Trio Live by Aki Rissanen

Finnish pianist Aki Rissanen releases ‘Trio Live’, a live recording as inventive and uplifting as you’ll hear on the European scene today.

The Aki Rissanen Trio, featuring Antti Lötjönen on bass and Teppo Mäkynen on drums, are one of the great European piano trios of the last few years. Over their last 3 albums, Amorandom, Another North and Art in Motion, their collective sound has grown to include repetitive and hypnotic hooks bound with a vibrant European Classical Music influence, an Electronic Dance music aesthetic and their own approach to Nordic Jazz. This live album, recorded over a tour of Germany and Finland, clearly demonstrates how far the powerful interplay between the three Finnish musicians has developed.

Taking music from all three of the previous albums, their live set is as inventive and uplifting as you’ll hear on the European scene. For Aki, this live album defines the trio's identity: “We explore the roots of the current European jazz music from the outskirts of Europe, with our perspective as Finnish artists with Nordic, Slavic and Western European heritage. We are a rhythmically intense band focusing on our interplay, continuing the Nordic tradition as we see it. We, as jazz musicians, are in constant motion because our form of art doesn't ever stand still.”

Beautiful recorded, Trio Live is playful yet serious, progressive yet full of tradition and open yet structured. It’s a wholesome live album from a band with a longevity and command that proves they are well on their way to becoming one of the great European piano trios.

Pianist Aki Rissanen has quickly risen to a position among the top pianists in Finnish Jazz. Although originally classically trained he has always had a feeling for improvised music and jazz. Rissanen is known for his work with Verneri Pohjola and with Dave Liebman. He has released seven albums under his own name and is gaining a growing reputation on the European jazz scene.