When travelling or making decisions, for instance, three can be a tricky number of people. Often two will side against one – or all three will set off in their own directions. On the other hand, decision-making becomes more effective when there’s a third vote to decide or compromise, instead of just the A/B split of a couple. Improvisation is a form of travelling, with constant group and individual decision-making on the go.

These three jazz-oriented Finnish trio albums from early 2025 include varying degrees of free improvisation, without ever getting into far-out dissonance.

Symbiocene: Silentopia

Eclipse, 2025

The most composed and studio-produced of them is the debut from Symbiocene. Its three members are all mighty improvisors who’ve worked in a range of contexts touching on jazz, rock, folk and electroacoustic art music (for lack of a better term).

Three of a Perfect Pair might be an apt title for this – or any of these albums – if it wasn’t already used for a 1984 LP by the guitar-driven, improvisational prog band King Crimson. That era of the band may well have influenced guitarist Jarmo Saari, who was a teenager at the time and has never been shy about his love for the bombast and drama of prog. He’s added his electric guitar grandeur to groups such as ZetaBoo, XL, UMO and the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra.

Here those tendencies are balanced out by a ‘perfect pair’ from the group Elifantree: vocalist Anni Elif Egecioglu, who also plays cello, keyboards and the kemençe, a Turkish bowed instrument, and her partner, saxophonist Pauli Lyytinen. He has also led jazzish groups and just won the Emma (Finnish Grammy) for best jazz album of 2024 for his ambient/sound art project Lehto/Korpi, which wasn’t a jazz album in any traditional sense.

This time, Lyytinen’s horn sound is dominant, but never domineering, as on the album’s longest piece, “Earthgrief”. The 15 tracks here – based on a 2022 multimedia stage show inspired by the biodiversity and climate crises – variously build on the artists’ wide-ranging talents in solos, duos and trios.

There are hints of prog in this cinematic headphone experience with its dynamic swings – and echoes of Pink Floyd’s late-60s tape-looping experiments. On the closing title track, various species of animals chirp and twitter in a rain forest before it’s suddenly whooshed away by a tsunami – mainly the work of the trio’s “fourth member,” sound designer Paavo Malmberg.

A startling collage of colliding natural and urban sounds begins the album. Gentle wordless vocals and sax gradually grow in strength amid a mesh of percussion and electronics (no drums on this album). It sounds like a clash of civilisation and wilderness, like the film Koyaanisqatsi and its Philip Glass soundtrack.

The most challenging – and cathartic – piece is “Overwhelm Rhapsody,” which starts as an ambient drone and builds to anguished vocalise from Egecioglu. On “Elegy For Extinction,” she soars with astonishing range, listing species’ names in various languages, rising to almost unbearable crescendo over layered male vocals.

“Eutierria” has an uneasy Nordic folk edge, with Saari’s harmonium (perhaps) setting up an eerie drone that could be a jouhikko bowed lyre, all under Lyytinen’s melodic, folky sax solo.

“Chorale For Lost Species” starts with a tender repeating guitar figure, joined by subdued horn and wordless vocals. The result is achingly beautiful, like much of this album. Despite a few harrowing tracks, it offers sonic comfort for those of us suffering from eco-angst.

Joona Toivanen Trio: Gravity

We Jazz, 2025

Egecioglu and Lyytinen’s trio Elifantree is built on a foundation laid down by drummer Olavi Louhivuori, who’s also a central cog in this next trio. He may have had to play referee at times when they started playing together in their early teens, as the others are two brothers: keyboardist Joona Toivanen and bassist Tapani Toivanen. Now nearly middle-aged, they seem to have reached a peaceful equilibrium, approaching a telepathic mind meld.

Formed in 1997, this may be longest-running Finnish piano jazz trio with the same line-up. Louhivuori has played a strong role as composer in the band since their self-released debut Numurkah 25 years ago and their Blue Note release Frost five years later.

This time around, though, there were no preconceived compositions or plan – and the results are wonderful. The set was entirely improvised during an unexpected break in a tour at a rural studio with a Steinway upright piano, old organs and synths and assorted drums. On this outing, the dozen tracks are credited to all three members.

And though this is nominally Joona Toivanen’s band, Louhivuori is an equally strong lead instrumentalist, with Tapani Toivanen playing a crucial supportive role. Many of these pieces could be called minimalist, building and almost imperceptibly evolving like those of Australian piano trio the Necks, though these tracks are quite short in comparison.

The opening title track offers a simple, repeating Erik Satie-like piano figure, like rivulets of thawing ice. Tapani Toivanen adds an elegant arco (bowed) bass, while the drums sound massive yet distant, sparse and never overpowering.

Starting off tentative, “Static Model” is a loose, pleasing exploration of gamelan-like rhythms, mostly on percussion and organ, with ominous tones in background. We’re witnessing the joy of improv discovery, as it happens.

“Infinite Fields” is limpid and gorgeous, closer to traditional piano jazz, perhaps a less-urgent e.s.t. or GoGoPenguin. “Green Model,” too is simply and hypnotically lovely with another repeated piano figure. Then a whirring synth segues into the noisier “Implications and Consequences”. Alongside a Thelonious Monk-ish piano improvisation, Louhivuori sounds like he’s bashing things around in the next room.

Despite its name, the wistful “Zero Gravity” evokes more of an underwater floating feel than spacey weightlessness. “Rotating Dust,” one of the longest pieces, broods with deep dark ambient synth ruminations, spotlighting a rare bass lead.

The two sides of the LP end with brief bookends: “(Maybe in the) Future” and “(In the) Past,” which feature toy piano, cymbals and cowbells – like an actual herd of livestock, heard in the distance while hiking the hills of some southern European country. It’s all here, including the scent of wild mountain thyme and lavender, the seagulls, and the distant thunder approaching.

Roope Kantonen 3: Introducing

Flame Jazz, 2025

There’s also a warm, improvisatory feel to this final trio set, led by drummer Roope Kantonen – who keeps a low profile on his debut as a leader. The main soloist is Max Zenger, who plays saxophone with UMO and Kaisa’s Machine along with perhaps 10 other bands on the Helsinki scene. Here though, he only plays bass clarinet, in a refreshing change from the ubiquitous saxophone. Rounding out the group is standup bassist Juuso Rinta, who like the others is a regular man-about-town on the Helsinki scene, including weekly pub jam sessions.

Zenger and Rinta appeared on guitarist Hector Lepe’s excellent 2023 debut, while Kantonen was last heard on record on pianist Teemu Kekkonen’s fine 2022 debut. He first recorded with Dutch and Estonian classmates while attending the Amsterdam Conservatorium, where he studied South Indian Carnatic rhythms among other disciplines.

Most of the time, Kantonen and Rinta provide a rich, ever-changing vehicle for Zenger’s elegant clarinet solos. He’s an engaging raconteur on the instrument with its much wider range than the saxophone, from a dry, reedy, high-lonesome sound to dark, mellow depths and intimacy.

Kantonen mostly stays in the backseat, showcasing his solid compositions more than his drumming, rarely playing solos even in the live setting. Among the most memorable compositions is the oh-so-quiet ballad “Dear Amsterdam,” where his delicate drumming conjures up a late-night stroll around a city that never sleeps.

Kantonen’s longest drum solo is on the boppish “OPLT”. It’s composed by Rinta, whose buttery walking bass line brings to mind Tom Waits’ playful “Step Right Up”. While Zenger mostly remains in the background, this is one of the album’s most appealing tunes.

Zenger also supplies a couple of songs, including the last one, the almost free (but gentle) “Luxifax”. Despite the three songwriters, the seven pieces here feel cut from the same cloth without dramatic shifts in style. Isn’t that sometimes best, to find a sweet spot and explore its depths, rather restlessly searching for something new?

This album’s homespun, hand-printed cover suits its purely acoustic sound, the warmest and most organic of these three trio sets.

‍

Featured photo: Julius Töyrylä