In the summer of 2024, I heard my inner voice loud and clear: "It’s time to start playing standards. You’re ready.”

What are jazz standards? They are the cornerstones of a jazz music repertoire. A bit like Bach, Beethoven and Brahms in classical music.

In the early days of jazz, songs were borrowed from either Broadway musicals or Hollywood movies. Many of these songs were therefore familiar to everyone. A little later, jazz musicians began composing their own music to perform, as Miles Davis did. These are also called standards.

The set played by Iiro Rantala Trinity consists of less well-known standards, such as But Beautiful or Bluesette, but there are also tunes everyone knows, such as Singing in the Rain, Smile and Someday My Prince Will Come.

I wanted Kaisa Mäensivu on bass and Jaska Lukkarinen on drums for this ensemble and they said: I do. It’s a great pleasure to play these jazz classics with them!

And now we’ve already been to the studio and the standards are available on the album.

- Iiro Rantala

Duration 1 h 45 min, incl. intermission