RICKY-TICK BIG BAND

Founded in 2010 by composer and guitarist Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen, Ricky-Tick Big Band is a veritable “who’s who” in Finnish Jazz. The orchestra consists of its top talent, young jazz musicians both domestically and internationally acclaimed for their extensive catalogue of work. Pöyhönen’s compositions have their foundation in the legacy of big band legend Duke Ellington, but a variety of other influences can also be heard, ranging from New Orleans to Ethio-jazz and beyond.

Ricky-Tick Big Band & Julkinen Sana is an unprecedented collaborative effort between a full-fledged 17-piece big band and three highly skilled rappers. The group took its native country of Finland by storm in 2013 with its critically acclaimed debut album Burnaa, which spent 17 consecutive weeks in the Finnish album chart. The follow-up album Korottaa Panoksii, released in October 2015, was an equal success among critics and audiences. It peaked at #5 on the album chart, and Helsinki’s famed Kulttuuritalo (House of Culture) was sold out twice over for the record release shows, which is rare in any genre - let alone big band rap.

Fronting the group is a trio of seasoned MC’s who go by Julkinen Sana, which literally translates to “Public Word”. Paleface, Redrama, and Tommy Lindgren (aka Father Metro) are all pioneers of Finnish hip-hop – with a combined track record of more than a dozen albums, over 100,000 sold units, gold and platinum accolades, and a handful of Finnish Grammys. As frontmen of Ricky-Tick Big Band & Julkinen Sana, they’ve swapped from baggy pants to three-piece suits, swingin’ away with rapid-fire word play in their native language of Finnish.

 The group's 3rd album was released in
28 September 2018