Okuda, Virtaranta & Kääriäinen @ Musta Kissa
22.03.26
Sunday, 19:00 - 21:00
Musta Kissa
Suonionkatu 1, Helsinki
Improvised music in Musta Kissa once again with international line up of magnificient musicians!!!
Line up:
Rieko Okuda - electronics
Antti Virtaranta - doublebass
Jukka Kääriäinen - guitar
Music at 7pm
donations 5-15€
Rieko Okuda is a pianist and a composer from Japan. She began to play Classical music at the age of 3. She also studied Music Therapy at Doshisha Women College. Music Therapy led her into Contemporary music and Improvised music. After she graduated from the college, she moved to USA to study Jazz music. She fell right into the Jazz scene in USA, performing with some of the great American Jazz musicians (Bob Mintzer, Jon Faddis, John Fedchock etc) at several jazz festivals such as North Texas Jazz Festival, Nortredam Jazz Festival to name a few. A couple of years later, she got interested in Free Jazz and Improvised music while she was in Phliladelphia. She performed with the great improvisers includes Marshall Allen (from San Ra Orchestra), Elliott Levine (recorded with Cecil Taylor), and Calvin Weston (recorded with Ornette Coleman). Her interests in Improvised music led her to move to Berlin. She performs with various musicians in Berlin ex. Tobias Delius, Axel Dörner, Els Vendaweyer, Linda Frederickson, ect. Also, she collaborates with contemporary dancers such as Yuko Kaseki, Akemi Nagao, and Annapaola Leso (from Sasha Waltz.) She performs at several experimental festivals: A’Larme Festival, JOE Festival Essen, Brda Contemporary Music Festival, XChange Festival, Experymental Festival, Flux Festival, and Soundance Festival to name a few.
Antti Virtaranta is a Finnish bassist and composer. He began his music journey at 17 years old focusing on Jazz music, attending University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Quickly he was introduced to free jazz and experimental electronic music, and this changed everything. He moved to Berlin to join the vibrant scene of improvisers, starting projects with many musicians and developing his own sound. Currently he is focused on expressing his voice in music and sound through composition and improvisation. Using his influences from jazz and rock music and self-taught contemporary music, his musical language is formed. Nowadays, his focus is on concepts and compositions for solo bass and solo electronics, and using non-conventional notations. These ideas develop and are imposed into the small groups (duos and trios) and larger ensembles that he is involved with to create instant composition in his varying projects, which include collaborations with dancers and visual artists, on top of the numerous musicians he works with.
Jukka Kääriäinen is a musician focused on experimental music. Depending on the situation, Jukka’s instruments of choice include an acoustic guitar with preparations or an electric guitar with a bag full of effects. Kääriäinen has performed in many European countries and at international festivals in the United Kingdom, Spain, and France. In addition to solo concerts, he regularly performs in bands and has collaborated with many leading European improvisers such as Teppo Hauta-Aho, Kalle Kalima, Harri Sjöström, Axel Dörner, Kriton Beyer, Rieko Okuda, Anil Eraslan, Mikko Innanen, and Joel Grip, premiering works by composers such as Riikka Talvitie, Sebastian Hilli, Sami Klemola, Clara de Asis, and Tytti Arola.