Mingled Years – Hannu Kella & Timo Alakotila

Mingled Years has been under construction since 2006. The idea was born when Timo and Hannu were discussing the huge backlog of compositions and arrangements which they have written for different theatre, film and dance projects throughout the last decade. Some of these pieces had been performed live only two or three times and the musicians felt it a shame that the music had never been recorded and released.

It was a few years before the duo actively started to work on realizing this project and what a journey it became. The project began by collecting old tunes and choosing which ones to use but they also wanted to include new tunes and original material. Finally they decided on a wide spectrum of older tunes, new ones and some which they composed specifically for this album.

Hannu Kella:

It has been a great honor for me to collaborate with my childhood musical hero, former teacher and one of the all time best musicians in Finnish folk music. One of the best feelings from this project was the sheer delight of composing together with Timo. I might, for example, start with an A-part and Timo would continue and expand from that. Then we improvised together and found the final form for the composition. Each piece was a special adventure.

Altogether this has been a thrilling process and it has given me much joy and pleasure to work with Timo and all the other brilliant musicians who have contributed to this album.

Timo Alakotila:

This album is one of the biggest and most exciting projects with which I have been involved. Think of two musicians/composers/arrangers combining their powers with the result being much more that 1+1. Thank you, Hannu! It was also a thrill to work with such excellent musicians. Thanks to you all!