News

24/10/22

Very honoured and happy to be among the nominees for Danish Music Awards! 'Jazz album of the Year' 2022.


26/08/22

Updated tour program

08/03/22

Ukvibe review TERRA 5/5

”Although highly original and astonishingly innovative, there’s also a quietly classical sense of respect and reverence to Sulkunen’s ambient masterpiece. I can touch and feel the echoes of nature’s elements re-emerging from a long distant past, living and breathing peacefully within the composer’s borderless music.”  Mike Gates. Ukvibe.  https://ukvibe.org/album_reviews/johanna-elina-sulkunen/

09/11/21

Feature in new radio program 'Frekvenssi' in Finland! Listen here:

30/09/21

New single XIV Terra is OUT!

✨?Halløj!! SINGLE XIV Terra is OUT!! ✨
Find it on your favourite digital platform: https://orcd.co/xivterra
The draft of this piece was made already over 2 years ago. It has traveled through various stages from the first intuitive spark, meeting crossroads, and taking many turns.
Originally the plan was to record the naked nature, ambiance and sounds in Iceland's nature. And as a continuum to my Sonority project, to play with nature with my voice and electronics.
Just two weeks before my trip, the lockdown hit, causing a chain of changes of plans. But since improvising is part of life and my music, who knows, maybe it was a 'meant to be' situation for this music to become an end the way it ended up to be. It has, in any case, been a transformative journey for this piece until now.
????I am thankful and thrilled by the beautiful cover art by @TapaniToivanen , which indicates something disturbingly unnatural, yet natural landscapes. Just like in my imagination. Human- and machine-made, at the same time.
Thank you for your beautiful photos Julie Montauk, Thank you Halvcirkel, Aske Zidore, Nick Martin, Thomas Vang and the planet earth for having me here!
Now, this piece is out of my hands, and all yours!

29/08/21

Single "XI Human Antitouch" is out. Find it HERE:

09/08/21

Wonderful reviews on AIKA/TILA album!

“One of the most impressive figures in the lively North- European improvised music scene. Unique and profound, Aika’s music runs through the freezing lands of Scandinavia, lays down on abstract land where jazz minimalism glazes in the dark stems from and abstract atmosphere that melts into cinematic images, where silence is a pure dialogue between electronics and new dissonances… 


“… The lunar sound of Southern Light, indie Planetary electronics or Phases jazz noisec where David Sylvian’s refined genius is seen in the distance, eager to musically push into unkown territories. Sophisticated and experimental”
(Windout. Italia)


Sulkunens vokal passer perfekt inn i de sporene hvor hun medvirker, og hennes stemme er nesten som skapt for dette ensemblet. Toldams pianospill er, som alltid, perfekt. En større og mer inderlig lyriker innenfor den nyere jazzen skal man lete en stund etter, og Toivanens bass-spill er originalt og fint, og trekker mye av musikken framover på en strålende måte. Og bakerst sitter kanskje den mest spennende trommeslageren fra Finland, Olavi Louhivuori, og holder det hele sammen på en fin måte.
(Salt Peanuts, Jan Granlie)







25/05/21

NEW ALBUM OUT NOW! AIKA:TILA


There is no such thing as absolute time. The present may be influenced by the future. The two major physics theories of the 19th century, general relativity and quantum physics,  as well as the cosmic movement that emerges between the cosmos and ourselves, have been the cornerstones of inspiration for our debut album 'TILA' with AIKA (=meaning TIME in Finnish). 


The seed for this album was a moment of improvisation 14 years ago. We envisioned it would become an album when ‘the time is right'. After some years of waiting for the right time,  we realized that there is no such thing as ‘the right time’.  Because there is no such thing as absolute time… 


“The pace we move, and that things move around is, is the result of our own relation to it. Time is made of events, not things. The world is not so much made of stones as of fleeting sounds, or of waves moving through the sea.  A piece of music is an event, not a thing.”   (Rovelli, 2017)


Music is time. Time is movement. We are the movement. We are time.


BIG THANKS to #OlaviLouhivuori and #SimonToldam who took on this evolving journey. What a dream team!! Thank you to #TapaniToivanen for the joined journey in music and life. You are the best!


I thought for a long time, if I was ever going to make another ‘jazz’ album, it had to be with these people.  Vocals are very naked, I use no electronics, there are lyrics and melodies and all!  I guess it became pretty jazz…at least touching upon some corners of it.

Thanks to #ThomasVang for the good vibes and wonderful studio! Thanks to #AugustWanngren for committing to the mixing process! Thanks for the great book: ‘The Order of Time’. Carlo Rovelli. 2017.

Have a listen, order the album from me/ vinyl or CD! Let it resonate with the cosmic time and you. 

Available in all the digital platforms! 

Also in SPOTIFY: 
https://open.spotify.com/album/5hrZSsfGjKG1WvqT4jAruA?si=12ecDWGlQwO6dBd_tBQjAg
 
Johanna Elina Sulkunen (Fin/ Dk) - vocal / composition
Tapani Toivanen (Fin/ Dk) - bass / composition
Simon Toldam (Dk) - piano / synths / electronics
Olavi Louhivuori (Fin) - drums


Bandphoto: Andreas Omvik
Coverphoto: Anders Blomqvist

01/11/20

School concerts with IKI

We have just played 11 school concerts with IKI, and we'll continue the tour next week! How lucky it feels to play again! :)

21/02/20

Five hearts in the biggest Danish Newspaper Politiken!

We organized an evening with three concerts at klub Primi/ H15.   First set was an acoustic duo with me + Randi, second a concert with IKI and third concert was a new piece for a band called KAHINA that we wrote together.  We are planning to do this again!

10/11/19

New album in the making!

Started recording n my next album!! Such a joy to work with this crew! Strings and horns and  drums.. and also some voice and electronics...;) To be continued.... 
photo: Andreas Omvik

23/11/18

Japan tour

It’s so great to be back in Japan!



I recorded parts of my solo album here, and now playing a tour with this project feels like some circles are closing. (While some new ones are opening!)

A challenge facing every contemporary artist is to constantly be able to push the status quo that is either associated with their own work or that is accepted as the cultural norm.

Renewing oneself is the task every artist should, in my opinion, take seriously. I took the chance in this project to reach to the unknown, posing questions instead of finding all the answers.

As a parallel to the task of asking questions as a means of renewal, I have used texts - that are in Zen practice known as Kōans - as materials and a source of inspiration. A Kōan is a paradoxical anecdote or riddle without a solution, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and provoke enlightenment. 

Voice belongs to everyone and everyone has access to his or her own voice. Voice is inseparable from the body. The body cannot work without the mind and mind cannot work without the body. We use our voices and bodies as the most natural way to connect with each other.

The human voice has a special status among the different ways of producing sound: it is also used as the primary means of communication through language. Our bodies produce small granules of resonances, microtextures, phonemes, that together form larger entities, syllables, words, and sentences. This collective outwards resonance connects our bodies to collectives and societies.

Voice is private in the way that we may not separate it from the person. Voice is always both private and public.

The close collaboration with the visuals is finding new ways of realizing the concerts as well. And it feels great to get The visuals to follow the musical resonances and the idea of microtextures, fragments, and layers. We are developing our co-operation constantly and every concert is a unique experience where the location is also part of the outcome.

After Japan, we go back to my roots... Finland. There is a great festival We Jazz  where we play on the 4th of December!

TOUR SCHEDULE:

21/11 20000 den-atsu, Tokyo
23/11 Otooto, Tokyo
24/11 Yellow Vision, Tokyo
25/11 Environment Øg, Osaka
26/11 Big Apple, Kobe
27/11 Socrates, Kyoto
4/12 We Jazz Festival, Helsinki

14/09/18

Review of KOAN on Swedish LIRA magazine!

"A very fascinating album from an artist who dares to take the step far beyond the established." 

Read the full review: HERE

14/05/18

KOAN IS RELEASED!

So happy to have the album out and soon playing a series of concerts!

You can buy the album HERE!

01/02/18

TWO RELEASES on their way!

I will release the first album on my SOLO PROJECT 'Sonority' on the 11th Mai 2018 on ILK.
It's only voice and the machines and it is very exciting indeed! I will tell more about this soon!

IKI will release their third album 'ORACLE' on the 23rd of March 2018. The album is produced by Mike Sheridan and we will be playing release concerts starting from March!

10/08/17

Plastic Island EP available on i Tunes

Plastic Island Is: Johanna Sulkunen - vocals, Aki Rissanen - keys, Joonas Leppänen - drums

17/04/17

Japan

Hi from Japan! I'm currently working on a new project here in Japan, which I'm looking forward to telling you more soon... Until then you can still buy the latest album "Belonging" for example iTunes or here! BUY BELONGING HERE

21/12/16

Thanks for 2016!

It's been a great year 2016! The musical highlights must have been... sharing of stage with Tomasz Stanko, JazzLab tour in Belgium and of course the grammy Nomination for Belonging! Full of new ideas and plans and will tell you more in the new year, Merry Christmas!

30/08/16

Her står hvad Gaffa synes om "Belonging"

"Den herboende, finske sangerinde, Johanna Elina Sulkunen, er en ener: en sangskriver og sangerinde, som både skriver og fremfører sin melankolske, excentriske og på mange måder helt enkle sang og musik på en næsten dramatisk, meget stilbevidst og gennemført avantgardistisk vis." Ivan Rod, GAFFA

14/06/16

Great review in the biggest newspaper in Finland!

"Johanna Elina continues to cultivate her style." - Helsingin Sanomat ★★★★ "Denmark based singer/songwriter with a jazz background is even more fearless and abstract than before" [...] "The background of Sulkunen lies in jazz, but in the music as it is now, you can hear it only as broad-mindedness and “experimental”. And in the outstanding expression in the voice, that plays along with a small group- keys, guitar and drums – that has played and produced in many layers. " - Helsinging Sanomat

14/05/16

NEW MUSIC VIDEO AND ALBUM IS OUT!

https://youtu.be/oLfc8ftE4_0

10/04/16

IKI on tour in Belgium with Trækfugle

This April month we'll be touring with IKI in Belgium with Sander de Winne & Trækfugle organized by JazzLab.

18/03/16

Video and single is out!

So the first single and the video is released! The whole album will be releaesed 13th of May 2016. ( Eclipse, DME) Available on iTunes and other music services.

19/02/16

5 star review Tomasz Stanko Experience

12717268_1195142167181699_2874153718592998304_n It's been an amazing week. We have one more concert at the Village Studio in Vanløse. Here is a review of our concert in Jazz House earlier this week! http://www.b.dk/musik/lille-trompetist-spiller-stor-jazz And another great review at Salt Peanuts: http://salt-peanuts.eu/consert/trompeternes-aften/

16/12/15

Island - part two

Working hard on the mixes for the new album at Sundlaugin studio with Birgir Birgir Jón Birgisson. It's starting to sound really good! The studio is an old swimming pool and built and owned previously by Sigur Rós. It's such an inspiring place and surroundings! Hope to come back soon again.

18/11/15

Christiania Jazz Club

This coming friday 20th November we'll play a concert in Børneteater /Christiania Jazz Club! With Anders Filipsen, Henrik Olsson and Håkon Berre. Welcome!

25/09/15

IKI with Jørgen Leth

Next sunday 4.10. IKI will perform with a Jørgen Leth in this great event of poetry and music. There are still some tickets left, that you can buy from here: http://www.billetnet.dk/event/VES0410X?language=da-dk&camefrom=vegadk&brand=dk_vega

26/08/15

Minifestival in Copenhagen

Looking forward to this minifestival in Copenhagen! Happy to perform among so many great artists, you should check them all out! We'll play on saturday 11.9. at 21:00! 11954845_10153672980080681_2405427639193192926_n

13/01/15

Welcome to my new web page!

Welcome to visit my new web page and happy New Year! Very soon I'll start the recordings of the new album and I'm looking so much forward for you to hear the result!  

14/10/14

IKI releases new Album 10th of November!

We will play a release concert in Dome of Visions in Copenhagen on the 11th November at 7.30pm. Read more about the release here!

08/08/22

Seoul Music Week 26/8 - 28/8

Looking very much for the coming concert at Seoul Music Week on the 27th August! 

Stay updated for possible additional concerts!

JAPAN TOUR

After KOREA we'll be continuing to Japan... last time I played in Japan was in 2018, so very glad to return!! Concerts will be solo with electronics and wonderful visuals by Tapani Toivanen http://www.tila5d.com

SEE YOU!!

08/05/22

SPOT Festival

It was a blast to play at Spot Festival! More exciting news coming soon! 🌏

02/12/21

Album TERRA is released!

Find it all the digital platforms: https://orcd.co/johannaelinasulkunenterra

Buy the Vinyl or CD: https://tilarec.bandcamp.com


29/10/21

Single XII Counting of Days is OUT!

17/09/21

TERROR/IS/ME Running until the 2nd of October @ Odense Theater, Store Scene.

Working on the theater - compositions,  sound design and performing - with IKI for the play TERROR / IS / ME by Sargun Oshana. On every performance I get amazed of the talented actors and the whole play. Grateful to be contributing!

11/08/21

Single release 27th of August from the coming album 'TERRA'!

Very happy to announce a new single 'XI Human Antitouch'! Release date 27th August! PRE SAVE the link here: https://orcd.co/xihumanantitouch 

30/06/21

Concerts Coming!

Amazing to get to play live again!! The Copenhagen Jazz Festival is almost here. I will play the following concerts with different groups and settings. 


2.7. KAHINA ORCHESTRA @ Koncertkirken kl 19:00 
50min piece for 10- musicians by Randi Pontoppidan, and me.

BUY TICKET HERE: https://www.facebook.com/events/526463041812332/?ref=newsfeed

6.7. SOLO with VISUALS @ Xenon, Huset kl 20:00

BUY TICKET HERE: https://fb.me/e/PuM68Sqy

7.7. IKI Koncert @ Bronshøj Vandtorn kl 19:00 

9.7. IKI MASSES II @ Thorvaldsens Museum kl 19:30 

10.7. IKI MASSES II @ Thorvaldsens Museum kl 19:30 feat. Maria Faust

11.7. IKI MASSES II @ Thorvaldsens Museum kl 19:30 feat. Marilyn 
Mazur

BUY TICKET TO MASSES II HERE: https://webshop-historieogkunst.kk.dk/arrangementer/thorvaldsens-museum/thorvaldsen-musikken-iki-masses-ii



HOPE TO SEE YOU! 


04/11/20

Sunday 8th a concert at @Alice, Copenhagen. It's going to be so nice to play !!

21/02/20

Another great review for KAHINA Orchestra!


Dette er et verk som snarest bør finne veien ut til de store massene ute i Norden og Europa, for en bedre kobling mellom et vokalensemble og instrumentalister, skal man lete lenge etter. “ Jan Granlie

06/02/20

Vinterjazz ...

01/11/19

Thank you for the evening!

We had a great concert and looking forward to the next adventures! 

08/10/18

IKI's album 'Oracle' nominated for Danish Music Awards!

We are so happy to be nominated in two categories for Danish Music Awards!

'The vocal album of the year 2018' and 'A Special Release of the Year 2018'.

We are looking forward to 12th of November at Bremen Theater!

LINK: Nominees for DMA 

06/07/18

Great reviews for 'Koan'

So glad that the album has been so well received! Looking forward to the next concert at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival on the 11th July! kl 20:00 at Literaturhaus!LINK





“Traditional melody singing is rare, the voice is more like an element from which the multilayered colourful and often dramatic whole. … again the name of Johanna Sulkunen is a guarantee for attractiveness and high quality. “ Pentti Ronkainen, Suomijazz

"Johanna Sulkunen har lavet et album, der er gådefuldt og mystisk. Der er en dragende stemning, hvor Sulkunen formår at fange os ind som lyttere. Ude fra set er det måske bare en omgang avantgardistisk vokaleksperimenteren. Bruger du tiden på projektet og kommer ind i det, så er det her, der sker noget. Et “noget” der ikke kan eller vil eller skal forklares." 
Niels Overgård. Jazznyt

“ Her new found language and manipulated voice are used as a provocative Kōan. Forcing the listener to adopt a fresh, a deep listening-meditative approach, sometimes even dream state of mind to language and voices.” Eyal Hareuveni. Salt Peanuts. “Koan that is recorded partly in Japan, Sulkunen has moved far from her excellent previous two albums... Koan invites the listener to be also a questioner and especially to question a way how to listen." Harri Uusitorppa. Helsingin Sanomat.



16/04/18

ALBUM 'KOAN' out 11th May 2018!

Johanna Elina Sulkunen - voice + electronics SOLO

09/11/17

IKI single and a new album!

We are with IKI soon releasing our first single from the upcoming album "Oracle"! The album is made in co-operation with the Danish electronic artist Mike Sheridan. Stay tuned! Here's a picture from our concert at the "Stimmungen" festival in Cologne!

26/06/17

Copenhagen Jazz Festival

Copenhagen Jazz Festival is around the corner! It will be a very inspiring program for me this year! Johanna Elina "Belonging" (Anders Filipsen, Henrik Olsson, Håkon Berre) will perform on the 14th July at 20:00 @ Vanløse Kulturhus. Before us performs the Norwegian talent Natalie Sandtorv, who is going to release her Debut album in October! Buy TICKETS HERE: kulturstationlive.dk You should absolutely check out these great projects! Joel Illerhag & The Nephilim Ensemble 11th July @ Blågårds Konsertkirken at 19:00 13th July @ Huset Magstræde at 14:30 IKI 10th July @ Literaturhaus at 19:00 Hope you can join us, it'll be great!

05/02/17

Vinterjazz and Switzerland

Looking forward to the coming concerts in Denmark and Switzerland! On the 9th February we'll play with the Finnish group Plastic Island in Copenhagen Vinterjazz. 11th Johanna Elina "Belonging" group takes to Switzerland to play at the Norkdklang festival - Cant' wait! Another concert with Johanna Elina will be close to home at Kvarterhuset - Amager. More info on the "calender" section: http://www.johannaelinasulkunen.com/calendar/

03/10/16

"BELONGING" NOMINATED - Danish Music Awards!

"BELONGING" HAS BEEN NOMINATED AS THE JAZZ VOCAL RELEASE OF THE YEAR!(Grammy) Amazing to be presented in such a great company of such talented artists! The Award party will be on the 7th November.

01/07/16

Cph Jazz Festival

Cph Jazz Festival starts today. I'll play the following concerts, hope to see you around! 2.7. kl 14:00 with Mikko Innanen and Anders Filpsen @ Gallery Boheme 5.7. kl 21:00 Johanna Elina ("Belonging") @ Analog Bar, Huset 5.7. kl 16:00 IKI @ Sankt Jacobs kirke

30/05/16

Radio Jazz tonight!

You can hear some music from the new album! I'll be there at 23:00. FM102,9 or www.radiojazz.dk

26/04/16

PRE ORDER ALBUM HERE:

31/03/16

ALBUM WILL BE RELEASED 13.5.2016 - Follow up the release concerts!

We will play some release concerts of my new album "Belonging" in Finland and Estonia in May and later on in Copenhagen and Germany! 11.5. Rytmihäiriöklubi, Helsinki 12.5. Tenho Restobar, Helsinki 13.5. Flame Jazz, Turku 14.5. Philly Joe's, Tallinn 8.6. Release concert 5E, Copenhagen 5.7. Analog Bar - Cph Jazz Festival, Copenhagen 6.12. B-flat, Berlin - tour tba..

29/02/16

Single out 18th March

The first single of the coming album will be released with a video 18th March! Stay tuned for more!

26/01/16

Vinterjazz 2016

Vinterjazz is getting close! Some great concerts coming up. 5th of February we'll play my music in an intimate duo-setting with great Anders Filipsen on synths. 7th of February we'll take a trip to Helsingør with IKI and sing and afternoon concert. The last, I have the honour of being part of this absolutely magnificient group Tomasz Stanko Experience with the legendary Tomasz Stanko! We'll play at the Jazz House of Copenhagen on the 17th of February and in Odense the 18th of February!

11/12/15

Island - part one

I'm happily in Iceland to start up a whole new project, duo project. We'll play a concert tomorrow night in this great little place called Mengi with Hilmar Jensson on guitar. Here's a mini interview about tomorrow's concert! [embed]https://soundcloud.com/mengi-699999532/johanna-sulkunen[/embed]

13/11/15

New trio

This coming monday we are going to play our second-concert-ever with new trio called Plastic Island after some studio sessions. I'm very much looking forward to get the two great finnish guys to play in Copenhagen with me! And not just "who ever" guys… but Mr. Aki Rissanen and Mr. Joonas Leppänen. We'll gonna make some great stuff yeah! If you want to catch the concert, it's gonna be in a very nice place 5e in Kødbyen, where every monday there is great music happening - Mandagsklubben 5e at 01:00. Yes, no later than that.

13/09/15

Thank you for the festival, it was great to play! Next concert of mine will be in this exciting event in Copenhagen with IKI. Nordic Music Days: http://nordicmusicdays.org

07/05/15

New concert dates!

Just updated the calender and there are some really nice concerts coming! We'll soon head to Germany with IKI. At the end of this month will also be a special  concert with "Johanna Elina" (Anders Filipsen, Henrik Olsson and Håkon Berre). Hope to see you around!

23/11/14

New album in the making

It's getting together!  Feeling inspired!

24/10/22

Very honoured and happy to be among the nominees for Danish Music Awards! 'Jazz album of the Year' 2022.


08/08/22

Seoul Music Week 26/8 - 28/8

Looking very much for the coming concert at Seoul Music Week on the 27th August! 

Stay updated for possible additional concerts!

JAPAN TOUR

After KOREA we'll be continuing to Japan... last time I played in Japan was in 2018, so very glad to return!! Concerts will be solo with electronics and wonderful visuals by Tapani Toivanen http://www.tila5d.com

SEE YOU!!

26/08/22

Updated tour program

08/05/22

SPOT Festival

It was a blast to play at Spot Festival! More exciting news coming soon! 🌏

08/03/22

Ukvibe review TERRA 5/5

”Although highly original and astonishingly innovative, there’s also a quietly classical sense of respect and reverence to Sulkunen’s ambient masterpiece. I can touch and feel the echoes of nature’s elements re-emerging from a long distant past, living and breathing peacefully within the composer’s borderless music.”  Mike Gates. Ukvibe.  https://ukvibe.org/album_reviews/johanna-elina-sulkunen/

02/12/21

Album TERRA is released!

Find it all the digital platforms: https://orcd.co/johannaelinasulkunenterra

Buy the Vinyl or CD: https://tilarec.bandcamp.com


09/11/21

Feature in new radio program 'Frekvenssi' in Finland! Listen here:

29/10/21

Single XII Counting of Days is OUT!

30/09/21

New single XIV Terra is OUT!

✨?Halløj!! SINGLE XIV Terra is OUT!! ✨
Find it on your favourite digital platform: https://orcd.co/xivterra
The draft of this piece was made already over 2 years ago. It has traveled through various stages from the first intuitive spark, meeting crossroads, and taking many turns.
Originally the plan was to record the naked nature, ambiance and sounds in Iceland's nature. And as a continuum to my Sonority project, to play with nature with my voice and electronics.
Just two weeks before my trip, the lockdown hit, causing a chain of changes of plans. But since improvising is part of life and my music, who knows, maybe it was a 'meant to be' situation for this music to become an end the way it ended up to be. It has, in any case, been a transformative journey for this piece until now.
????I am thankful and thrilled by the beautiful cover art by @TapaniToivanen , which indicates something disturbingly unnatural, yet natural landscapes. Just like in my imagination. Human- and machine-made, at the same time.
Thank you for your beautiful photos Julie Montauk, Thank you Halvcirkel, Aske Zidore, Nick Martin, Thomas Vang and the planet earth for having me here!
Now, this piece is out of my hands, and all yours!

17/09/21

TERROR/IS/ME Running until the 2nd of October @ Odense Theater, Store Scene.

Working on the theater - compositions,  sound design and performing - with IKI for the play TERROR / IS / ME by Sargun Oshana. On every performance I get amazed of the talented actors and the whole play. Grateful to be contributing!

29/08/21

Single "XI Human Antitouch" is out. Find it HERE:

11/08/21

Single release 27th of August from the coming album 'TERRA'!

Very happy to announce a new single 'XI Human Antitouch'! Release date 27th August! PRE SAVE the link here: https://orcd.co/xihumanantitouch 

09/08/21

Wonderful reviews on AIKA/TILA album!

“One of the most impressive figures in the lively North- European improvised music scene. Unique and profound, Aika’s music runs through the freezing lands of Scandinavia, lays down on abstract land where jazz minimalism glazes in the dark stems from and abstract atmosphere that melts into cinematic images, where silence is a pure dialogue between electronics and new dissonances… 


“… The lunar sound of Southern Light, indie Planetary electronics or Phases jazz noisec where David Sylvian’s refined genius is seen in the distance, eager to musically push into unkown territories. Sophisticated and experimental”
(Windout. Italia)


Sulkunens vokal passer perfekt inn i de sporene hvor hun medvirker, og hennes stemme er nesten som skapt for dette ensemblet. Toldams pianospill er, som alltid, perfekt. En større og mer inderlig lyriker innenfor den nyere jazzen skal man lete en stund etter, og Toivanens bass-spill er originalt og fint, og trekker mye av musikken framover på en strålende måte. Og bakerst sitter kanskje den mest spennende trommeslageren fra Finland, Olavi Louhivuori, og holder det hele sammen på en fin måte.
(Salt Peanuts, Jan Granlie)







30/06/21

Concerts Coming!

Amazing to get to play live again!! The Copenhagen Jazz Festival is almost here. I will play the following concerts with different groups and settings. 


2.7. KAHINA ORCHESTRA @ Koncertkirken kl 19:00 
50min piece for 10- musicians by Randi Pontoppidan, and me.

BUY TICKET HERE: https://www.facebook.com/events/526463041812332/?ref=newsfeed

6.7. SOLO with VISUALS @ Xenon, Huset kl 20:00

BUY TICKET HERE: https://fb.me/e/PuM68Sqy

7.7. IKI Koncert @ Bronshøj Vandtorn kl 19:00 

9.7. IKI MASSES II @ Thorvaldsens Museum kl 19:30 

10.7. IKI MASSES II @ Thorvaldsens Museum kl 19:30 feat. Maria Faust

11.7. IKI MASSES II @ Thorvaldsens Museum kl 19:30 feat. Marilyn 
Mazur

BUY TICKET TO MASSES II HERE: https://webshop-historieogkunst.kk.dk/arrangementer/thorvaldsens-museum/thorvaldsen-musikken-iki-masses-ii



HOPE TO SEE YOU! 


25/05/21

NEW ALBUM OUT NOW! AIKA:TILA


There is no such thing as absolute time. The present may be influenced by the future. The two major physics theories of the 19th century, general relativity and quantum physics,  as well as the cosmic movement that emerges between the cosmos and ourselves, have been the cornerstones of inspiration for our debut album 'TILA' with AIKA (=meaning TIME in Finnish). 


The seed for this album was a moment of improvisation 14 years ago. We envisioned it would become an album when ‘the time is right'. After some years of waiting for the right time,  we realized that there is no such thing as ‘the right time’.  Because there is no such thing as absolute time… 


“The pace we move, and that things move around is, is the result of our own relation to it. Time is made of events, not things. The world is not so much made of stones as of fleeting sounds, or of waves moving through the sea.  A piece of music is an event, not a thing.”   (Rovelli, 2017)


Music is time. Time is movement. We are the movement. We are time.


BIG THANKS to #OlaviLouhivuori and #SimonToldam who took on this evolving journey. What a dream team!! Thank you to #TapaniToivanen for the joined journey in music and life. You are the best!


I thought for a long time, if I was ever going to make another ‘jazz’ album, it had to be with these people.  Vocals are very naked, I use no electronics, there are lyrics and melodies and all!  I guess it became pretty jazz…at least touching upon some corners of it.

Thanks to #ThomasVang for the good vibes and wonderful studio! Thanks to #AugustWanngren for committing to the mixing process! Thanks for the great book: ‘The Order of Time’. Carlo Rovelli. 2017.

Have a listen, order the album from me/ vinyl or CD! Let it resonate with the cosmic time and you. 

Available in all the digital platforms! 

Also in SPOTIFY: 
https://open.spotify.com/album/5hrZSsfGjKG1WvqT4jAruA?si=12ecDWGlQwO6dBd_tBQjAg
 
Johanna Elina Sulkunen (Fin/ Dk) - vocal / composition
Tapani Toivanen (Fin/ Dk) - bass / composition
Simon Toldam (Dk) - piano / synths / electronics
Olavi Louhivuori (Fin) - drums


Bandphoto: Andreas Omvik
Coverphoto: Anders Blomqvist

04/11/20

Sunday 8th a concert at @Alice, Copenhagen. It's going to be so nice to play !!

01/11/20

School concerts with IKI

We have just played 11 school concerts with IKI, and we'll continue the tour next week! How lucky it feels to play again! :)

21/02/20

Another great review for KAHINA Orchestra!


Dette er et verk som snarest bør finne veien ut til de store massene ute i Norden og Europa, for en bedre kobling mellom et vokalensemble og instrumentalister, skal man lete lenge etter. “ Jan Granlie

21/02/20

Five hearts in the biggest Danish Newspaper Politiken!

We organized an evening with three concerts at klub Primi/ H15.   First set was an acoustic duo with me + Randi, second a concert with IKI and third concert was a new piece for a band called KAHINA that we wrote together.  We are planning to do this again!

06/02/20

Vinterjazz ...

10/11/19

New album in the making!

Started recording n my next album!! Such a joy to work with this crew! Strings and horns and  drums.. and also some voice and electronics...;) To be continued.... 
photo: Andreas Omvik

01/11/19

Thank you for the evening!

We had a great concert and looking forward to the next adventures! 

23/11/18

Japan tour

It’s so great to be back in Japan!



I recorded parts of my solo album here, and now playing a tour with this project feels like some circles are closing. (While some new ones are opening!)

A challenge facing every contemporary artist is to constantly be able to push the status quo that is either associated with their own work or that is accepted as the cultural norm.

Renewing oneself is the task every artist should, in my opinion, take seriously. I took the chance in this project to reach to the unknown, posing questions instead of finding all the answers.

As a parallel to the task of asking questions as a means of renewal, I have used texts - that are in Zen practice known as Kōans - as materials and a source of inspiration. A Kōan is a paradoxical anecdote or riddle without a solution, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and provoke enlightenment. 

Voice belongs to everyone and everyone has access to his or her own voice. Voice is inseparable from the body. The body cannot work without the mind and mind cannot work without the body. We use our voices and bodies as the most natural way to connect with each other.

The human voice has a special status among the different ways of producing sound: it is also used as the primary means of communication through language. Our bodies produce small granules of resonances, microtextures, phonemes, that together form larger entities, syllables, words, and sentences. This collective outwards resonance connects our bodies to collectives and societies.

Voice is private in the way that we may not separate it from the person. Voice is always both private and public.

The close collaboration with the visuals is finding new ways of realizing the concerts as well. And it feels great to get The visuals to follow the musical resonances and the idea of microtextures, fragments, and layers. We are developing our co-operation constantly and every concert is a unique experience where the location is also part of the outcome.

After Japan, we go back to my roots... Finland. There is a great festival We Jazz  where we play on the 4th of December!

TOUR SCHEDULE:

21/11 20000 den-atsu, Tokyo
23/11 Otooto, Tokyo
24/11 Yellow Vision, Tokyo
25/11 Environment Øg, Osaka
26/11 Big Apple, Kobe
27/11 Socrates, Kyoto
4/12 We Jazz Festival, Helsinki

08/10/18

IKI's album 'Oracle' nominated for Danish Music Awards!

We are so happy to be nominated in two categories for Danish Music Awards!

'The vocal album of the year 2018' and 'A Special Release of the Year 2018'.

We are looking forward to 12th of November at Bremen Theater!

LINK: Nominees for DMA 

14/09/18

Review of KOAN on Swedish LIRA magazine!

"A very fascinating album from an artist who dares to take the step far beyond the established." 

Read the full review: HERE

06/07/18

Great reviews for 'Koan'

So glad that the album has been so well received! Looking forward to the next concert at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival on the 11th July! kl 20:00 at Literaturhaus!LINK





“Traditional melody singing is rare, the voice is more like an element from which the multilayered colourful and often dramatic whole. … again the name of Johanna Sulkunen is a guarantee for attractiveness and high quality. “ Pentti Ronkainen, Suomijazz

"Johanna Sulkunen har lavet et album, der er gådefuldt og mystisk. Der er en dragende stemning, hvor Sulkunen formår at fange os ind som lyttere. Ude fra set er det måske bare en omgang avantgardistisk vokaleksperimenteren. Bruger du tiden på projektet og kommer ind i det, så er det her, der sker noget. Et “noget” der ikke kan eller vil eller skal forklares." 
Niels Overgård. Jazznyt

“ Her new found language and manipulated voice are used as a provocative Kōan. Forcing the listener to adopt a fresh, a deep listening-meditative approach, sometimes even dream state of mind to language and voices.” Eyal Hareuveni. Salt Peanuts. “Koan that is recorded partly in Japan, Sulkunen has moved far from her excellent previous two albums... Koan invites the listener to be also a questioner and especially to question a way how to listen." Harri Uusitorppa. Helsingin Sanomat.



14/05/18

KOAN IS RELEASED!

So happy to have the album out and soon playing a series of concerts!

You can buy the album HERE!

16/04/18

ALBUM 'KOAN' out 11th May 2018!

Johanna Elina Sulkunen - voice + electronics SOLO

01/02/18

TWO RELEASES on their way!

I will release the first album on my SOLO PROJECT 'Sonority' on the 11th Mai 2018 on ILK.
It's only voice and the machines and it is very exciting indeed! I will tell more about this soon!

IKI will release their third album 'ORACLE' on the 23rd of March 2018. The album is produced by Mike Sheridan and we will be playing release concerts starting from March!

09/11/17

IKI single and a new album!

We are with IKI soon releasing our first single from the upcoming album "Oracle"! The album is made in co-operation with the Danish electronic artist Mike Sheridan. Stay tuned! Here's a picture from our concert at the "Stimmungen" festival in Cologne!

10/08/17

Plastic Island EP available on i Tunes

Plastic Island Is: Johanna Sulkunen - vocals, Aki Rissanen - keys, Joonas Leppänen - drums

26/06/17

Copenhagen Jazz Festival

Copenhagen Jazz Festival is around the corner! It will be a very inspiring program for me this year! Johanna Elina "Belonging" (Anders Filipsen, Henrik Olsson, Håkon Berre) will perform on the 14th July at 20:00 @ Vanløse Kulturhus. Before us performs the Norwegian talent Natalie Sandtorv, who is going to release her Debut album in October! Buy TICKETS HERE: kulturstationlive.dk You should absolutely check out these great projects! Joel Illerhag & The Nephilim Ensemble 11th July @ Blågårds Konsertkirken at 19:00 13th July @ Huset Magstræde at 14:30 IKI 10th July @ Literaturhaus at 19:00 Hope you can join us, it'll be great!

17/04/17

Japan

Hi from Japan! I'm currently working on a new project here in Japan, which I'm looking forward to telling you more soon... Until then you can still buy the latest album "Belonging" for example iTunes or here! BUY BELONGING HERE

05/02/17

Vinterjazz and Switzerland

Looking forward to the coming concerts in Denmark and Switzerland! On the 9th February we'll play with the Finnish group Plastic Island in Copenhagen Vinterjazz. 11th Johanna Elina "Belonging" group takes to Switzerland to play at the Norkdklang festival - Cant' wait! Another concert with Johanna Elina will be close to home at Kvarterhuset - Amager. More info on the "calender" section: http://www.johannaelinasulkunen.com/calendar/

21/12/16

Thanks for 2016!

It's been a great year 2016! The musical highlights must have been... sharing of stage with Tomasz Stanko, JazzLab tour in Belgium and of course the grammy Nomination for Belonging! Full of new ideas and plans and will tell you more in the new year, Merry Christmas!

03/10/16

"BELONGING" NOMINATED - Danish Music Awards!

"BELONGING" HAS BEEN NOMINATED AS THE JAZZ VOCAL RELEASE OF THE YEAR!(Grammy) Amazing to be presented in such a great company of such talented artists! The Award party will be on the 7th November.

30/08/16

Her står hvad Gaffa synes om "Belonging"

"Den herboende, finske sangerinde, Johanna Elina Sulkunen, er en ener: en sangskriver og sangerinde, som både skriver og fremfører sin melankolske, excentriske og på mange måder helt enkle sang og musik på en næsten dramatisk, meget stilbevidst og gennemført avantgardistisk vis." Ivan Rod, GAFFA

01/07/16

Cph Jazz Festival

Cph Jazz Festival starts today. I'll play the following concerts, hope to see you around! 2.7. kl 14:00 with Mikko Innanen and Anders Filpsen @ Gallery Boheme 5.7. kl 21:00 Johanna Elina ("Belonging") @ Analog Bar, Huset 5.7. kl 16:00 IKI @ Sankt Jacobs kirke

14/06/16

Great review in the biggest newspaper in Finland!

"Johanna Elina continues to cultivate her style." - Helsingin Sanomat ★★★★ "Denmark based singer/songwriter with a jazz background is even more fearless and abstract than before" [...] "The background of Sulkunen lies in jazz, but in the music as it is now, you can hear it only as broad-mindedness and “experimental”. And in the outstanding expression in the voice, that plays along with a small group- keys, guitar and drums – that has played and produced in many layers. " - Helsinging Sanomat

30/05/16

Radio Jazz tonight!

You can hear some music from the new album! I'll be there at 23:00. FM102,9 or www.radiojazz.dk

14/05/16

NEW MUSIC VIDEO AND ALBUM IS OUT!

https://youtu.be/oLfc8ftE4_0

26/04/16

PRE ORDER ALBUM HERE:

10/04/16

IKI on tour in Belgium with Trækfugle

This April month we'll be touring with IKI in Belgium with Sander de Winne & Trækfugle organized by JazzLab.

31/03/16

ALBUM WILL BE RELEASED 13.5.2016 - Follow up the release concerts!

We will play some release concerts of my new album "Belonging" in Finland and Estonia in May and later on in Copenhagen and Germany! 11.5. Rytmihäiriöklubi, Helsinki 12.5. Tenho Restobar, Helsinki 13.5. Flame Jazz, Turku 14.5. Philly Joe's, Tallinn 8.6. Release concert 5E, Copenhagen 5.7. Analog Bar - Cph Jazz Festival, Copenhagen 6.12. B-flat, Berlin - tour tba..

18/03/16

Video and single is out!

So the first single and the video is released! The whole album will be releaesed 13th of May 2016. ( Eclipse, DME) Available on iTunes and other music services.

29/02/16

Single out 18th March

The first single of the coming album will be released with a video 18th March! Stay tuned for more!

19/02/16

5 star review Tomasz Stanko Experience

12717268_1195142167181699_2874153718592998304_n It's been an amazing week. We have one more concert at the Village Studio in Vanløse. Here is a review of our concert in Jazz House earlier this week! http://www.b.dk/musik/lille-trompetist-spiller-stor-jazz And another great review at Salt Peanuts: http://salt-peanuts.eu/consert/trompeternes-aften/

26/01/16

Vinterjazz 2016

Vinterjazz is getting close! Some great concerts coming up. 5th of February we'll play my music in an intimate duo-setting with great Anders Filipsen on synths. 7th of February we'll take a trip to Helsingør with IKI and sing and afternoon concert. The last, I have the honour of being part of this absolutely magnificient group Tomasz Stanko Experience with the legendary Tomasz Stanko! We'll play at the Jazz House of Copenhagen on the 17th of February and in Odense the 18th of February!

16/12/15

Island - part two

Working hard on the mixes for the new album at Sundlaugin studio with Birgir Birgir Jón Birgisson. It's starting to sound really good! The studio is an old swimming pool and built and owned previously by Sigur Rós. It's such an inspiring place and surroundings! Hope to come back soon again.

11/12/15

Island - part one

I'm happily in Iceland to start up a whole new project, duo project. We'll play a concert tomorrow night in this great little place called Mengi with Hilmar Jensson on guitar. Here's a mini interview about tomorrow's concert! [embed]https://soundcloud.com/mengi-699999532/johanna-sulkunen[/embed]

18/11/15

Christiania Jazz Club

This coming friday 20th November we'll play a concert in Børneteater /Christiania Jazz Club! With Anders Filipsen, Henrik Olsson and Håkon Berre. Welcome!

13/11/15

New trio

This coming monday we are going to play our second-concert-ever with new trio called Plastic Island after some studio sessions. I'm very much looking forward to get the two great finnish guys to play in Copenhagen with me! And not just "who ever" guys… but Mr. Aki Rissanen and Mr. Joonas Leppänen. We'll gonna make some great stuff yeah! If you want to catch the concert, it's gonna be in a very nice place 5e in Kødbyen, where every monday there is great music happening - Mandagsklubben 5e at 01:00. Yes, no later than that.

25/09/15

IKI with Jørgen Leth

Next sunday 4.10. IKI will perform with a Jørgen Leth in this great event of poetry and music. There are still some tickets left, that you can buy from here: http://www.billetnet.dk/event/VES0410X?language=da-dk&camefrom=vegadk&brand=dk_vega

13/09/15

Thank you for the festival, it was great to play! Next concert of mine will be in this exciting event in Copenhagen with IKI. Nordic Music Days: http://nordicmusicdays.org

26/08/15

Minifestival in Copenhagen

Looking forward to this minifestival in Copenhagen! Happy to perform among so many great artists, you should check them all out! We'll play on saturday 11.9. at 21:00! 11954845_10153672980080681_2405427639193192926_n

07/05/15

New concert dates!

Just updated the calender and there are some really nice concerts coming! We'll soon head to Germany with IKI. At the end of this month will also be a special  concert with "Johanna Elina" (Anders Filipsen, Henrik Olsson and Håkon Berre). Hope to see you around!

13/01/15

Welcome to my new web page!

Welcome to visit my new web page and happy New Year! Very soon I'll start the recordings of the new album and I'm looking so much forward for you to hear the result!  

23/11/14

New album in the making

It's getting together!  Feeling inspired!

14/10/14

IKI releases new Album 10th of November!

We will play a release concert in Dome of Visions in Copenhagen on the 11th November at 7.30pm. Read more about the release here!