HEIKKI SARMANTO

Fusion / Third Stream / Jazz Related Soundtracks / Pop/Art Song/Folk / Post-Fusion Contemporary / Progressive Big Band / Post Bop / Jazz Related Improv/Composition • Finland
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Composer and pianist Heikki Sarmanto, a leading figure in Finnish jazz, has been Internationally acclaimed for his symphonic, orchestral and jazz ensemble works, as well as numerous, distinctively personal mixture of idioms from jazz, classical and ethnic music. In the 1960s, Sarmanto studied at the Sibelius Academy and was the first Finnish jazz musician to win a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 1970, he was chosen Jazz Musician of the Year in Finland and the following year he won top prizes at the Montreux Jazz Festival in both piano and combo categories.

Sarmanto premiered "Suomi", his symphonic jazz poem, at Carnegie Hall In 1988 with his own quartet and the New York Pops Orchestra. A decade earlier, his "New Hope Jazz Mass", a work for mixed choir, jazz ensemble and soprano, was commissioned for the opening of New York's Saint Peter's Church. The work was also featured
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HEIKKI SARMANTO Discography

HEIKKI SARMANTO albums / top albums

HEIKKI SARMANTO Counterbalance album cover 3.73 | 2 ratings
Counterbalance
Fusion 1971
HEIKKI SARMANTO Heikki Sarmanto Serious Music Ensemble ‎: Like A Fragonard album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Heikki Sarmanto Serious Music Ensemble ‎: Like A Fragonard
Fusion 1971
HEIKKI SARMANTO Everything Is It album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Everything Is It
Progressive Big Band 1972
HEIKKI SARMANTO Open Ear album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Open Ear
Fusion 1976
HEIKKI SARMANTO Syksy Ja Muita Lauluja album cover 4.50 | 1 ratings
Syksy Ja Muita Lauluja
Pop/Art Song/Folk 1976
HEIKKI SARMANTO Sarmanto  / Leino : Moment Musical album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Sarmanto / Leino : Moment Musical
Jazz Related Improv/Composition 1978
HEIKKI SARMANTO Finlandia Suite album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Finlandia Suite
Jazz Related Soundtracks 1981
HEIKKI SARMANTO Suomi - A Symphonic Poem For Orchestra album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Suomi - A Symphonic Poem For Orchestra
Third Stream 1984
HEIKKI SARMANTO Passions Of A Man - A Suite For Jazz Orchestra album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Passions Of A Man - A Suite For Jazz Orchestra
Third Stream 1987
HEIKKI SARMANTO Music From: Felix The Great album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Music From: Felix The Great
Jazz Related Soundtracks 1988
HEIKKI SARMANTO Pohjoisia Kuvia - Northern Pictures album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Pohjoisia Kuvia - Northern Pictures
Third Stream 1988
HEIKKI SARMANTO Salakuljetettu Ikoni album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Salakuljetettu Ikoni
Jazz Related Soundtracks 1989
HEIKKI SARMANTO Moonflower album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Moonflower
Post Bop 2007
HEIKKI SARMANTO Open Skies album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Open Skies
Post-Fusion Contemporary 2017

HEIKKI SARMANTO EPs & splits

HEIKKI SARMANTO live albums

HEIKKI SARMANTO Heikki Sarmanto Sextet ‎: Flowers In The Water album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Heikki Sarmanto Sextet ‎: Flowers In The Water
Fusion 1969
HEIKKI SARMANTO New Hope Jazz Mass (with Gregg Smith Vocal Quartet  / Long Island Symphonic Choral Association) album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
New Hope Jazz Mass (with Gregg Smith Vocal Quartet / Long Island Symphonic Choral Association)
Third Stream 1979
HEIKKI SARMANTO A Boston Date album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
A Boston Date
Post-Fusion Contemporary 2008
HEIKKI SARMANTO Helsinki Tapes Vol 1 album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Helsinki Tapes Vol 1
Fusion 2017
HEIKKI SARMANTO Helsinki Tapes Vol 2 album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Helsinki Tapes Vol 2
Pop/Art Song/Folk 2017
HEIKKI SARMANTO Helsinki Tapes Vol 3 album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Helsinki Tapes Vol 3
Fusion 2017
HEIKKI SARMANTO New Hope Jazz Mass (Second Day Takes) album cover 3.50 | 1 ratings
New Hope Jazz Mass (Second Day Takes)
Third Stream 2022

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HEIKKI SARMANTO Reviews

HEIKKI SARMANTO Syksy Ja Muita Lauluja

Album · 1976 · Pop/Art Song/Folk
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Matti P
Composer and pianist HEIKKI SARMANTO (b. 1939) is one of the most important persons in the Finnish jazz all time. His many-sided discography contains both instrumental and vocal jazz, and of the latter department, Syksy ja muita lauluja (= Autumn and Other Songs) is perhaps the most beloved, at least in Finland. Sarmanto based his compositions on poems by Aaro Hellaakoski and three other outstanding figures in Finnish poetry. This makes the album a classic also in the Finnish poetry-based music, alongside the Eino Leino albums of Vesa-Matti Loiri. "Laulelmamusiikki" is a good Finnish word that doesn't have a precise English equivalent. The French term chanson comes close.

The clasically flavoured arrangements feature piano, violin, cello, flute, oboe, saxophone, guitar, bass, drums and percussion. The vocal duties on the album are divided by Maija Hapuoja (she is one of Sarmanto's most frequent vocal collaborators), Harri Saksala (progheads may remember him from APOLLO and KALEVALA from the early 1970's) and cellist Karoly Garam.

The slow, melancholic title track always gives me goosebumps. Maija Hapuoja interprets the charming Lauri Pohjanpää poem that depicts a meeting and chatting of two crows. The vocalise at the end is so beautiful it sometimes brings tears to my eyes. Hapuoja continues on the next songs, both based on nature-oriented Aaro Hellaakoski's poems about a nightingale. These arrangements focus on acoustic guitar.

'Surviaisten tanssi' (a Hellaakoski poem about insects) brings dynamic variety with its fast tempo and lively woodwind soloing. The deep voiced Harri Saksala is a perfect vocalist for this one. 'Missä, milloin?' (= "Where, when?"; on Pentti Saarikoski's poem) is a modernistic, complex piece sung amazingly by Hapuoja. A casual listener might find this one a bit too avant-gardistic. The Hellaakoski-based piece 'Laulu' ("Song") sung by Karoly Garam approaches classical lied, further coloured by saxophone.

Whereas most songs on side one are sung by Hapuoja, Harri Saksala sings on four of the seven pieces of the second side. Eino Leino's beloved poem 'Nocturne' is better known as another composition sung by Loiri, but also Sarmanto's more introspective music and Saksala's voice capture the poem's spirit. On the brief, lied-like 'Hauen laulu' Saksala is backed by piano only. 'Kesäyö' (= "Summer night") is an elegant jazz chanson sung by Hapuoja who sings also the piano lied 'Satakieli herää'. Sarmanto's unique style as a composer always stays pretty recognizable. He combines jazz and art music like no one else.

I frankly don't like the hectic "Song of the Ants" in which Saksala spits the words out fast, but some may find it amusing. 'Vapaa sana' (Leino, sung by Saksala) is yet another fine and expressive piano lied. The final Leino-based piece is a duet of Hapuoja and Garam, with a delicate arrangement focusing on piano, violin and woodwinds.

It's hard for me to estimate what a jazz listener without understanding of Finnish would think of this album, but I think 4½ stars are truly deserved for this unique classic.

HEIKKI SARMANTO Counterbalance

Album · 1971 · Fusion
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
Igor91
I recently came across Heikki Sarmanto's "Counterbalance" while browsing through CD's at my (only) local record shop. I had never heard of Heikki Sarmanto, but the cover of the album immediately intrigued me. It has a photo of Heikki and the band, immersed in a red/orange light, and looking very hippie-ish (I, of course, later discovered that this was not the original cover, which was even cooler). I thought to myself, "There must be some interesting sounding jazz coming from these guys." I was right.

On "Counterbalance," Heikki and his Serious Music Ensemble, as his band came to be known, lay down some exquisite, slightly psychedelic, jam-based numbers. The playing is loose and improvised, but never gets lost or sloppy, and the band always holds together as a cohesive unit.

Since acquiring this CD I have gone on to get several other early releases by Heikki and his Serious Music Ensemble, all of which I am really enjoying. I have come to realize that the Finnish music scene (jazz and otherwise) of the late 60's and 70's had a lot to offer.

The music on "Counterbalance" creates a very "chill" atmosphere, even though the band can get very energetic and busy at times. The music presented here definitely leans toward fusion, but not in a Mahavishnu Orchestra or Weather Report way. This is perfect late night music for social gatherings or solo listening sessions. Highly recommended: 4 stars!

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