Anyone With A Heart by Iiro Rantala String Trio

Iiro Rantala String Trio

Anyone With A Heart

Format: CD
Label: ACT music
UPC: 0614427956620
Catnr: ACT 95662
Release date: 28 February 2014
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Label
ACT music

UPC
0614427956620

Catalogue number
ACT 95662

Release date
28 February 2014

"A delightful CD"

Rootstime.be, 07-4-2014

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

When pianist Iiro Rantala won the German Record Critics Award three years ago with his ACT and solo debut "Lost Heroes", following it up with the ECHO Jazz and thus abruptly launching himself into the top ranks of Europe's jazz musicians, he could have taken the easy way out and simply made another solo album. But the Finn preferred to keep systematically developing his career. It was also a return to his classical roots: Rantala not only studied in the jazz department of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, he also learned classical piano at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. And his passion for music didn't only begin with Johann Sebastian Bach at the tender age of six, it remains a big part of him to this day: "I have to play Bach every day. I need my daily fix of his music." Consequently, the Goldberg Variations also serve as the binding agent for "My History Of Jazz", Rantala's next album on his journey to himself that came out at the end of 2012, in a quartet with Lars Danielsson, Morten Lund and Adam Bałdych.

And now, with "Anyone With A Heart", he takes that journey further, definitively showing himself to be a great Neo Romantic, beyond all stylistic limitations: "I have always loved melodies," he explains, "but in today's jazz, most people try to get by without them. And if they don't, they play standards." "Anyone With A Heart" literally revels in melodies, and unlike on "My History Of Jazz", which was inspired by and addressed to his idols, Rantala this time composed all the numbers himself – all except the homage to the Great American Songbook "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". And he conceived all of them from the outset for the classical form of the piano trio: piano, violin and cello.

It is a form that is quite unique in jazz, and hence not easy to find. There was no question as to who would play the violin: Rantala had already discovered the Pole Adam Bałdych for "My History of Jazz", and there is probably no other violinist who is so similar to him right now. Like Rantala, Bałdych is a consummately virtuoso all-rounder with a distinct lyrical streak. And Bałdych's career is also on a steep upward curve.

What remained was the cello: "I had two names," Rantala recalls, "a Dane, who was, however, already a band leader, and Asja Valcic. I went to one of her concerts in Vienna's Porgy & Bess club, we talked about the project afterwards and that same evening we started playing and practicing. I wrote all the cello parts exactly for her. I love her tone." So this too was an ideal combination. After all, the Austrian also has her background in classical music, and with the radio.string.quartet.vienna and in duet with Klaus Paier she has adequately proven her open-mindedness and entirely independent technique.

On "Anyone With A Heart" the three set off on an overwhelming trip through the human emotions. From the cheery, self-confident pizzicato reveries the likes of "Karma" and "A Gift", to profound, almost furious melancholy as in "Alone", to spiritual exaltations ("Prayer", in which Rantala's love of Bach can also be seen), through to dramatically dynamic waves ("Hard Score") and childlike playfulness ("Happy Hippo", behind which a scene from the Ben Stiller comedy "Along Came Polly" was the driving force) – all brought together in the title track "Anyone With A Heart". The essence of Rantala's new music is perhaps best described by "Freedom", a track inspired by Jonathan Franzen's novel of the same name: each of the three soloists can display their wares here, embedded in a compelling melody, and even when playing together there is scope for all kinds of variations and freedoms, for changes of tempo and harmony, all the way to the tones like those provided here by Rantala on his muted grand piano.

Rantala is aware of the risk he has taken with "Anyone With A Heart": "In former times, for example with the Trio Töykeät, it was all about saying: "Look at us! We can do this too!" Now it's simply about my melodies. That is much more personal. But what is simple is at the same time the difficulty. It is a fine line: if it gets too easy, the Richard Clayderman warning light goes on." Although this is a danger that Rantala, Bałdych and Valcic circumnavigate without even thinking about it, thanks to their ability, intellect and taste. "Anyone With A Heart" is a music that someone like Franz Schubert or Jean Sibelius might create if they were around today.

Artist(s)

Asja Valcic

Asja Valcic, at 18 completed the music academy in her home city of Zagreb. She followed that with studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold. She has given solo performances among others under the direction of Zubin Mehta and Kazushi Ono; her chamber music partners have included members of distinguished ensembles such as Alban Berg, Brodsky and the Melos Quartet. She was awarded the 'Concours international de jeunes concertistes de Douai“ in France in 1995. The cello leads a sonorous, if not largely inconspicuous, existence outside of the classical music world. Emerging from this background, the cellist, Asja Valcic has solidified a conspicuous place for herself in the European music scene. Parallel to her engagements and recordings...

Asja Valcic, at 18 completed the music academy in her home city of Zagreb. She followed that with studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold. She has given solo performances among others under the direction of Zubin Mehta and Kazushi Ono; her chamber music partners have included members of distinguished ensembles such as Alban Berg, Brodsky and the Melos Quartet. She was awarded the "Concours international de jeunes concertistes de Douai“ in France in 1995. The cello leads a sonorous, if not largely inconspicuous, existence outside of the classical music world. Emerging from this background, the cellist, Asja Valcic has solidified a conspicuous place for herself in the European music scene. Parallel to her engagements and recordings in classical subjects, Asja Valcic has increasingly turned to improvisation and new forms of expression for her instrument. Both the radio.string.quartet.vienna, which she cofounded in 2004, as well as duos with the Austrian accordionist and composer, Klaus Paier (2009) represent stylistic crossovers, which enjoy international recognition. Since 2012 she is also a member of Iiro Rantala String Trio. The native of Croatia works as an arranger, composer and lecturer. "As a musician, who grew up in chamber music, Asja Valcic imbues her jazz with powerful and unusual vitality," according to a review in the British GUARDIAN. "Valcic's cello emits everything that fingers and bows can entice from strings: everything from stunning bass pizzicati to whispering flageolets," writes the BADISCHE ZEITUNG. "She is a cunningly smooth instrumentalist," emphasizes the culture magazine, MIKADO (Hessischer Rundfunk). Since 2007 have been released 10 CD’s with Asja Valcic at ACT.

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Iiro Rantala

Iiro Rantala is 'a natural phenomenon on keys' (German jazz magazine Jazzthing); an all-rounder of whom New York-based pianist and arranger Gil Goldstein quite rightly said: 'Iiro Rantala is a pianistic sensation who makes the strongest case I know to believe in reincarnation, because his pianistic technique and musical sensitivity speak of depths that appear impossible to have been achieved in this lifetime alone'. Up to now, Rantala was mainly associated with the trio Töykeät, one of the weirdest, funniest and most visionary piano trios in international jazz. He sounded out all the possibilities of this formation: Sometimes playing the energetic lion on keys, sometimes the sensitive romantic or the burlesque clown. His playing blasted away all stylistic boundaries and...

Iiro Rantala is "a natural phenomenon on keys" (German jazz magazine Jazzthing); an all-rounder of whom New York-based pianist and arranger Gil Goldstein quite rightly said: "Iiro Rantala is a pianistic sensation who makes the strongest case I know to believe in reincarnation, because his pianistic technique and musical sensitivity speak of depths that appear impossible to have been achieved in this lifetime alone". Up to now, Rantala was mainly associated with the trio Töykeät, one of the weirdest, funniest and most visionary piano trios in international jazz. He sounded out all the possibilities of this formation: Sometimes playing the energetic lion on keys, sometimes the sensitive romantic or the burlesque clown. His playing blasted away all stylistic boundaries and was as uncompromised as it was entertaining, but kept together by a magical triangle: his boundless technical ability and his unmistakeable senses of humour and style.

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Adam Bałdych

Violinist and composer Adam Bałdych has won acclaim as an excellent improviser discovering uncharted territories in violin music, as well as a genuine personality, capable of establishing a dialogue with artists from both the classical, improvised, and popular music scenes. ‘Jazz violin redefined,’ declared The Guardian (UK), while Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung called Bałdych ‘undoubtedly the greatest living master of jazz violin technique, of whom one can expect anything’. Considered as ‘the violin’s child prodigy’, he launched his music career at age 14 and was soon hailed as an innovator combining the achievements of classical music with a contemporary language and an improviser’s talent. He soon developed his own style that has inspired a whole new generation of improvising violinists. Bałdych has presented his music at the world’s major...

‘Jazz violin redefined,’ declared The Guardian (UK), while Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung called Bałdych ‘undoubtedly the greatest living master of jazz violin technique, of whom one can expect anything’. Considered as ‘the violin’s child prodigy’, he launched his music career at age 14 and was soon hailed as an innovator combining the achievements of classical music with a contemporary language and an improviser’s talent. He soon developed his own style that has inspired a whole new generation of improvising violinists.

Bałdych has presented his music at the world’s major jazz festivals, with performances in Poland, Germany, South Korea, China, Japan, the United States, Canada, Austria, Iceland, Portugal, Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Italy, Spain, and Indonesia, among others.

The violinist performs and records with such outstanding artists as Paolo Fresu, Yaron Herman, Joachim Kuhn, Agata Szymczewska, Leszek Możdżer, Helge Lien, Aaron Parks, Lars Danielsson, Nils Landgren, Iiro Rantala, Marius Neset, Jacob Karlzon, and Billy Cobham.

His numerous accolades include the Grand Prix and individual prize of the 2006 ‘Jazz on the Odra’ festival, ECHO Jazz, and the 2024 Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (award of German music record reviewers), as well as Polish state decorations: the Gold Cross of Merit, Decoration of Honor ‘Meritorious for Polish Culture’, and the Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture. He was also thrice nominated for the Coryphaeus of Polish Music award as Personality of the Year.

Bałdych dedicates increasingly more attention to composing classical music, commissioned and performed by such well-known orchestras and publishers as OMN New Music Orchestra (Antiphona, 2016), AUKSO – Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy (Early Birds Symphony), Stuttgarter Kammerorchester (Concerto Galante), PWM Edition (Kuyawiak), and AUKSO / Polish Radio Choir (world premiere – Maryla’s Grave for violin, choir, and string orchestra).

Highly acclaimed for his creative work in the fields of jazz and contemporary music performance, for his inventive fusion of these two, and for extremely distinctive interpretations, Bałdych has appeared on nearly 20 albums, including the most recent titles: Passacaglia (duo with Leszek Możdżer), Legend (with Adam Bałdych Quintet and violinist Agata Szymczewska), as well as Poetry (with eminent Italian trumpeter Paolo Fresu).

Adam Bałdych resides and works in Warsaw, Poland.

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Iiro Rantala String Trio

Composer(s)

Harold Arlen

Liro Rantala

Iiro Rantala is "a natural phenomenon on keys" (German jazz magazine Jazzthing); an all-rounder of whom New York-based pianist and arranger Gil Goldstein quite rightly said: "Iiro Rantala is a pianistic sensation who makes the strongest case I know to believe in reincarnation, because his pianistic technique and musical sensitivity speak of depths that appear impossible to have been achieved in this lifetime alone".
Up to now, Rantala was mainly associated with the trio Töykeät, one of the weirdest, funniest and most visionary piano trios in international jazz. He sounded out all the possibilities of this formation: Sometimes playing the energetic lion on keys, sometimes the sensitive romantic or the burlesque clown. His playing blasted away all stylistic boundaries and was as uncompromised as it was entertaining, but kept together by a magical triangle: his boundless technical ability and his unmistakeable senses of humour and style. Rantala preserved his unique skills for his solo career when Töykeät broke up in 2006 after playing together for 18 years.
His solo career kicked off with his 2011 ACT debut "Lost Heroes". It represents his very personal homage to all the outstanding musicians in history he is inspired by. Alongside with famous jazz musicians like Esbjörn Svensson, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans or Jaco Pastorius, he also dedicates tunes to opera singer Luciano Pavarotti or composer Jean Sibelius. Rantala avoids every sentimentality in favour of a real act of admiration and completely remains himself: One of the most competent pianists in Scandinavian jazz.
The album was celebrated as on the best piano solo recordings in recent times.
German newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung" even called it a "masterpiece". The album also won the prestigious German Critic's award as "Jazz album of the year 2011". In June 2012 Rantala received the ECHO Jazz (German Grammy) for Best International Pianist.

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Press

A delightful CD
Rootstime.be, 07-4-2014

Iiro Rantala takes you with ‘Anyone with a heart’ back to the basics, back to the heart of the music, to make the audience listen very carefully to this moving music!
Musicframes, 07-4-2014