Iiro Rantala

Iiro Rantala ( born January 19, 1970 in Helsinki) is a Finnish composer and jazz pianist.

Rantala received lessons at the music schools of Käpylä and Oulunkylä. Then he studied jazz piano in the jazz department of Sibelius Academy and classical piano at the Manhattan School of Music. At first, he played at Big Bad Family. In 1990 he founded the trio Töykeät ( ~ " ruffians " ), with whom he appeared in the next few years at numerous jazz festivals in Europe and eight albums presented. He also played with the Tango Kings, with Rajaton and Pekka Kuusisto with. In addition, he composed symphonic works, as in 2006, rehearsed with the Tapiola Sinfonietta Concerto for Piano and Concerto in G ♯? A ♭. In 2008, he appeared with a new formation on with guitarist Marzi Nyman and the beatboxer Felix Zenger, Iiro Rantala New Trio to that published the plate Elmo. In 2011 he presented a solo album, the Prize of the German Record Critics' Award in 2011 and was awarded the ECHO Jazz 2012 Album of the Year. At home theater festival in Stuttgart in 2011, he played in a duo with Jasper van't Hof. At JazzFest Berlin he joined in 2011 in a duo with drummer Jonathan Sarikoski.

On the album My History of Jazz in 2012 Rantala improvised among other things, compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, considering it started after the Jazz with him. In addition to humorous adaptations of jazz standards and some original compositions are included.

Disco Graphical Notes

• Rantala & Tapiola Sinfonietta Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G ♯? A ♭ ( Ondine, 2006)
• Iiro Rantala New Trio Elmo ( Rockadillo Records, 2008)
• Pekka Kuusisto & Iiro Rantala Subterráneo (Live Race, 2009)
• My History of Jazz (ACT, 2012) with Lars Danielsson ( bass), Morten Lund (drums) and Adam Bałdych (violin)