Tapani Rinne & Teho Majamäki

With a pedigree stretching back to the founder of Finnish free jazz, Edward Vesala, Tapani Rinne has, over the years, consorted with multiple musicians from his homeland, winning many Finnish awards for his achievements. The main vehicle for exploring his claimed territory – the borders of experimental and techno-jazz – has been RinneRadio, featuring percussionist Juuso Hannukainen and electronicist Verneri Lumi. Over 23 years, Rinne has recorded over 15 albums with the band, while maintaining a steady output of solo recordings as well.
Inside the Temple is the fourth of these solo efforts, where Rinne works with fellow-Finn/percussionist Teho Majamäki, playing udu and santoor. The terrain is very familiar, as Rinne’s music is often described as sparse or ambient, but the territory is very different. Forsaking the electronic facilities of the studio for on-site locations in two sacred Indian caves and one temple, the recording is essentially a live album, with the spirits of the location very much in attendance.
The feeling of this music is spartan, with Rinne exploring his E-flat and bass clarinets to sparse accompaniment from Majamäki or from resident fauna. The sound is thus contemplative to the point of absolute minimalism. “Vibhav” starts with the extended and very distant cooing of local doves, before Rinne takes up his solo to the accompaniment of distant passing jet and Majamäki’s sporadic taps and booms on the udu.
Rinne has never laid great claims to being an ethno-jazz musician, but in fact has regularly worked with traditional folk musicians like Sami Yoik singers Wimme Saari and Ulla Pirttijärvi, and throat singer Imre Peemot. But using the natural cadences and harmonics of the locations along with a little recording expertise, the timbres and feeling of this music link straight to the RinneRadio songbook (as in his “Day and Night”) and just as directly to the Indian precept that sound “Nada” lies at the heart of all existence.
Anthony Shaw, All About Jazz - Enjoy Jazz

Calling woodwinds specialist Tapani Rinne and percussionist Teho Majamäki adventurous is a huge understatement. Sometimes together, but more often apart, they have blazed numerous trails through unknown territories with dozens of artists.
To see where the wild and wonderful Under the Ground began, one must go back to 2011 and the twosome’s first joint venture. Recorded in the Maharasthra temples of India, the inspirational Inside the Temple was a meditation in sound and a trip beyond the void of time and space.
The exciting core idea comes alive with this album, where the duo chose another inspiring yet more modern place to play in. This time around, Rinne and Majamäki acquired a permit to use the tunnels of the subterranean “Kehärata”, which linked the centre of Helsinki to the Vantaa airport before the tracks and other fixtures were installed.
As experimental but more electronically enhanced than its predecessor, Under the Ground echoes with the sound of cyberpunk and sci-fi e-books rather than ancient manuscripts and dusty scrolls of parchment. One wonders whether the explorers are already eyeing Onkalo, the infamous nuclear waste storage, as their next ad hoc studio.
Petri Silas, FMQ - Finnish Music Quarterly, Music FInland