PRESS RELEASE
Reykjavík Encounters
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
JAAKKO AROLA - Reykjavík Encounters
Genre: improvised music, experimental
Release format: CD, digital
Release date: 21.8.2026
AROENC01
www.jaakkoarola.com
LINK TO THE ALBUM: www.jaakkoarola.bandcamp.com
For immediate release
JAAKKO AROLA - Reykjavík Encounters
Genre: improvised music, experimental
Release format: CD, digital
Release date: 21.8.2026
AROENC01
www.jaakkoarola.com
LINK TO THE ALBUM: www.jaakkoarola.bandcamp.com
Finnish bass clarinetist Jaakko Arola captures Reykjavík’s vibrant DIY art scene through ten improvisational encounters recorded across the city.
Finnish bass clarinetist Jaakko Arola spent the autumn of 2025 in Reykjavík, where he immersed himself in the city’s vibrant art and music scene through organising a series of recorded improvisation sessions, bringing together musicians and artists in spontaneous encounters across the city.
The resulting album features ten tracks, each capturing a first musical encounter between two people. Some of the artists Arola had known for several months before the recordings, while others he met for the very first time just five minutes before the session began. As a homage to Reykjavík’s DIY-culture, the recordings took place in a variety of spaces throughout the city, including living rooms, basement rehearsal spaces and music studios, wherever each local artist was able to meet during the time. Besides the intimacy of two people improvising together for the first time, the album embraces the character of the recording locations, allowing the spaces themselves to become a part of the total soundscape.
Recorded over the course of just one week in Reykjavík, the album documents a brief but intense period of artistic exchange. Each track reflects the unique connection formed by a first musical encounter, with each encounter flowing naturally into the next, connected by Arola’s expansive sonic palette on the bass clarinet. The album pays respect to the vibrant and inspiring art scene of Reykjavík, acting almost as Arola’s sonic love letter to the city and the people who make its artistic community so distinctive.
Jaakko Arola - bass clarinet, bass clarinet with overtone flute mouthpiece
(tracks 4 & 7), bass clarinet and voice (track 10)
Salóme Katrín - voice
Birgir Steinn Theodórsson - double bass
Anna Róshildur - voice, electronics
Egill Ásdísarson - electronics
Masaya Ozaki - electric guitar, effects
Sólrún Mjöll - drums
Tumi Árnason - tenor saxophone
Yuki Mik - voice, megaphone
Tumi Torfason - trumpet
Sigurlaug Thorarensen - voice, effects, cymbal, snare
CONTACT
Jaakko Arola
jaakkoarolamusic (at) gmail.com
Finnish bass clarinetist Jaakko Arola spent the autumn of 2025 in Reykjavík, where he immersed himself in the city’s vibrant art and music scene through organising a series of recorded improvisation sessions, bringing together musicians and artists in spontaneous encounters across the city.
The resulting album features ten tracks, each capturing a first musical encounter between two people. Some of the artists Arola had known for several months before the recordings, while others he met for the very first time just five minutes before the session began. As a homage to Reykjavík’s DIY-culture, the recordings took place in a variety of spaces throughout the city, including living rooms, basement rehearsal spaces and music studios, wherever each local artist was able to meet during the time. Besides the intimacy of two people improvising together for the first time, the album embraces the character of the recording locations, allowing the spaces themselves to become a part of the total soundscape.
Recorded over the course of just one week in Reykjavík, the album documents a brief but intense period of artistic exchange. Each track reflects the unique connection formed by a first musical encounter, with each encounter flowing naturally into the next, connected by Arola’s expansive sonic palette on the bass clarinet. The album pays respect to the vibrant and inspiring art scene of Reykjavík, acting almost as Arola’s sonic love letter to the city and the people who make its artistic community so distinctive.
Jaakko Arola - bass clarinet, bass clarinet with overtone flute mouthpiece
(tracks 4 & 7), bass clarinet and voice (track 10)
Salóme Katrín - voice
Birgir Steinn Theodórsson - double bass
Anna Róshildur - voice, electronics
Egill Ásdísarson - electronics
Masaya Ozaki - electric guitar, effects
Sólrún Mjöll - drums
Tumi Árnason - tenor saxophone
Yuki Mik - voice, megaphone
Tumi Torfason - trumpet
Sigurlaug Thorarensen - voice, effects, cymbal, snare
CONTACT
Jaakko Arola
jaakkoarolamusic (at) gmail.com