" Weather Report meets Fela, you might say. They are good enough" Rick Sanders, fRoots Magazine Country: Finland/Benin Genre: Afrobeat, World, Jazz Website: www.helsinkicotonouensemble.com Avails for concerts: Europe @ June/October 2015 - West Africa @ November 2015 New album release concert: November 7th, Helsinki, Finland - http://www.globalmusic.fi/en/helsinkicotonouensemble Short Bio: Almost three years have elapsed since the HELSINKI-COTONOU ENSEMBLE came together mixing Voodo rhythms with jazz and producing a sound that has found its way onto the heart and soul of many aficionados. After the album ‘Beaucoup de Piment” (No Problem!Music, 2013), the band is back with “Fire, Sweat & Pastis” (No Problem! Music, 2014). It will soon be available worldwide and is plenty of groove-based tunes driven by horns and percussion on which the guitar and keyboards freely create their solo outings. Its ever-blasting sonic rhythms, key shifts, tightly knit time and tempo changes, vocal harmonies make it for the ears and the legs – arrangements are complex but clean and powerful. Those who have seen the band live in Benin, Finland, Sweden, Denmark or Italy would easily agree that this is a swinging, collectively powerful musical machine with intricate interlocking parts and a lot of freshness. There is little room for individual glory. Once could say “The thing about this band is that they have fun, they groove and they are able to share the show with the audience.” Albums: Beaucoup de Piment (2013), Fire, Sweat & Pastis (2014) Line-up: Noel Saizonou - vocals,percussion | Janne Halonen - guitar, vocals | Sampo Riskilä - bass | Juha Räsänen - drums | Menard Mponda -percussion,vocals | Visa Oscar - keyboards | Joakim Berghäll - saxophones,vocals | Mikko Pettinen - trumpet,vocals References: GlobalCPH (Dk), Stockholm Folk Festival (Se), Paleariza Festival, Festival Touscouleurs, Bari Jazz (It), Kontufolk, Pitsiviikot, Maarianhamina, Linna Jazz, Mbar, Baltic Jazz, Kalott Jazz, Jå-karnevaali, JazzPiknik, Fest Afrika (Fi) Tour Crew: 9 people