Little Hill Lounge Jazz Tuesday's Series, Rent Romus and Finnish Jazz legend Heikki Koskinen present the East Bay US debut of “Soul Bird”. Performed by Rent Romus’ Otherworld Ensemble, they will weave an epic, unique musical journey combining jazz, traditional Finnish folk and improvisation, about birds and the myths they inspire, whose roots go back to the ancient tales of Finno-Ugric and Uralic peoples. The music contains elements of both the playful and the sacred while combining jazz, Finnish folk, and improvisation.
Birds have played an important role in human history in stories and myths that describe the creation of the world, the birth of life, the creation of fire, the changing of the seasons, and the messengers of omens.
The spark for Soul Bird originally came from the stories of the Siberian Jay, which is found throughout the Arctic regions of the world. Finno-Ugric myths considered this small, brave and charismatic bird to be the carrier of human souls to the afterlife of Manala (the underworld) and back.
Opening the evenng vocalist Jill Rogers will perform the music of Blossom Dearie with her quartet.