Kadri Voorand Group

kadrivoorandgroupKadri Voorand – vocal and electronic effects
Jussi Kannaste – saxophones
Mihkel Mälgand – bass
Joel Remmel – piano
Ville Pynssi – drums

“She is experimental, fun and appears on stage with incredible level of energy.” (Jan Granlie/ Jazznytt 29.04.2012)

Phillip Woolever from allaboutjazz.com has written, “Voorand’s interpretations ranged from whispers, jests and romantic murmurs to smooth, intimate storytelling. Even untranslated language was clear.”

“Kadri is inside the music, while on stage it seems like she stands in another world, in another time zone, passing on true emotions.”(Matti I. Korhonen, Osku Rajala, Jazzrytmit, 06.08.2012 )

Kadri Voorand is a young jazz singer and composer, who’s original music and expression has brought her a number of prizes and performances in Estonia as well as abroad. She has been awarded with the prestigious Jazzkaar and Jazz Union award Young Jazz Talent of the Year. 2012 she was the soloist with the EBU European Jazz Orchestra touring Europe. She has recorded several albums, with some of the best jazz musicians in Estonia as well as abroad, for example in USA Anthony Branker’s modern jazz album “Dance Music”. Besides collaboration with many other musicians, she also composes for and is a leader for her trio experimenting with electronic effects, a cappella vocal sextet Estonian Voices and her solo project using variety of electronic effects and playing also piano. At the moment she is the youngest member of the jazz faculty in the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre teaching jazz singing.

For this particular band one could hear the influences of a mixture of artists like Wayne Shorter referring to contemporary use of harmony, Cassandra Wilson or Sarah Vaughan as strong characteristic voices, Erykah Badu as an influence in rhythmic taste mixing jazz and latin to R&B rhythms and also Stanley Clarke as an influence from jazz rock age. All of this blending nicely into something new.

The band consists of some of the top jazz musicians from Estonia and Finland.
The saxophonist Jussi Kannaste, the winner of Sony Jazz Award 2005, is one of the  Finland’s leading artists and is now the head of the Jazz department in Sibelius Academy of Music in Helsinki. He has had teachers like  Manuel Dunkel,Lee Konitz, Tim Hagans and many more. Kannaste has performed with artists like Daniel Humair, Jukkis Uotila,Ted Curson,  Kurt Rosenwinkel,  Maria Schneider and  worked with many top groups, including the UMO Jazz Orchestra, as well as leading his own outfit, the Kannaste-Ojajärvi Quartet (or K/O/Q), Kannaste-Olding and many others.

The drummer Ville Pynssi is a talented musician originally from the city of Kokkola. He is known as a skillful, versatile and edged musician and therefore he is considered as one of the most popular drummers in Finland. He has performed all around the world with great artists and orchestras such as Phil Markowitz, Rick Margitza, Tim Ries, Bernard Fowler, Severi Pyysalo, Jukka Perko, Jarmo Savolainen, Miles Griffith, Jukka Tolonen, UMO, among others. Countries he has toured include Belgium, France, Greece, Turkey, Estonia, Norway, Russia, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, China, South Korea, Argentina, Brasil.

Bassist Mihkel Mälgand, who is one of the most popular and well-known bassists in Estonia and has recorded over 70 albums. Mälgand has literally worked together with almost every estonian jazz musician, has taken part in a big number of international projects, for example with Kurt Elling, Randy Brecker, David Liebman, Tim Hagans, Paul Bollenback and many more.

The pianist Joel Remmel is a rising jazz pianist, who also won The Young Jazz Talent of the Year award couple of years after Kadri. Last spring was released his trio’s debut album.