Omani Uni: Emma Salokoski & Maria Ylipää

Two lovely and very gifted young ladies sing us poetry with a jazz trio and a string quartet! Having often collaborated before, but never on record, they describe this as a dream project. The songs are from their joint album of last fall, Omani Uni.

The poems come from venerable by-gone masters, like Mika Waltari and Edith Södergran, as well as from Marja-Leena Mikkola and Sirkka Turkka, who were the voices of the 60/70’s generation, and contemporary artists, like actor Samuli Vauramo and PMMP singer Paula Vesala. Subject matter is heavy stuff from love and death to the curse of beauty and being a prisoner. The melodies are not heavy, though, but hand-crafted to the words by drummer Olavi Louhivuori, violin virtuoso Pekka Kuusisto and singer Anna-Mari Kähärä, to name but three composers.

Emma Salokoski, who for three years now has been a teacher of the highly-respected Total Vocal Technique, started her career as a singer in the funk bands Quintessence and the Q-Continuum. With her own Emma Salokoski Ensemble and its three records (Veden alla, Kaksi mannerta, Puutarhassa) she hit the top of the pop charts and became a national figure. Last summer she and the fabulous Ilmiliekki Quartet released an album of Swedish language lullabyes from her childhood, performing those songs also at the Pori Jazz Festival. Emma is also an often featured special guest with the rap act Don Johnson Big Band.

Omani uni is the debut album for Maria Ylipää, though the young actress has played, or sung, with great success the lead role in many musicals, like Evita, Cinderella and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.