KTU

 Kimmo POHJONEN, accordion, voice

Trey GUNN, Warr guitar

Pat MASTELOTTO, drums and rhythmic devices

with:
Heikki ISO-AHOLA and Jukka KAVEN, surround sound design

The original KTU band formed in 2001 was a quartet with Kimmo Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen (Kluster) and Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn (from King Crimson and duo TU).

Accordion dynamo Kimmo Pohjonen and sampling guru Samuli Kosminen formed Kluster in 2001. Both award-winning musicians are known as adventurers in their respective fields and their partnership takes accordion music to new and unexplored territory. On stage, Kosminen reproduces samples of Pohjonen's accordion and voice percussively by way of electronic drum pads. Samuli also drums with Icelandic band MuM, and other recent Kluster collaborations include Uniko with Kronos Quartet and Proton String Quartet. Kosminen departed KTU in 2007 but continues with Kluster.

Percussionist Pat Mastelotto and touch guitarist Trey Gunn have enjoyed successful careers with the band King Crimson, one of the worlds most dynamic, skillful and innovative bands. The two met at Peter Gabriel's Real World Stduios before touring with David Sylvian & Robert Fripp and seperatly they have worked with John Paul Jones, XTC, Toni Childs, The Rembrandts, Cock Robin, Robyn Hitchcock, Trail of the Dead, Julia Fordham, Vernon Ried, Hall & Oats, The Sugercubes, Mathew Sweet, Jude Cole, Steve Hackett and countless others. Their new duo known as TU explores an highlights the well-known Gunn and Mastelotto edge, energy, humor, imagination, phenomenal playing skills and dynamism in an improvisational setting. The first TU album was released in early 2004 followed by April appearances in Moscow.

Seeds for KTU took root at SXSW in Austin Texas in March 1999 when Kimmo Pohjonen shared a billing with Mastelotto/Gunn/Robert Fripp's Project Three at the Electric Lounge. Plans for the band took shape over the next five years. KTU's aim is to combine the creative energies, edge, imagination and other elements of the players to make something new, different and musically explosive. Surround sound design and effects by Heikki Iso-Ahola and Jukka Kaven.

KTU rehearsals and the World Premiere concert took place in Helsinki at the venue Nosturi in April 2004, followed by four concerts in Tokyo at Eggman, recordings of these shows are featured on the debut record Eight Armed Monkey released in 2005. Live concerts continued in 2005 with headlining festival appearances in Germany at the Moers festival, Kulturzelt an der Drahtbracke Kassel, Kulturarena in Jena, as well as FMM festival in Sines, Portugal. Subsequent shows in 2005 and 2006 included Moscow, Tallinn, Tampere Jazz Happening festival in Finland, Spain, Portugal, Norway and Denmark In January 2007, the KTU trio (Gunn, Pohjonen, Mastelotto), did a short tour of Finland and in March they debuted its live show in America including NYC, L.A., Toronto, Austin, Chicago and Mexico City. Further KTU concerts in 2007 and 2008 included Slovakia, Spain, Kazan (Tatarstan, Russia), Moscow and Helsinki.

 

Kimmo Pohjonen Photo: Kalle Bjorklid

Trey Gunn Photo: Ryan Chahanovich

Pat Mastelotto