KARI IKONEN
Genres: Post Bop, 21st Century Modern, Third Stream, Avant-Garde Jazz • Finland

After having studied piano with Matti Laukkanen for four years (1989-1993) at Jyväskylä Institute of Music, Kari Ikonen continued his studies 1994 in piano and later in composition at the Jazz Music Department of Sibelius Academy, with such teachers as Jarmo Savolainen, Jukkis Uotila, Anders Jormin, Maria Schneider, Mike Gibbs, Sonny Heinilä and Olli Kortekangas. He also spent a semester of 1996 in Rotterdam Conservatory, where he studied with Rob van Kreevelt. He got his master’s degree from Sibelius Academy in 2001. Kari’s main instruments are piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano and analogue Moog synthesizer. In addition to his own trio and his international sextet Karikko he plays in the jazz-folk ensemble Ahava, the electro-acoustic improvisation trio Gnomus, the art-pop/world/jazz trio Slo Motive, and jazz groups Kolhoz and Markus Holkko Quartet, performing frequently in Finland and abroad. He has performed with many internationally known musicians, such as Bob Moses, Bob Mintzer, read more...