Kalle Kalima (b. 1973 in Helsinki, Finland) began his journey into sound with piano lessons at the age of six. Five years later he switched over to the guitar and has never looked back. He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and at the Hanns Eisler Conservatory in Berlin under the guidance of Raoul Björkenheim and John Schröder to name a few. After taking up residence in Berlin, Kalima has experienced a revelation in his attitude towards free music.

The musicians of Kalle Kalima’s Long Winding Road met in Berlin. The guitarist came from Finland, veteran double bass player Greg Cohen – well known through his work as a bass player and producer with John Zorn, Ornette Coleman, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Woody Allen and many others – from the USA and drummer Max Andrzejewski from Germany, but aware of his Polish roots. The collaboration began with country and surf while a filmteam documented the trio playing in a Berlin tattoo parlor. In the last two years they have played often in Berlin taking a closer look at their musical roots. Cohen heard Marty Robbins’ country songs as a child and Kalima has grown up with music of Frankie Laine and Sibelius. As they played a march of Sibelius they were astounded how well it fit together with the American country tunes in their concert program. Their album, High Noon with playful, relaxed and imaginative arrangements of these tunes was released in January 2016 by ACT Music and has got terrific resonance in the international jazz press.

Since April 2016 Cohen has had to pull back from the live activities of the group, since then the Italian bass player Igor Spallati is replacing him mostly on the concerts of the group. Spallati settled in Berlin in 2009 and did his Master’s degree with Greg Cohen as a mentor. Since then he is one the most interesting upcoming players on the Berlin scene. Max Andrzejewski is one of the best drummers of his generation. His band HÜTTE won 2013 The New German Jazzprize as well as winning the prize for the Best Soloist.

Kalle Kalima is in Berlin since 1998. He has played among others with Jason Moran, Anthony Braxton, Juhani Aaltonen, Tomasz Stanko, Ensemble Resonanz, Jimi Tenor, NDR Big Band, Jazzanova, Tony Allen, Frank Gratkowski, Hans Lüdemann, Marc Ducret or Carlos Bica. His Trio Klima Kalima won in 2008 The New German Jazzprize and the Group K-18 the Jazz-Emma (the “Grammy” prize in Finland). He was nominated for Jazz-Echo 2016. Last years have been busy years for Kalima, touring mostly in Europe but also in Africa, Asia and USA.

kallekalima.com