#we jazz

https://open.substack.com/pub/wifstenger/p/smiles-of-a-summer-night

We Jazz Reworks is an idea that repurposes some of the label’s output 10 albums at a time. That is, we invite producers whose music we love on board, and one by one, they tackle 10 albums worth of source material, of which they are free to use as much or as little as they choose. The series evolves chronologically, so this volume being number two, the source material is pulled from We Jazz LPs numbers 11 through 20. The artist has complete freedom. Volume 2 in the series happens with Carl Stone, a legendary figure in creative music. His career spans decades of unlimited musical innovation. Stone’s recent output on Unseen Worlds, the label who has also been instrumental in issuing some of his remarkable earlier work, ranks among the most original art of our time and renders notions such as ”genre” virtually meaningless. Here, We Jazz originals by Terkel Nørgaard, OK:KO, Jonah Parzen-Johnson and more are met here with a fresh sense of discovery, spun around and delivered ready for the turntable once again. Carl Stone says: ”It was wonderful that We Jazz gave me carte blanche to work with any materials from the set of ten releases in its catalog. This freedom to work with everything could have been a mixed blessing though, as it could be a challenge to try to deal with so much musical information. In the end I did what I almost always do: Let my intuition be my guide and to seize upon any musical items that seemed to fit into an overall approach.” ”To make a new piece I usually start with an extended period of what really is just playing, the way a child plays with toys. Experimentation without necessary expectation, leading to (hopefully) discovery of things of musical interest, then figuring out a way to craft and shape these into a structured piece of music. Each track uses a different approach, which I found along the way during this play period.” This conceptual approach becomes complete with the design, in which album graphics are treated in a similar fashion, reworking what’s there. This time around, the artwork is reinvented by Tuomo Parikka, a great friend of the We Jazz collective and a regular cover collage contributor for the We Jazz Magazine.

Silker Eberhard/Ben Lamar Gay/Mike Reed at We Jazz Festival 2022 Helsinki

2017

Superposition at We Jazz Odysseus Festival 2021 at Lonna Island.

We Jazz Records presents the debut album of AINON, a Helsinki-based ensemble founded by cellist-composer Aino Juutilainen, released 4 September. On "Drought", the four-piece plays music influenced by jazz, contemporary music and classical music, all morphed together into a highly inspired musical vision. The music of AINON might be best described as "spiritual avantgarde jazz", with original compositions and the individual voices of the four players both playing an integral part in the music. In addition to Juutilainen, the quartet includes Satu-Maija Aalto (violin / viola), Suvi Linnovaara (saxophone / clarinet / flute) and Joonas Leppänen (of Alder Ego, drums). The quartet has a knack for creating strong moods and performing their original material with remarkable intensity. Mood-wise, the album ranges from serene, almost ambient-like passages to moments of strong improvisation and explosive energy. Aino Juutilainen, cello / Satu-Maija Aalto, violin & viola / Suvi Linnovaara, saxophone, clarinet & flute / Joonas Leppänen, drums Design based on original artwork "Wanderings in the Innermost" (2017) by Maija Lassila Design by Matti Nives