jaZZanti concert: Jussi Reijonen: sayr
Monday 13. April at 19:00 - 20:30
Hakasalmen huvila, Helsinki
Guitarist, Arabic ‘ud player and composer Jussi Reijonen’s new work sayr offers an intimate, meditative counterpoint to his acclaimed 2022 large-ensemble work Three Seconds | Kolme Toista.
Performed on vintage steel-string acoustic guitar and Arabic ‘ud, sayr is an improvised exploration of the small, the simple and the sparse; the rugged earthy; the gnarly unpretty; and most of all, of memories of roots and branches; of bare feet in soil; and of paths less – or differently – predetermined.
Rooted in a metaphorical reframing of the concept of “sayr” as found in Arabic music — a musical pathway or unfolding—, this solo performance becomes a spontaneous exploration through an memory palace of sound: a pathway of memory recalled and reimagined through music.
Using a set of pre-composed musical gestures as “loci” or touchstones—like rooms in a memory palace—Reijonen navigates freely between them, letting memories surface through the sounds themselves. Each gesture becomes a portal, triggering emotional and sensory echoes shaped by his life across Northern Finland, Jordan, Tanzania, Oman, Lebanon, and the United States.
Photo: Ville Tanttu
The concert is supported by City of Helsinki, Svenska Kulturfonden and The Finnish Music Foundation.
Hakasalmen huvila • Mannerheimintie 13 B, 00100 Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
