Quartet Ajaton is a Finnish chamber jazz quartet, founded by vocalist-songwriter Mia Simanainen, and featuring Argentine bandoneón player Henrik Sandås, Moog synth player Kari Ikonen, and cellist Aino Juutilainen. Fin is Quartet Ajaton’s third album, and it celebrates Finnish music, fittingly released during the Jazz Finland 100 anniversary year. It is released only via fair-trade streaming platforms (no Spotify), marking the quartet’s ethics that oppose streaming services that profit from AI-generated Music.
Ajaton means in Finnish genre-free, and so is the quartet’s music. The music highlights Simanainen’s siren-like, expressive vocal qualities and her gift as a storyteller who tells nuanced, emotional tales. The unique instrumentation bridges the acoustic and traditional – Sandås’ bandoneón and Juutilainen’s cello, with Ikonen’s vintage analog synth, which adds a timeless aroma. The program includes folk songs, polska, dance, a lullaby, and a Finnish tango, using poems of the poetesses Saima Harmaja and Helvi Juvonen, sung in Finnish, Swedish, and English, and a melody by composer Jean Sibelius.
Fin sounds like a colorful journey into the emotions of Finnish traditions, reflecting the Finnish musical roots of Quartet Ajaton. It is enigmatic, deeply emotional, a bit dark, and sometimes even strange, but it clearly sets the listener’s blood in motion. The cover photo by Heidi Strengell emphasizes Quartet Ajaton’s uplifting playfulness and its warm, literally, music, suggesting that these happy musicians have just come out of a refreshing session in a hot and humid Finnish sauna.
Eyal Hareuveni
Mia Simanainen (vocals), Henrik Sandås (bandoneón), Kari Ikonen (Moog-synthesizer), Aino Juutilainen (cello)
