Sid Hille - piano, electric piano, melodica and all sorts of additional sounds, Manuel Dunkel - tenor and soprano saxophones, Ari-Pekka Anttila - bass, Teppo Mäkynen - drums, percussion
Influences
Originally Keith Jarrett with his Scandinavian outfit (with Garbarek, Danielsson and Christensen) and pretty much anything else on ECM gave Sid a start. Miles' quintet with Wayne, Herbie, Ron and Tony had an enormous impact. But also guys like Bartok and Ravel have had an influence on Sid's compositions. More recently with Sid's extension of the quartet into a bigband, the Sid Hille Jazz Orchestra, a name like Maria Schneider can hardly be avoided. Sid won the 1. prize in the international composition competition 'Scrivere in Jazz 2008' in Sardegna, Italy
The Platypus Ensemble has been working together since 1997 when pianist Sid Hille assembled some of the best Finnish jazz musicians to play his compositions: Manuel Dunkel on saxophone, Ape Anttila on bass and Teppo Mäkynen on drums.
Five CD's have been published since: Platypus (2000), Gestalt (2003), Satsang (2005), Life@Play (2007, a live-cd including a documentary video of the band's tours), and 'Rite of Passage' (2008), where PE is joined by the Proton String Quartet.
There are two tracks of this album in the player (Pagan Dance and Vrindavan in Vindala).
2009 has seen the release of two albums where the Platypus Ensemble is part of a bigger orchestra:
Time Freeze III is the third movement of a concerto Sid wrote for Manu as the soloist with a string orchestra.
Time Freeze is a truly exceptional recording of an excellent composition and an amazing soloist.
The Third Field is one of the tracks on the Sid Hille Jazz Orchestra's first album 'DiSiSiD' (2009). The CD release includes a DVD of the whole concert plus a documentary video with interviews of the musicians and concert close-ups.
The members list of this orchestra reads like a Who-is-who in Finnish jazz today: Viinikainen, Saarti, Pettinen, Rissanen (both Aki and Antti), Takanen, Jokelainen...
Dear Sid & PE, Thanks so much for adding me and the kindly comment. I always have pleasures to listen to your music and enjoy the beautiful photos of Helsinki on your site. I wish to see your play in the other side of the planet some time :-) Hyvää viikonloppua!
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hi sid its wonderfull to connect again, it been a while,im in mexico,still beating the drums,i will be in europe this summer with hari in portugal come there for some heat
Hi Sid! Thanks a lot for your friendship and for your kind words. Listened to your cd work and it's great, as well as your musicians. I too hope to play with you soon! All the very best - Massimo
Thanks for the request and for supporting Ms. Roy!
"The only dream worth having is to dream that you will live while you are alive, and die only when you are dead. To love, to be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and vulgar disparity of the life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget." - Arundhati Roy
Hallo Sid,
die Welt ist durch my space noch kleiner geworden... wie schoen Euere musik ist.Ich mag ganz besonders
Vrindavan in Vindala.Beste Gruesse und Wuensche fuer die Zukunft von
Elvira P.
