Excited to announce I have a new album coming out on Ropeadope Records November 11th. It’s titled Kielo, and features myself on guitars, Marty Kenney on Bass VI, and Nathan Ellman-Bell on drums. You can listen the first single ‘Vegas’ HERE, and pre-order the album on CD or Vinyl (!) at Bandcamp. The cover art design is by Benedict Kupstas.
Excited to announce the release of my second album, New Helsinki. It will be released worldwide by Edition Records on April 14th, 2017. Pre-order a signed copy HERE, and hear the song Gravity from the album. You can also stream it on Spotify.
Yesterday I had the great honor of being chosen as the winner of the 2016 Socar Montreux Jazz Electric Guitar Competition! Needless to say, I’m very excited about all the opportunities this might bring in the future. Stay tuned!
Check out the Events page for updated info on shows coming up. Highlights include solo and trio concerts at the Nordic Jazz 2015 festival in Washington DC, the Fifth Avenue album release tour in Finland, and some duo concerts in the US with Saku Mattila!
Excited to tour a bit of the US with my trio RED REITER starting this Wednesday! Shows in Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland and California. Come check us out if you’re around!
5/28 Minneapolis, MN, Christ Church Lutheran 7:30PM
5/30 Seattle, WA, The Swedish Club 7:30PM
6/1 Portland, OR, The Tardis Room 7:00PM
6/2 Sacramento, CA, Luna’s Cafe 7:30PM
6/3 Palo Alto, CA, First Presbyterian Church, 7:30PM
Olli Hirvonen – Guitar
Marty Kenney – Bass
Nathan Ellman-Bell – Drums
My debut album Detachment is almost out! The official release is going to be in two weeks. You can stream the opening track “The Gift” here:
Finland Tour Dates:
12.4. Helsinki, WE JAZZ -klubi, 6. Linja
14.4. Kokkola, Kokkolan Konservatorio
15.4. Kuopio, King’s Crown
16.4. Joensuu, Ravintola Kerubi
17.4. Lappeenranta, Helkiö-sali
18.4. Turku, Monk
23.4. Porvoo, Ravintola Zum Beispiel
Olli Hirvonen – guitar
Frederick Menzies – saxophone
Jeff Koch – bass
Philippe Lemm – drums
Here are the dates for our upcoming tour in Northern Europe with a special duo line-up of Merrily and the Poison Orchard.
Merrily – vocals, keyboards, percussion
Olli Hirvonen – guitars, vocals
3/15/14 ~ Cafe Rosso ~ Haarlemmerplein, Amsterdam. 4-6 pm
3/16/14 ~ Filmtheater Kriterion ~ Roetersstraat 170, Amsterdam. 7 pm
3/17/14 ~ Cafe de Paris ~ 158 rue Oberkampf, 11th, Paris. 8 pm
3/18/14 ~ Pop In ~ 105 rue Amelot 11e, Paris. 9 pm
3/19/14 ~ Onze Bar ~ 83 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, Paris. 8:30 pm
3/27/14 ~ Shangle Hangl ~ Schönstedtstraße 14, 12043 Berlin
3/28/14 ~ Donau 115 ~ Donaustr. 115 12043, Berlin
I have some exciting news about one of my favorite projects, Life Size. It’s a multinational collective of musicians, whose music is an eclectic combination of jazz, rock and classical sound. We started the band while all of us were still studying at the Manhattan School of Music, and now being out of school, we are ready to take over the world. But we need your help! We have recorded an album, and are now raising funds to release it.
At http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/248317767/life-size-debut-album you can watch a video about us, pre-order a physical or digital copy of the album, or even have your name in the album credits and have a private concert! I’m really excited about this band, and hope to get as many people to hear this music as possible, so feel free to share this link to your friends. Check out some tunes by Life Size HERE
Also, stay tuned for news about my own debut album…
I’m back in NYC after a relaxing summer in Finland, and now ready for some exciting things happening in the Fall! First of all, I’m playing in NYC at the Bar Next Door with my trio on 10/3, 11/26, and 12/19, so come by if you can. Also, I got invited to perform at the UCLA European Jazz Festival in LA on Oct 12th, which marks my west coast debut! Other things coming up are some awesome shows with the great Merrily and the Poison Orchard, a winter tour with Life Size, and most important, the release of my debut album, Detachment, so stay tuned! Meanwhile, check out a video of me and the great Saku Mattila improvising in Helsinki at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i7Zv4Ka8WY
I’m really excited to present multiple different projects for this spring! First of all, my own quartet is performing at the Kennedy Center on February 22nd, as part of of the Nordic Cool 2013 festival. Right after that we are going to Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, NYC to record our debut album! Other highlights include more performances with Life Size at the Cornelia St. Cafe and Sullivan Hall. I’m also now member of the amazing indie-rock band Merrily And The Poison Orchard, and we are playing soon in Rockwood Music Hall and Pete’s Candy Store. Hope to see you in one of these shows!