The man who combined harp, jazz and Rubik’s cube

Wow, nice! said the jazz harpist Park Stickney while jumping on the Black Box stage of Musiikkitalo on Friday evening.

The packed hall surprised him. In addition, there were a surprising number of teenagers and small children.

An international harp group by all accounts. The concert was part of the program of the Helsinki Harp Festival, which ends in Helsinki on Sunday.

I didn’t really see the jazz group in the hall and that’s a shame. The concert, which lasted more than an hour, essentially expanded my own understanding of both jazz and the harp. Also, I had a lot of fun.

in Arizona grown Stickney has born rhythm in the blood. His first song, which he composed as a child, already tells about it Dirty Laundry Rag, which he performed as an extra track.

During the evening, it was not clear how the boy from the Yankee farm got his hands on the harp, but apparently he managed to do so. And now he combines rhythm and harp incredibly wonderfully – just listen to how he interprets Miles Davis So Broken.

Nowadays, Stickney lives both on a farm in Switzerland and in Brooklyn, New York, and tours hard around the world. He is in Finland for the first time.

Harp perhaps burdened by its reputation as an instrument used by classical composers mainly when they want to depict fairies dancing in a field of flowers.

Of course, we Finns know better. Composer Iro Haarla has introduced the possibilities of the harp as a jazz instrument. But while Haarla is a master of free jazz, the core strength of Stickey’s music is groove and improvisation – the basic elements of modern jazz.

Stickney started his concert with perhaps the world’s most famous jazz classic, Take Buckle.

And with what a good pulse he pulled it.

His playing sounds like he’s playing lead guitar, acoustic guitar, bass and also drums at the same time by tapping the top of the harp. His music has a depth and power that is far from flowery waltzes.

At the same time, the music sounds creative, playful and effortless.

Out of rage judging by the applause, the audience was already a fan of Stickney.

No wonder, because he’s also a stand-up comedian who prefaced each of his songs with a good story. His sense of rhythm also extends to the narration, as every punchline elicited good laughs from the audience.

The audience also got to sing – of course. The highlight, however, was when Stickney played the harp with his right hand and solved the Rubik’s Cube with his left at the same time. The audience held their breath, and in no time the cube was completed and cubik’s rube – the song ended.

His were particularly memorable for their own compositions Finishing with my Thesis, which tells how it felt when the dissertation was completed. Stickney stated that while the corona isolation was a difficult experience, it was also a creative and productive time. He completed his PhD in London in 2021.

The most touching of the chapters was Surprise Cornerwhere Stickney achieved both extreme beauty and underbelly at the same time.

Stickney’s repertoire also included at least one classic harp hit – I think it was Debussy. In his last song, however, he bowed again to jazz and justified his choice with three points: 1. He likes the song. 2. The song is one of the most important jazz standards. 3. Its name is the same as the car brand, which makes transporting the harp convenient.

The song was, of course Duke Ellington made known Caravan eli Caravan.

Sun 3.9. at 1 pm Helsinki Harp Festival closing concert, Musiikkitalon Camerata (Mannerheimintie 13 A) Among other things, Park Stickney and winners of harp competitions, Anni Kuusimäki’s Sibelius harp duo arrangements and music by Kaija Saariaho. Tickets 11.50-18 euros.