Digging the Heritage of the Human Species With Free Jazz Percussionist Simo Laihonen

If you have ever encountered Beijing-based, Finnish guitarist Jukka Ahonen (and considering he’s in about five bands off the top of my head, that’s more likely than not), you'll agree that one thing’s for certain – the dude knows his chops and then some. So when he told me that he was inviting one of his mentors and childhood friends to Beijing for a collection of shows, I knew I couldn't miss it.

Enter maverick improvisational percussionist Simo Laihonen, one of Finland’s most prolific and esteemed members of the improv and free jazz scene. With over 50 releases and movie soundtracks under his belt, highlights of his career include playing with the seminal free jazz outfit Black Motor, and international collaborations with a huge array of musicians (Jorma Tapio, Paal Nilssen-Love, Katsura Yamauchi, just to name a few), Laihonen is a force to be reckoned with.

Over the next week, Laihonen will be adding a few more names to his mammoth list of collaborations, joining some of the scene’s most sought-after characters such as saxophonist Lie Tieqiao and bassist Wang Chenhuai, with gigs at DDC (Apr 3), Jianghu Bar (Apr 4), Fruityspace (Apr 5), and Omni Space (Apr 10).

Ahead of his Beijing stint, we caught up with Laihonen about growing up in Finland, his plentiful collaborations, and how drums came into his life. 

What is it about drums that’s so special? Have you ever been tempted by other instruments? How did your approach to drumming evolve and change over time?
I have no idea what has been the initial impulse for choosing drums as the instrument. It all seems very clear and inevitable when looking back, like having no choice of my own on the matter. It just came to be.

A drum seems to be connected closely with the archaic heritage of human species, with the human evolution. Maybe the totality of it, the wholeness and the rhythm aspect originally appealed to me.

There has been and there continuously is a temptation to play around with other instruments, yes… In teaching duties with children, I’m sometimes playing whatever is around to jam or support some idea at hand. More of a playing around thing that is...

I’m also practicing with various traditional flutes, mainly the Far Eastern end-blown flutes. This makes a good balance with the percussion in general, and like singing, helps to keep the contact with the breath open.

Approach to drumming has, hopefully, clarified in some way... So that I might be able to do the right things at the right time. Continuous learning. In general, it is at the same time reaching for ever fresh areas and going back to the very origins of playing, like being a child again.

What is the improvisation scene like in Finland?
Finland, like any other location, has its own tendencies in the art scene in general. Improvised music here has many styles and sub-genres. In most of the major towns, there are active musicians and organizers, and some are both at the same time. In Tampere, where I live, there is on the one hand closely associated circles when speaking of improvised music. Many of these players are focusing on many types of music, and it tends to give fertile ground for the growth of music. The Tampere art scene seems to rise mostly from the ground up, without defining the influence of art schools, etc. There are players and makers from all kinds of backgrounds and things seem to evolve with a practical DIY attitude.

What are some of your influences? 
All kinds of music, which means it can be anything at a certain moment... Everything reflects life in general. Although this doesn’t mean that I have to be involved with every type of music. That's not the purpose.

All experiences in life are music if you look at it like that, and listen to them from the inside. It is very important to cultivate the inner hearing, not only the ear-organ hearing.

You’ve appeared in over 50 albums and movie soundtracks – what have been some of the highlights for you? How do you approach a movie soundtrack compared to being a part of a band?
Maybe the highlights in the realm of recorded music, so far, could be all the discs we’ve managed to produce with the trio Black Motor over the 14 years of its existence. 

Some collaborations with people who have had specific influence on my playing are those experiences that tend to stay, those nourishing meetings, whatever they have been and wherever they've led to… In this sense, I could mention all the collaborations with all the great musicians who have worked closely with the late Finnish percussionist/composer Edward Vesala. Talking about musicians like Jorma Tapio, Tane Kannisto, Raoul Björkenheim, Iro Haarla, Juhani Aaltonen, Jimi Sumén, Jukka Orma...

The movie soundtracks that I have been involved with have mostly been made in a way that some already existing live recordings have been used in movie productions. Or then there has been some fixed compositions which are worked on with the composer, a group of musicians, and maybe with the film producer. In the latter case, the certain mood which we are looking for in a given composition comes to the fore. Also, the length of the performances might be an exact task.

Do you prefer working in large groups when improvising or do you feel you work better in tight-knit groups?
I would say tight-knit groups, although it doesn’t make a difference what kind of formation we are in when the things start to happen. You never know.

What's the most important thing to a healthy collaborative performance with other musicians?
Contact, communication, and mutual respect that starts "at the threshold" and doesn’t end there.

How did you end up coming to China? 
A Finnish friend since childhood now living in Beijing, guitarist Jukka Ahonen, mentioned a few years ago about the possibility to visit him someday and maybe also play some music while in China. Some false starts later, we are now making the visit happen this April with the generous help of Jukka and many friendly musicians from Beijing and Shanghai. This will be my first time in the country, first time also in the Far East, and I'm looking forward to being on the soil of mainland China, to meet all the people and share some music together.

Catch Laihonen play at DDC (Apr 3), Jianghu Bar (Apr 4), Fruityspace (Apr 5), and Omni Space (Apr 10) for various prices.

The music doesn't end there. See all of this week's best gigs, right here.

Photos: Olli Sulen