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Music, Etc. with Oren Tikkanen 20 Besides writing music columns for New World Finn, Oren has produced numerous recordings of Finnish American music. He also performs regularly on mandolin, guitar, and bass with various bands. Rauno Nieminen The trains in Finland are superb — comfortable, fast, and frequent. Some of the train stations, however, are not particularly appealing for someone who has to wait. Circumstances had developed in such a way that I had six hours to pass in Tampere before I could catch the specific train which would reunite me with my traveling companions and the documents, phone numbers, etc, which would be necessary at our next stop. On the surface, the Tampere Train Station is just fine if one is breezing through. But, oh, those “benches” in the waiting area — wide, thick, polished slabs of thick wood, with a matching wooden cylinder running down the middle lengthwise as a backrest. Against one of these structures I leaned the crutches that the doctor in Helsinki had loaned me for my messed-up knee. I eased my sore, osteo-arthritic hip onto the gleaming wood. It was as hard and unyielding as it appeared, and when I tried to relax, I found the seat of my pants sliding forward on the gleaming wood. I braced my feet more firmly on the floor, and my knee throbbed. Thus began my six-hour sojourn in Tampere. Was it John Denver who said, “I spent a week in Toledo one Saturday night”? I understand, John. Someone else said, “Form follows function.” I tried to analyze the design of those benches, and came to the conclusion that they were intended to be uncomfortable. Finland, like the rest of the world, does not want the train stations to be places in which street drunks, vagrants, homeless people, and other undesirables can find shelter and hunker down. Indeed, this was confirmed when I tried lying down on the bench — within seconds, a very large man in a dark-colored nylon jumpsuit uniform was at my side asking if I was all right, and then telling me that lying down was not acceptable. I sat back up and began sliding forward again, chanting my mantra, “A miracle of Finnish design...” The people at the information desk told me that there was no travelers’ aid lounge, and suggested I find a bar across the square where I could sit comfortably. No, they did not know which bus I could take to the public library — that other great refuge for homeless wanderers. So I slid back and forth on the bench, alternately crutching out into the wind and drizzle for a few blocks to loosen up the cranky joints. I repeated to myself another aphorism: “Adventure is discomfort properly regarded — discomfort is adventure improperly regarded.” Eventually, I found a building with a restroom that, unlike the train station, did not require a one-euro coin every time I needed to pass through the door. There was also an indoor atrium that had a coffee shop, easy chairs and couches. There I sat and read, occasionally looking around for more of the large men in black or navy-blue nylon jumpsuits who seem to be quite common in Finland these days. They didn’t appear to have guns, but they did have handcuffs and large, heavy flashlights — the kind that can be used as nightsticks. I’ll be clear about this: privatized security forces do not heighten my sense of security. However, my luck had improved, or perhaps I was neat and clean enough not to be identified as a drunk or a Roma or anyone else that needed to be “moved on”. Through the haze of discomfort and tiredness, I could see that Tampere is a vibrant Pekko Käppi and Rauno Nieminen playing a jouhikko duet Rauno Nieminen playing two traditional Finnish flutes at the same time. Photos by Oren Tikkanen town, with several universities, interesting architecture, art, music, and history. Indeed, the painful Civil War history of Tampere seemed to be very present, and I hope to learn more about the Battle of Tampere and its aftermath. A few days later, a Finnish social work professor remarked that Finnish social work began by establishing services for the great numbers of children who were orphaned when their worker-parents were killed in the Battle of Tampere. It is good to see that the Finns have worked things out so well, and that they are keeping a clear eye on their own history — unlike some. I must go back to Tampere — perhaps when modern orthopedic procedures have overcome my infirmities. Eventually, the right train pulled in, I hobbled aboard, and positively luxuriated in the lovely, cushioned, reclining seat of that coach — bliss! The stimulus for these small “adventures” was a chance to spend a couple of days with Rauno Nieminen, folk musician, master instrument craftsman, scholar, and literally “the man who wrote the book” on the jouhikko. Joining us was Rauno’s protégé and member of Rauno’s “Jouhiorkesteri” group, Pekko Käppi. Rauno teaches instrument-building at IKATA, the Ikaalinen College of Crafts and Design. IKATA is a fascinating place where students learn everything from accordionbuilding and glassblowing, to fashion design and gunsmithing. Rauno’s department is called “lutherie”, with students and faculty building kanteles, electric basses, jouhikkos, octave mandolins, and most visibly, electric guitars — anything that makes music by primarily plucking a string. IKATA has approximately 500 students, and offers a three-year course, but also welcomes foreign students for shorter periods of study. Indeed, Rauno pointed out some Spanish students in his shop who were building — predictably — electric guitars. I told Rauno that one of the bass guitars he built had visited my house, in the company of the Myllärit band from Petrozavodsk, when they came for sauna about 10 years ago. “Oh yes,” he said, “I remember that bass.” I assured him that the bass did not go to sauna. If anyone is looking for hands-on Finnish education in the creative crafts, it may be worthwhile to check out the IKATA website, in Finnish and English, which is easily found by googling “IKATA.” The College itself appeared to be modern, well-equipped, and pleasant, and I can vouch for the cafeteria lunch: hearty, healthy and tasty Finnish food. Ikaalinen, a typical small Finnish town in the countryside of Häme, is about an hour by bus from the big-city bustle of Tampere, and is a major center of Finnish accordion music. In fact it is the site of the Finnish Accordion Institute, which acts as an archive for accordion history, and as a clearinghouse for information about accordions and their place in Finnish culture. When Rauno and Pekko took me there, I was pleased to see a large painting of our own Viola Turpeinen, and I was tickled by the accordion-shaped birdhouse in the back yard. Ikaalinen is also of course the setting for “Sata-Häme Soi”, the huge international accordion-focused music festival held every June. I see that over NEW WORLD FINN TAMMIKUU - HELMIKUU - MAALISKUU • 2009 TALVI
Finn Hall Named Finlandia Foundation’s Performer of the Year for 2010 In their October meeting, the Board of Trustees of Finlandia Foundation National (FFN) selected Finn Hall band from Minnesota as the Finlandia Foundation National Performer of the Year (POY) for 2010. Finn Hall’s one-year POY term starts on January 1, 2010. Finn Hall is a group of musicians dedicated to preserving and performing the feel and sounds of the old Finn Halls. Their performance remains true to the original tunes – music of earlier generations – and also includes dance numbers of the mid 20th century, such as tangos and humppas. Dance music of other Nordic cultures is in their extensive repertoire, too. Finn Hall has gone back to the “old country” to learn traditional and contemporary dance music, at the same time deepening their personal connections with living musicians and the places from which band members trace their heritage. Finn Hall core members are: Al Reko – accordion and vocals, Dennis Halme – accordion, Cheryl Paschke – violin and nyckelharpa, and Ralph Tuttila – mandolin. Finn Hall friends, who regularly perform with the group, are Gordon Oschwald – bass, and Kip Peltoniemi – guitar. Also when available, Johanna Doty joins on violin. Finn Hall has been together as a band for over ten years. Frequent performers at FinnFests and Grand Fests in US and Canada, they have toured in Finland and performed at the Kaustinen International Folk Music Festival several times. Most recently, Finn Hall was featured at the FinnFest 09 cruise to Alaska. Finn Hall has produced two recordings; Muistelmia (Reflections) in 2002 and Tule Tanssimaan (Come Dance) in 2009. For further information go to their website: www.finnhall.com Through the Finlandia Foundation National’s POY Travel Grant Program, Finn Hall is available for the Foundation’s chapter programs. Tikkanen continued from previous page 37,000 people attended this past summer, just about a month after I was there – another reason for me to get back to that part of Finland. Sata-Häme Soi has a website, and there are several videos from the festival on YouTube. Pekko and I spent the night at Rauno’s and had a pleasant time jamming in Rauno’s workshop and inspecting the instruments that he’s building. Rauno showed me his latest mandolin, and after assuring me that his fingers have grown too stiff to play, proceeded to dash off some blazing hot licks. I was entranced by the jouhikko duets that the two of them improvised, and I again marveled at the evocativeness of this raw, raspy Baltic bowed-lyre. Talk about “roots music!” Ancient stuff, perhaps not to everyone’s liking, but well worth a listen. Pekko has some great videos on YouTube, and there are some by other players, as well. During our sauna, I reminded Rauno of our first meeting at the California Finnfest USA in 1986. At that time, we played a tune called in English, “Brightly Shines the Moon” on our mandolins. It is usually identified as a Russian melody, and when I had teasingly asked him if it were Finnish, he replied, “East Finland.” This led him, after sauna and his wife’s delicious pineapple “pannukakku”, to dig through his slides from those days. Watching someone else’s slides is sometimes one of those stereotypical social duties that must occasionally be endured, but not this time. Rauno had images of many people I’ve met, Finnish and American, some of whom are gone now, and I found it pleasant and, at times, moving. How strange life can be — a Student from Spain at IKATA (Nieminen’s instrument making school) working on an electric guitar she is building fellow in a small town on the other side of the world has some of my memories on a shelf in his closet. Over the years, Rauno worked out a way of making exact replicas of old instruments, and eventually systematized it into a 10-step (or was it 12-step?) procedure by which, he tells me, one can duplicate any musical instrument, whether it is “a 300-year-old jouhikko, or a ’59 Les Paul electric guitar.” He wrote this up as a dissertation and was awarded a Ph.D. in — I think — musicology. One can glimpse Dr. Nieminen on Youtube in a couple of videos. One is of him playing the triangle in the “Crawfish Kings 10th anniversary jam.” Another is with Pekko Käppi and other members of the Jouhiorkesteri in Thunder Bay, Ontario in a clip called “Cool Train at Hoito, part 1.” The jouhikkos start at 5:40 in the video and play for about a minute. There is also a very short clip of the band playing at the Rainforest Festival in Malaysia this past summer. Better yet, one can go to their website and order their CD’s. Pekko Käppi also has a website and pages on Facebook and MySpace. My thanks to those fellows for opening another window into the mysterious musical world of modern Finland. I send a wish that everyone’s holiday season will be peaceful, joyous, and filled with music. P.S. Congratulations to my old friends in Minnesota’s Finn Hall Band on being chosen as the Finlandia Foundation’s Performer of the Year — 2010! JANUARY - FEBRUARY - MARCH • 2010 WINTER NEW WORLD FINN 21
Page 1 and 2: EXPLORING FINNISH CULTURE New World
Page 3 and 4: Independence Day Greetings From Pre
Page 5 and 6: Finnish Tapas Comes to Duluth Text
Page 7 and 8: the shore as the Moon began to shin
Page 9 and 10: Poijat Celebrates Twenty Years of P
Page 11 and 12: So this day finally dawned for me,
Page 13 and 14: Kotinurkka - The Corner of the Home
Page 15 and 16: Name Street/Address The Journey Ahe
Page 17 and 18: Donna Salli’s Play About Finnish-
Page 19: A View From Finland with Enrique Te
Page 23 and 24: Willie Lahti: 3 Poems from the Past
Page 25 and 26: Lumi ja Kaamos Outside the snow fel
Page 27 and 28: New World Finn Bookstore Your sourc

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