SOOÄÄR/YARALYAN/OUNASKARI (EE/FI) / Viljandi Kitarrifestival 2025

Saturday 11. October at 12:00

Viljandi Baptistikirik

SOOÄÄR/YARALYAN/OUNASKARI (EE/FI) will perform at the Viljandi Guitar Festival on October 11.

Estonian guitarist Jaak Sooäär, Armenian/Estonian double bassist Ara Yaralyan and Finnish drummer Markku Ounaskari established the trio in spring 2016. Since then they have performed in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Austria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. The music of the trio is mostly focused on melody. The trio also performs Armenian music and some improvisations on themes by J. S. Bach. In a way it can be called a piano trio without a piano as guitar takes here the wide range orchestral role of the piano. The trio released the debut album "A Shooting Star" on German label O-Tone Music in October 2018 and their second album “Goodbye July” was released by the same label in October 2020. Last year the trio received the prize of The Estonian Jazz Group 2022. The third album by the trio "Zula" was released by AVA Muusika in 2023.

Jaak Sooäär is one of the most active jazz musicians of the Baltics, who has performed with Ray Anderson, Daniel Erdmann, Anders Jormin, Han Bennink, Will Calhoun, Dave Liebman, Marilyn Mazur and Vladimir Tarasov among others. Ara Yaralyan is known for his work in Kari Ikonen Trio, he has also collaborated with Ingrid Jensen, Vardan Ovsepian and Verneri Pohjola to name a few. The most well-known member of the trio is Markku Ounaskari, who regularly collaborates with artists such as Arve Henriksen, Anders Jormin, Nils Petter Molvaer, Trygve Seim, Markus Stockhausen, Tore Brunborg, Mats Eilertsen and Lena Willemark and appears on several ECM albums.

"The joint album of these creative instrumentalists is really extremely captivating and impressive in expression. Working with dynamics, distinctive melody, congenial harmony, this is a matter of course in all eight compositions; but I haven't heard such instrumental lightness, precision in every note, unsurpassed, ie. meaningful solos (and at the same time great ones, especially the double bass ones are just fabulously blossoming!), a completely natural fusion of modern jazz with traditional folk music." - Ján Hocek, skjazz.sk

Jaak Sooäär - guitar
Ara Yaralyan - double bass
Markku Ounaskari - drums

More information from Facebook 👉 https://www.facebook.com/viljandiguitar

The organizer reserves the right to make changes to the program.

Viljandi Baptistikirik • August Maramaa pst 1A, 71007 Viljandi, Viljandi, Estonia

Google Map of August Maramaa pst 1A, 71007 Viljandi, Viljandi, Estonia

Viljandi Kitarrifestival

piletid@viljandiguitar.ee