Now we have arrived in Helsinki where we rehearse a bit before taking the train 600 kilometers up north to Haapavesi where the sun never dissapear at this time a year.
I am traveling with two old friends, the American violinist, Ruthie Dornfeld, and the Finnish bass player, flute player and jews harp player, Tapani Varis, people that I have performed with during many years, and with whom I released the album “Nightmare Polka” in 2012.
Our trio is called ACO (American Café orchestra), and here in Finland, we are going to teach at ‘Haapavesi Folk Music Course’ and perform at ‘Haapavesi Folk Festival’. It is great to play with Ruthie and Tapani and to re-discover how fantastic and inspiring musicians they are – they can make my compositions blossom, and that is just great to experience.
My 13 year old son, Carl Alfred, is traveling with us, he is going to participate in Antti Järvelä’s band playing class – taht is garantied to be a lot of hard work, and a lot of fun for the lad. See more at: www.haapavesifolk.com