Joona Toivanen: Polarities
Footprint Records (FPCD-077) 2013
Distibution: Naxos
Joona Toivanen – grand piano, upright piano, prepared piano
Read moreJoona Toivanen Trio: At My Side (2010)
Cam Jazz (CAMJ 3308-2) 2010
Joona Toivanen – piano
Tapani Toivanen – bass
Olavi Louhivuori – drums
All original compositions.
Joona Toivanen Trio: Frost (2006) SOLD OUT
(EMI Blue Note 0946 3520992 1)
Joona Toivanen – piano
Tapani Toivanen – bass
Olavi Louhivuori – drums
”The trio’s unique sound is dominated by a certain kind of folk-jazz lucidity. Their Frost album is an entity in which ballads are to the fore and whose fabulous compositions conjure up Finnish melancholy and low-spirited emotions, which doesn’t always need to be a negative thing”, says the album’s producer, J-P Virtanen.
”Frost’s strength is the honest, beautiful and juggle-free way in which it’s worked. The album’s music possesses an exceptional ability to express the sort of longing in which melancholy and joy find combination.” Helsingin Sanomat/Jukka Hauru 18.1.2006
”Courageously beautiful jazz. The trio has an uncanny skill to connect what are essentially elements of traditional jazz to light music. They succeed in turning miniatures into a large fresco, which sounds fantastic and admirably depicts the group’s deep musical landscape.” Suomen Kuvalehti/Petri Sajari 3/2006
”…redolent of Bill Evans, Joona Toivanen’s piano jazz sounds simultaneously fresh and individual, timeless and unbounded.” Keskisuomalainen/Pentti Ronkanen 23.1.2006 *****
”’Frost’ is a coherent and solidly-constructed album, but at the same time it is also understatedly rich in nuances. It sheds light on limpid, melancholy Nordic romance from a variety of different perspectives.” Suomijazz.com/Jukka Piiroinen 1.2.2006 ****
Joona Toivanen Trio: Lumous (2002)
Joona Toivanen – piano
Tapani Toivanen – bass
Olavi Louhivuori – drums
Joona Toivanen Trio: Numurkah (2000)
Joona Toivanen – piano
Tapani Toivanen – bass
Olavi Louhivuori – drums
The trio’s first album Numurkah, released in 2000, literally took the group to the world: the doors were opened to France, Greece, Sweden, Norway as well as Iceland, where they won the 1st prize of a Nordic jazz competition in the autumn of 2000. The album also raised interest in Japan, where it was be released by the production and distribution company Sawano Shokai in 2002. In 2006 the album was also released in South Korea by Sail Music. In Finland Numurkah was chosen to be a jazz CD of the month by a Finnish broadcasting company and received excellent critics from both media and the public.

Jazz & Fly Fishing: Slow Walking Water (CD)
Håvard Stubø – guitar
Joona Toivanen – piano
Tapani Toivanen – bass
Fredrik Hamrå – drums
On Slow Walking Water, the quartet takes on twelve original tunes with energy and enthusiasm, forging a solid amalgam out of a wide array of influences. Read more
The album was recorded on analog tape in one of Sweden´s finest studios, Studio Epidemin in Gothenburg, and mixed by Mikko Raita at Studio Kekkonen in Helsinki, creating a warm and wonderful sound that suits the band´s music perfectly. Slow Walking Water is fresh, sparkling jazz music of the highest quality, swaying all the way from the lyrical to the ecstatic, everything executed with an acute Nordic sensibility.
Jazz & Fly Fishing: One Second of Magic (double DVD)
Jazz & Fly Fishing is a jazz quartet, a fly fishing community, a surrealistic film project and a dream come true. Read more
It all started in Helsinki in 2008. Two young men met in a pub and came up with the ingenious idea of putting together a jazz band of fly fishermen – and film it. Finally available on DVD, Season One tells the true story of the band´s 2009 tour in northern Scandinavia.
Jazz & Fly Fishing: Season 1. One Second of Magic (double DVD). Price: 25 EUR + shipping.