At the turn of the millennium, Free For All, for me, was a labor of love. At the time it was formed, the group, which consisted of first class musicians, all of whom I considered to be my personal friends, represented a vast age spectrum ranging from Johanna Iivanainen´s 20 or so years to my own almost 60. After a nationwide tour arranged by the Finnish Jazz Federation, we settled down for a residency at the JUMO Jazz Club that had recently relocated in Helsinki´s Five Corners area, a few buildings away from everybody´s favorite record store, Digelius Music.

The idea was that, by performing new material every two weeks, we could develop into an even tighter-sounding unit while helping to build up a steady audience for the club. Ultimately, providing new material for the group proved quite exhausting for me, the only assistance in this endeavor coming from Seppo Kantonen, documented here on the "Plays Kantonen and Donner" disc, and Jukka Orma who hosted a night of George de Godzinsky´s music that was not recorded. So, after spring 2002, I felt that my bag was more or less empty and the project was abandoned although we have recently regrouped with a slightly different line-up.

All of my life, I have been reluctant to impose my music on others, but luckily in this case most of the concerts during the winter and spring of 2002 were recorded by Esa Santonen. In the summer of 2003, he gave me a couple of mixdowns of the concerts but, apart from that, I never listened to the stuff until Christmas 2009 because I felt that the music on the demos sounded a bit rough around the edges.

Listening to the music again one year ago, I came to a totally different conclusion. I felt that most of the music is really exuberant and rather well performed. So bear with us and, although most of our performances are unedited, give us of your time! You may be rewarded with unexpected discoveries.

Get down into the soul of Free For All and enjoy our music!

Tammisaari, January 24, 2011
Otto Donner

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6 CDS LIMITED EDITION DISC BY DISC

DISC 01 - VOCAL MUSIC featuring Johanna Iivanainen
Onni jonka annoin pois 12:38 / Bemsha Swing  7:41 / Prelude to a Kiss 7:23 / Crepuscule with Nellie 2:27 / My Funny Valentine 10:23 / Don´t Explain 12:10 / Päätön tyttö 1:48 / Nocturne 3:18 // Total playing time 57:48

Henrik Otto Donner  conductor, trumpet, vocals (06)
Rasmus Korsström  tenor saxophone
Pepa Päivinen  baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, flute (01, 02, 03, 04, 07, 08)
Jari Hongisto  trombone (02, 03)
Markku Veijonsuo  trombone (01, 04, 06, 07, 08)
Kari Ikonen  piano, moog (06)
Seppo Kantonen  piano (02, 03, 05)
Eero Ojanen  piano (01, 04, 07, 08)
Jukka Orma  guitar (01, 02, 03, 04, 06, 07, 08)
Ville Huolman  double bass (01, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08)
Tuure Koski  double bass (02, 03)
Tom Nekljudow  drums
Johanna Iivanainen  vocals (01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 07, 08)

DISC 02 - PLAYS STANDARDS
Lush Life 11:22 / Whale Tales 5:37 / For Pepa 6:06 / Autumn in New York 4:59 / Och tusen tusen stråla ock… 8:54 / Mr. Jelly Roll 4:52 / Footprints 10:02 // Total playing time 51:52

Henrik Otto Donner  conductor, trumpet (02, 03, 05, 06, 07)
Rasmus Korsström  tenor saxophone (03, 05, 06, 07)
Pepa Päivinen  baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, flute (03, 05, 06, 07)
Jari Hongisto  trombone (03, 06, 07)
Markku Veijonsuo  trombone (02, 05)
Seppo Kantonen  piano (01, 03, 04, 06, 07)
Eero Ojanen  piano (05)
Jukka Orma  guitar (03, 04, 05, 06, 07)
Ville Huolman  double bass (03, 05)
Tuure Koski  double bass (01, 04, 06, 07)
Tom Nekljudow  drums (01, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07)

DISC 03 - PLAYS KANTONEN AND DONNER
Egad 17:26 / Palindrome 6:28 / Apparatus 12:29 / Harmonia Mundi 7:51 / Imaginary Misery 7:23 / Bull´s March 7:28 // Total playing time 59:05

Henrik Otto Donner  conductor, trumpet
Rasmus Korsström  tenor saxophone
Pepa Päivinen  baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
Jari Hongisto  trombone (02)
Markku Veijonsuo  trombone (01, 03, 04, 05, 06)
Kari Ikonen  piano, moog (01)
Seppo Kantonen  piano (02, 03, 04, 05, 06)
Jukka Orma  guitar
Ville Huolman  double bass
Tom Nekljudow  drums

DISC 04 - THE PALESTINE NIGHT
A Lament for Palestine 56:01

Henrik Otto Donner  conductor, trumpet
Rasmus Korsström  tenor saxophone
Markku Veijonsuo  trombone
Seppo Kantonen  piano
Jukka Orma  guitar
Ville Huolman double bass
Tom Nekljudow  drums
Johanna Iivanainen  vocals

DISC 05 - THE ELECTRIC NIGHT featuring Mika Rintala
The Electric Night, Part I 36:24 / The Electric Night, Part II 30:19 // Total playing time 66:43

Henrik Otto Donner  conductor, trumpet
Rasmus Korsström  tenor saxophone
Markku Veijonsuo  trombone
Seppo Kantonen  Fender Rhodes, synthesizer
Mika Rintala  electronic instruments
Jukka Orma  guitar
Tom Nekljudow  drums

DISC 06 - EVER, AFTER… / TOMORROW, AGAIN
CD SIDE: Ever, After… (Audio) 26:32 / DVD SIDE: Tomorrow, Again - A Film about Improvisation (Video with English subtitles) 40:50

Henrik Otto Donner  conductor
Rasmus Korsström  tenor saxophone
Pepa Päivinen  baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
Antero Priha  trumpet
Markku Veijonsuo  trombone, didgeridoo
Seppo Kantonen  piano, Fender Rhodes
Jukka Orma  guitar
Ulf Krokfors  double bass
Alf Forsman  drums, slapping machine
Markku Ounaskari  drums, oud
Yamar Thiam  tama
Johanna Iivanainen  vocals