Piirpauke is a Finnish musical group combining

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

mbalax Mbalax (or mbalakh) is the urban dance music of Senegal, Mauritania and the Gambia. The musical style is rooted in the indigenous instrumental and vocal styles accompanied by polyrhythmic sabar drumming of the Wolof, a social identity that incl ...

Arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ...

carnatic Carnatic may refer to: *Carnatic region, Southern India *Carnatic music, the classical music of Southern India *, the name of several ships *, a minesweeper of the Royal Indian Navy *, the name of several ships of the Royal Navy See also *Karnata ...

, romantic, modern, classical,

humppa Humppa is a type of music from Finland. It is related to jazz and fast foxtrot, played two beats to a bar ( or ) at around 110 to 130 beats per minute. Humppa is also the name of a few social dances done to humppa music. All dances involve a bo ...

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

hindustani Hindustani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Hindustan (another name of India) * Hindustani language, an Indo-Aryan language, with Hindi and Urdu being its two standard registers * Hindustani Muslims are the Urdu-speaking, Hindust ...

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

, Lappjoik,

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

, Karelian,

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

, national romantic and

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

influences (among others) in their compositions. The band was founded in 1974 by the keyboardist-saxophonist

Sakari Kukko Jyrki Sakari Kukko, (born 8 July 1953, Kajaani, Finland) is a Finnish musician.Rantala, Risto (main ed.): Who's who: Personal data about the current generation of Finns 2007. Helsinki: Otava, 2006. ISBN 951-1-20606-0. p.445. Career Kukko starte ...

, who is the only original member left in the band today. In addition to a large number of Finnish musicians, several musicians from various countries have also played in Piirpauke. The name "Piirpauke" comes from an Sakari Kukko's

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

n father and means a noise or a racket. The band has released 20 studio albums as well as several live and compilation albums. In October 2010 their album Koli peaked number one at the World Music Charts Europe.October 2010
World Music Charts Europe. Retrieved 30 May 2014. Piirpauke's best known song in Finland is "

Konevitsan kirkonkellot "Konevitsan kirkonkellot" (English: "The Church Bells of Konevitsa") is a Karelian folk melody, best known as the 1975 recording of Finnish musical group Piirpauke. It repeats the chime of the church bells of the Konevsky Monastery (Konevitsan l ...

" ("The Church Bells of Konevets"), based on a traditional Karelian melody. It is named after the

Konevsky Monastery Konevsky Monastery ( (as it is written on the seal of the monastery), ) is a Russian Orthodox monastery that occupies the Konevets Island in the western part of the Lake Ladoga, Leningrad Oblast, Russian Federation. It is often regarded as the twi ...

in the Konevets island of

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...

. The song was covered by heavy metal band

Sentenced Sentenced was a Finnish gothic metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989 in the town of Muhos and broke up in 2005. Lead guitarist Miika Tenkula was the band's vocalist for the first album, but du ...

in their 2002 album ''

The Cold White Light ''The Cold White Light'' is an album by the Finnish metal band Sentenced, released in May 2002 on Century Media. Limited copies contain the video for the song "Killing Me Killing You" from the band's previous album ''Crimson'' plus a free Senten ...

''. In

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

the biggest hit is so far "Swedish Reggae". The most active period was 1979–1993, when Piirpauke was touring regularly especially in Central Europe. A typical venue was a big jazz, rock and world music festival, or a big club like Fabrik in

Hamburg-Altona Altona (), also called Hamburg-Altona, is the westernmost urban borough (''Bezirk'') of the German city state of Hamburg. Located on the right bank of the Elbe river, Altona had a population of 270,263 in 2016. From 1640 to 1864, Altona was ...

. The same stages were occupied by the biggest names of those days like

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

Astor Piazzola Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (, ; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed ''nuevo tango'', incorporating elements from ...

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...

and

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

, just to mention a few from different genres. A typical tour would last about a month with 30 gigs, the record being 45 concerts in one month. The latest album "Hali" has been released in 2019.

Band members

– saxophone, piano, keyboards, vocals * Ari Hossi – bass * Ilmari Heikinheimo – drums *Matti Salo – guitar

Selected former members

Hasse Walli Hannes Mikael Waldemar "Hasse" Walli (born 10 February 1948) is a Finnish guitarist. His father Aarno Walli was a musician and bandleader, his mother Anne-Marie Strandberg a singer. Hasse Walli was about ten years old when he started playing dr ...

– guitar (1974–1978) *

Jukka Tolonen Jukka Jorma Tolonen (born 16 April 1952) is a Finnish jazz guitarist.Lönnqvist, Niclas.Jukka Tolonen är musikern av Guds nåde (in Swedish), Hufvudstadsbladet, August 3, 2018. Tolonen became famous as guitarist for the progressive rock band Tas ...

– guitar (1987) *Badu Ndiaye – guitar

Guest members

Ismaila Sane ''Ismaila is a town and Union Council Union council may refer to: *Union Council of Ministers The Union Council of Ministers is the Cabinet (government), principal executive organ of the Government of India, which serves to aid and advise t ...

– percussion,vocals *Mika Mylläri – trumpet

Discography

Studio albums

*''Piirpauke'' (1975) *''Piirpauke 2'' (1976) *''Yö Kyöpelinvuorella'' (1980) *''Birgi Bühtüi'' (1981) *''Kirkastus'' (1981) *''Ilahu Illalla'' (1984) *''The Wild East'' (1986) *''Algazara'' (1987) *''Zerenade'' (1989) *''Tuku Tuku'' (1991) *''Terra Nova'' (1993) *''Ave Maria'' (1996) *''Laula sinäkin'' (1998) *''Kalevala Spirit'' (2000) *''Sillat'' (2002) *''Laulu laineilla'' (2003) *''Kalabalik'' (2006) *''Koli'' (2010) *''Ilo'' (2012) *''Juju'' (2018) *''Hali'' (2019)

Live albums and compilations

*''Piirpauke Live'' (1978) *''Historia of Piirpauke Vol. 1'' (1978) *''Live in der Balver Höhle'' (1981) *''Soi vienosti murheeni soitto'' (1982) *''Live in Europe'' (1983) *''Global Servisi'' (1990) *''Metamorphosis (Live 1977–1995)'' (1995) *''Ikiliikkuja – Perpeetum Mobile'' (2004) TÜRLÜ -live 1988 with Jukka Tolonen

References

{{Authority control Finnish folk musical groups Finnish world music groups Finnish progressive rock groups Jazz fusion ensembles Musical groups established in 1974