“Impressions, Improvisations and Compositions” was released worldwide on German label Ozella Music in January 2021… and chosen as the album of the week on ABC Jazz in Australia and on NDR in Germany, album of the month at Bayerischer Rundfunk, and on the Top Jazz list of January on Mezzo TV in France !!! Later it was nominated for the Emma Award, Finland’s Grammy, and made it to “best of 2021” lists on three continents: Europe Jazz Media Chart, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and New York City Jazz Record !!! All the reviews have been praising, here’s a couple of examples:
”Kari Ikonen is quite an original in today’s jazz panorama” –New York City Jazz Record (USA)
”Innovative and idiosyncratic pianism” –DownBeat (USA)
“This is an exemplary solo piano album, full of original twists…” -Stuart Nicholson, Jazzwise (UK)
“Impressions, Improvisations and Compositions ist ein Jazzalbum, das vom ersten bis zum letzten Ton zu faszinieren vermag.” –Bayerischer Rundfunk, Bernhard Jugel /Jazzalbum des Monats. (DE)
“Ikonen fait passer l’abstraction de sa musique derrière les séductions immédiates d’un univers sonore enchanté et délicieusement déroutant.” –Jazz Magazine (FR)
”Cet album solo s’embarquant avec délice dans des contrées inexplorées.” –Rolling Stone France (FR)
”Les maîtres mots seraient charisme, fantaisie, assurance, et poésie.” –JazzNews (FR)
”Poikkeuksellisen palkitseva sooloalbumi” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ -Helsingin Sanomat
Listen to a few excerpts here!
And here’s some recent live videos!
Recent solo performances include the fabulous Köln Philharmonie and many other nice concert halls, clubs and festivals in Europe, Japan & Australia. See the list of upcoming and past gigs here.
Booking: management.ikonen (a) gmail.com
More about the album:
Kari Ikonen presents his new Kandinsky-inspired solo piano repertoire ”Impressions, Improvisations and Compositions” that was released worldwide in 2021 on CD & LP by German label Ozella Music. As its name suggests, the album consists of Ikonen’s compositions and improvised passages:
”Wassily Kandinsky, one of my favorite painters, divided his paintings in three categories: impressions, improvisations and compositions. ”Improvisations” were spontaneous expressions of an internal mood or feeling, directly from the artist’s soul. ”Impressions” were improvisations as well, but with external influences, such as music or the nature. ”Compositions” were also expressions of inner visions, but more consciously designed…
What a perfect analogy with my music! Some of the pieces in my solo repertoire are impressions, inspired by a scale/maqam, a painting or a story. Some pieces are ”pure” improvisations and some are written compositions.”
An array of unusual preparations and special techinques are used, most notably the revolutionary Maqiano, Ikonen’s own invention, a totally unique install-and-remove device that allows him to play the Maqamat (≈Arabic modes) and other micro-intervals on grand piano. For the last 20 years Ikonen has been into Arabic, Middle Eastern and Turkish music, and now he’s able to extend his melodic vocabulary beyond the conventional tunings.
N.B: Maqiano and other Ikonen’s special techniques are very carefully designed and tested on hundreds of grand pianos around the world, and will never cause damage to the piano.
Here’s the current onesheet: Impressions, Improvisations & Compositions
Technical rider: Kari Ikonen Solo tech rider
KARI IKONEN 
