OTHERLANDS COLLABORATION #25
Date: May 7, 2020 • Location: Seinäjoki, Finland
Concert broadcast by Yle Pohjanmaa and produced by Sibelius Academy Seinäjoki
COMPLETE CONCERT LINK: Watch the whole concert from Yle Areena
This quartet collaboration really brings our trip in Finland full circle. Nearly two months prior, we arrived to the country from India, and put down our COVID-19 quarantine roots in the town of Kaustinen. As a town known for traditional music, with special attention to a particular fiddling style, I happened to know a few musicians in the area.
The world was starting to cancel and live music events were understandably high on the list. Adapting to the times, some friends put together a virtual music event called the Stay At Home Festival. It was happening just a few days after we arrived, and I was asked to participate. I thought a streamed Otherlands collaboration could be a good occasion to gather a couple of my Kaustinen friends: Antti Järvelä, cousin Esko Järvelä, and Maija Pokela. But, as virus reality was setting in and calls for social distancing were increasing, we postponed our gig.
To learn more about Antti, Esko, and Maija's musical projects, please visit:
• Website: Antti Järvelä, Esko Järvelä, Maija Pokela
• Facebook: Antti Järvelä, Esko Järvelä, Maija Pokela
• Instagram: Esko Järvelä, Maija Pokela
Bummed as we were to not play, or even see each other yet after having come all this way, our canceled gig got the ball rolling for the next two months. When we thought the gig was on, recordings of tunes circulated between us. After our personal quarantines were over two weeks later, we started to test the social waters—although not all of us at the same time.
Esko lived down the river from our cabin in Kaustinen, and we started out with a duo fiddle jam. He brought books of Finnish traditional tunes for me to borrow and taught a few of his current favorites. We made a plan to meet a week or so later and record some for my project. You can see and read more of our duo collaboration here.
Antti and Maija lived less than an hour away from Kaustinen. They gave my family and I tips on hikes in the surrounding area, and eventually we met up with them for a couple group outings. It was on one of those hikes that we decided to meet at their home for an afternoon recording session and hang. You can see and read more of our trio collaboration here.
At some point during this first month of lockdown, another streamed gig opportunity came in, this one via Esko, I believe. We were all generally isolating and being very careful when needing to go out. Finland's capital, Helsinki, was on lockdown, but there were very few coronavirus cases in our area and it was still acceptable to do your grocery shopping and go on hikes, with the proper precautions, of course. So, we accepted the gig.
At long last, the four of us convened to jam, rehearse, arrange, and put together a set list. By this point I had a bunch of new Finnish tunes in my fingers from sitting around the cabin and was eager to play them with others. We ended up with two Finnish polskas and a polka, three songs featuring Maija's vocals, an American tune with Celtic leanings, and the one I'm sharing above.
Today's featured piece is a weaving together of the Finnish Ruusilan Kiian with the American old-time tune June Apple. According to Esko’s sister-in-law, the Finnish tune is named after Malakias Ojaluoma, who’s nickname was Ruusilan Kiia. It comes from the same region where Esko’s father-in-law grew up. Although it’s in 2/4, it’s called a “polska” on the manuscript. Today’s understanding of polska’s generally assumes a 3/4 time signature, but there was a time when danceable tunes were all called polksas.
Ruusilan Kiian
I first learned Ruusilan from Esko in Oct. '19 when I attended the Womex conference. Womex is generally jam-free, but that didn't stop us. We met at a pub and taught each other tunes, and it was this sit-down which set our Finland travels in motion 6 months later. After hearing Ruusilan, I was reminded of June Apple — both are 2-part 2/4 tunes of similar length in the key of A, have motifs in the A-part which bounce between A and G chords; and make a quick nod to the D chord in the B-part. Our arrangement here begins with Ruusilan. Towards the middle we superimpose the tunes upon each other and change to June Apple for solos. We finish by weaving them together once again.
For all the strangeness of our first Covid gig—empty venue, cavernous reverberant sound, sitting farther apart than we would like, and the excruciating dead air between the songs—I am happy with this gig as the final collaboration for my first year of Otherlands. It certainly shows the moment in time and how we're learning to adapt as artists, but more than that for me, it shows the meeting and adaptation of traditions and the foundation of friendships for years to come.
CREDITS
Song: Ruusilan Kiian / June Apple (Traditional)
Music Arranged by: Casey Driessen, Antti Järvelä, Esko Järvelä & Maija Pokela
Guitar: Antti Järvelä
Fiddle: Esko Järvelä
Kantele: Maija Pokela
Fiddle: Casey Driessen
Additional Music: Huhtikuun Polkka (Traditional)
CONCERT PRODUCTION
In Co-operation with: Finnish Broadcasting Company / YLE Areena / Uniarts Helsinki / Sibelius-Academy
Director & Technical Producer: Hans-Mikael Holmgren
Sound: Sami Silèn
Lights: Lauri Virkkala
Camera Operators: Mari Latva-Karjanmaa, Pasi Takkunen, Antti Kuusiniemi
Production: Mika Virkkala, Jenni Latva
Host: Mika Virkkala
Special Thanks
Mika Virkkala