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Jussi Reijonen

WITH THREE SECONDS | KOLME TOISTA, COMPOSER, GUITARIST, AND OUD PLAYER JUSSI REIJONEN PRESENTS HIS MOST PERSONAL AND AMBITIOUS WORK YET.

Bringing together an all-star 9-piece ensemble of musicians from Finland, Jordan/Iraq, Palestine, Turkey, Japan and the United States whose credits include performances/recordings with Herbie Hancock, Roy Haynes, Simon Shaheen, Danilo Pérez, Terence Blanchard, Snarky Puppy and Yo-Yo Ma, composer, guitarist and oud player Jussi Reijonen’s long-awaited new album Three Seconds | Kolme Toista [Challenge Records International, 2022] draws from the deep pool of influences and experiences of a childhood spent in the Middle East and East Africa as well as 13 years in the United States as an adult.

As Reijonen’s expansive new work unpacks, unravels and transcends the interlaced cultural threads within his experience, he builds a sonic world of broad and beautiful proportions, going above and beyond his critically acclaimed debut un | ان.

The dynamic interplay of the Finnish, Jordanian, Tanzanian, Omani, Lebanese and American cultures in which he grew up and lived, the ever-present feeling of being welcomed yet never truly belonging, the longing to understand his own identity within this complex and wondrous multicultural and multilingual context, and the disorienting effect of their transient existence on his familial relationships are expressed, explored and stunningly resolved in Reijonen’s transcendent suite.

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Born in Rovaniemi, a small town on the Arctic Circle in Northern Finland, fretted/fretless guitarist and oud player Jussi Reijonen is truly the product of a life lived transcending boundaries.

Having grown up in Finnish Lapland, the Middle East and East Africa, and spending much of his adulthood in the United States, Jussi has lived a life soaking up the sounds, sights, scents and shades of Nordic, Middle Eastern, African and American cultures, all of which are reflected in his creative work as composer and performer.

Along his path, Jussi has worked as bandleader, sideman, composer or arranger with a diverse array of world-renowned artists. He has collaborated with Jack DeJohnette, Pepe de Lucía, Javier Limón, David Fiuczynski, Simon Shaheen, Bassam Saba, Arto Tunçboyacıyan, Dave Weckl, Hüsnu Şenlendirici and the New York Gypsy All-Stars, among others. He has performed extensively at prestigious festivals and venues throughout the United States like Lincoln Center and the Library of Congress, as well as in Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Canada, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates.

Jussi’s Independent Music Award-nominated debut album un | ان was released to great critical acclaim in early 2013 on his unmusic label. His latest album Three Seconds | Kolme Toista, a long-form suite for a new transcultural 9-piece ensemble, features musicians from Jordan/Iraq, Palestine, Turkey, Japan and the United States and was released worldwide on October 14th, 2022 via Challenge Records International.

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Live Review

Jussi Reijonen At Espoo Cultural Center

Read "Jussi Reijonen At Espoo Cultural Center" reviewed by Anthony Shaw


Jussi Reijonen Espoo Cultural Center Espoo, FinlandFebruary 24, 2023 Sometimes the best of things come unexpectedly, but considering the one-year anniversary on this date that is certainly not always true. However this gig in the Finnish capital region's Espoo public arts center, including the local library, music school auditorium and cosy basement stage, was an unintended blessing, accompanying a friend and with zero knowledge of this New York-based Finnish artist. Truth to ...

Album Review

Jussi Reijonen: Three Seconds | Kolme Toista

Read "Three Seconds | Kolme Toista" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


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, ...

21
Album Review

Jussi Reijonen: Three Seconds | Kolme Toista

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


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. ...

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Interview

Jussi Reijonen: Playground of Sound and Texture

Read "Jussi Reijonen: Playground of Sound and Texture" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni


Jussi Reijonen is an exceptional musician. On his debut recording as a leader, Un (Self Produced, 2012), the Finnish guitarist/oudist has succeeded in crystallizing a spectrum of influences, sounds and textures into a highly personal, sensual mosaic that blurs the distinction between jazz, Middle Eastern traditional music, West African music, and even Finnish folk elements. Since his childhood, Reijonen has been a citizen of the world. He was born in a small town above the Arctic Circle ...

3
Album Review

Jussi Reijonen: Un

Read "Un" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni


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 ...

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Album Review

Jussi Reijonen: Un

Read "Un" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


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 ...

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Take Five With...

Take Five With Jussi Reijonen

Read "Take Five With Jussi Reijonen" reviewed by Jussi Reijonen


Meet Jussi Reijonen: Born in Rovaniemi, a small town on the Arctic Circle in northern Finland, fretted/fretless guitarist and oudist Jussi Reijonen is truly the product of a world with few frontiers. Having grown up moving back and forth between Finnish Lapland, the Middle East, and East Africa, and currently living in Boston MA, USA, Jussi has spent his life soaking up the sounds, scents and shades of Nordic, Middle Eastern, African, and now American culture, which are ...

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“Unlike anything in memory... creates a new, genre-less, form."
ALL ABOUT JAZZ

A stunner. This album is a single, unified, diverse, overwhelming statement."
JAZZTIMES

“A deftness and balance… that conveys both the epic and the personal.
SONGLINES

Primary Instrument

Guitar

Location

Amsterdam

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Currently faculty and doctoral researcher at Sibelius Academy at University of the Arts Helsinki.

Among others, previously taught at:

  • Berklee College of Music
  • Sibelius Academy
  • Royal Conservatoire The Hague

Please contact [email protected] for availability and rates.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Fretted and fretless guitar, Arabic oud, composition and arranging in transcultural music contexts.

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Homage to Gramlis

Self-Produced
2023

buy

Three Seconds | Kolme...

Challenge Records
2022

buy

Metropolitan Sketches

Self Produced
2020

buy

Un

Self Produced
2013

buy

Gone Tree

From: Homage to Gramlis
By Jussi Reijonen

The Veil

From: Three Seconds | Kolme Toista
By Jussi Reijonen

Videos

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