with the driving drums and electric bass is reminiscent of the classic 1970’s British folk-rock band, Steeleye Span, but with a Scandinavian lilt. The mystery of the north comes across in the melodies, but any tendency towards Nordic brooding in the music is effectively countered by the energy. The musicians also draw sparingly from other sources to vary the sound – for instance, Grüssner’s fiddling may sail off into a Greek-inflected improvisation, or a Swedish polska melody can slide into a jazz waltz with walking bass and piano solo.
The vocal delivery makes me want to know more specifically what the lyrics say. This is not the first time I’ve wished I could understand Swedish, beautiful language that it is, and perhaps the band will provide translations for future works (all the Swedish lyrics are printed on the CD jacket).
Barka Vall continues the medieval imagery by printing Scandinavian runes around the edge of the disc itself, by photographing the musicians in stone-walled, candle-lit rooms, and by even having flickering torches on their web-page! This band makes it clear that the Åland Vikings have landed in world-beat music. Skogsflot can be ordered online from www.barkavall.com.
Kevät tulee! Hei, hei...
