Varttina
Varttina (meaning spindle) has its origins in 1983, as the project of singers and kantele players Sari and Mari Kaasinen. The original Varttina line-up (15 young girls singing and playing kantele plus six young men accompanying them) made two recordings: Varttina (1987) and Musta Lindu (1989). Beginning in 1991, Varttina took a startling new direction: five effervescent young women bursting with vocal energy, fueled by a powerhouse acoustic band. The group's repertoire diversified, borrowing tunes, poems, songs and ideas from women's singing traditions of Finland and other Baltic regions. New, original compositions and lyrics from group members provided new dimensions and showed that Varttina had risen to a new level of sophistication. In performance, the focus shifted to a more "rock/pop" approach, presenting Finno-Ugric musical tradition in ways never before conceived. The female voices, having matured greatly since the early days, were the forefront of the group's sound and the band delivered rousing acoustic accompaniment. From 1991 to 1994 the band became a household name in the World Music community, and toured internationally. This period produced the 3 albums now on NorthSide. Since that time Varttina have gone on to greater success, releasing Kokko (1997) , Vihma (1998), Ilmatar and Live In Helsinki. For 2003, their 20th anniversary year, Varttina released their tenth album accompanied by a U.S. tour. Varttina are: Susan Aho - voice Mari Kaasinen - voice Johanna Virtanen - voice Janne Lappalainen - bouzouki, soprano saxophone, kaval Markku Lepista - 5-row, 2-row and 1-row accordions, jouhikko Hannu Rantanen - double bass Lassi Logren - fiddle, octave fiddle, jouhikko, nyckelharpa, vocals Jaako "Jaska" Lukkarinen - Galician bass drum, tama, surdo, shekere, klong yaw, bucket, broom, bells & various percussion Antto Varilo - 6- & 12-string guitars, cambas tanbur, 10-string kanteles, voice