Fredriksson has already garnered wide-spread recognition as a flamboyant improviser and versatile musician. Considered one of Europe’s leading jazz saxophonists, they have blazed their own musical trail, daring to step outside of the genre in a way that is uniquely personal.

Juniper is an extraordinary work that is, at its heart, a singer-songwriter album performed by an instrumental jazz band. Compellingly beautiful and haunting, Juniper has charmed audiences lucky enough to hear Linda and their band in concert.

This is an album full of wonders and carefully crafted secrets ready to be discovered. Join us to experience this stunning work live this June.

Linda Fredriksson saxophones
Tuomo Prättälä keyboards
Mikael Saastamoinen bass
Olavi Louhivuori drums

Music Network is Ireland’s national music touring and development organisation, founded by the Arts Council in 1986. We make high quality live music accessible to communities throughout Ireland and help musicians to develop fulfilling careers, bringing musicians and listeners together through the magic of live performance.

About the Artists

Following the release of their debut album Juniper in 2021, Finnish saxophonist Linda Fredriksson quickly established themselves as an important creative force on the national and international jazz scene. Winner of a Teosto Award in 2022, one of Scandinavia’s most prestigious awards recognising musical work that is considered bold, original and innovative, Juniper also received the Emma Award for Best Jazz Album of the Year in 2022. The Teosto Panel stated that Juniper takes “listeners to the heart of what it means to be human” describing Fredriksson’s compositions as “delicately lingering, personal and tentative, distancing themselves from jazz and most of the genre’s typical features in an original way.”

Prior to the release of Juniper, Fredriksson had already garnered wide-spread recognition as a flamboyant improviser and versatile musician performing with a number of Finland’s leading bands including Mopo, Ricky-Tick Big Band and Superposition. Earlier accolades for Fredriksson’s work include a Kritiikin Kannukset Break Through Artist Award from the Association of Finnish Critics, making Down Beat magazine’s Rising Star Baritone Saxophone listings for four consecutive years (2016 to 2019) and receiving a Ted Curson Award from the prestigious Pori Jazz Festival.

Fredriksson began their studies on alto saxophone at the age of nine at the Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory and went on to major in jazz saxophone at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, graduating from the Sibelius Academy in 2014. Musical collaborators have included such accomplished artists as Timo Lassy, Raoul Björkenheim, Ultra Bra, Pyhimys, Jimi Tenor, The Valkyrians, The Northern Governors, Niillas Holmberg and the European Jazz Orchestra.

Given the beauty and fragility of Fredriksson’s music, it is easy to see why they are much in demand as a composer, writing music for theatre, film and performance art works which have been widely performed and acclaimed.

Tuomo Prättälä is known both for his jazz keyboard skills and his work as a soulful singer/songwriter. His professional career started in the early 2000s with groups like Ilmiliekki Quartet, Quintessence, Q-continuum, Emma Salokoski Ensemble and MP4, that quickly became favorites of the burgeoning Finnish jazz scene.

In 2007 he moved from the rank-and-file to center stage with his solo debut My thing. The album was a commercial success in Finland and got noticed by tastemakers from the UK to Japan. He has since released three more solo albums, exploring styles from symphonic soul and chamber pop to experimental electronic sounds.

Recent projects also include americana-tinged collaboration Tuomo & Markus, which has toured in the US, collaborating with indie rock luminaries such as Jonathan Wilson, Marc Ribot and members of Wilco, Calexico & The Jayhawks. He has also written contemporary classical pieces, most notably the piece MOD for Moog synthesizers and symphony orchestra, premiered in 2021. He has received several accolades, including an Emma Award, Sony Jazz Award and Pori Jazz Ted Curson award.

Mikael Saastamoinen is a bass player, producer and composer living in Helsinki. He is one of the most active and sought-after double bass players in Finland’s music scene. Mikael leads his own groups; Outomuru, Perussastamala, Iso Auto, Katu Kaiku, OH YEAH: Music Of Charles Mingus and is also a sideman for many other bands including OK:KO and Linda Fredriksson. Mikael is known for his strong and expressive playing style which shows his knowledge and curiosity of tradition and modern music. At the moment he is working on his fourth album for his experimental solo project Perussastamala.

Olavi Louhivuori has established himself as a drum artist with a distinctively nuanced and subtly experimental style. He is a leader of a Finnish experimental jazz ensemble Oddarrang that has released five critically acclaimed albums, and a fiery jazz quartet Superposition with Adele Sauros (sax), Linda Fredriksson (sax) and Mikael Saastamoinen (b). He has also released two solo albums: Inhale Exhale in 2008 and Existence in 2014.

Louhivuori was a longtime drummer in Tomasz Stanko’s various ensembles, most notably Tomasz Stanko Quintet (Dark Eyes, ECM, 2009). He has collaborated with Anthony Braxton, Palle Danielsson, Susanne Abbuehl and Marilyn Crispell, to name a few.

First place in the Young Nordic Jazz Comets competition (with Joona Toivanen Trio in 2000, Ilmiliekki Quartet in 2002 and SUN Trio in 2006) and the Emma Award for the Best Finnish Jazz Album of the Year (with Oddarrang in 2006 and with Superposition in 2020) have sent the talented drummer touring around the Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States.