Aruán Ortiz ‘I’ve Known Rivers Trio’ (CU/US)

Born and raised in Cuba, pianist and composer Aruán Ortiz (b. 1973) has visited Finland twice, most recently in November at Jazz Happening with the award-winning quartet of saxophonist James Brandon Lewis. Now performing here for the third time, the trio is one of his own projects, even though on the Tullikamari stage, he is exceptionally borrowing from old music, at least formally.

The I’ve Known Rivers Trio, which Ortiz formed last year, performs compositions interpreted by pianist Anthony Davis, flautist James Newton and cellist Abdul Wadud on two joint recordings in the 1980s, in the early years of Jazz Happening. The first album, I’ve Known Rivers, was published in 1982 and the second Trio² seven years later. Both were produced by independent label Gramavision, which was one of the most important American record labels during this rather lean period of jazz.

Ortiz’s unexpected choice is interesting, as these once-praised records have already faded into obscurity. This partly due to the fact that they have not been re-released and partly that the still-active Davis and Newton soon turned to other things after the second album, primarily to compose and teach. Wadud, who was one of the few full-time cellists in jazz and later elevated to a role model, disappeared from public view when he was supposed to perform with the trio at the underground Jumo Jazzclub in Helsinki. Eventually, only Davis and Newton played there in March 1993, returning to Finland in June 2007 as the headliners at Kerava Jazz.

There are also musical reasons for the trio fading into oblivion, as their strongly chamber music-like and subtly avant-garde jazz was overshadowed by the suit-wearing traditionalists known as the ‘Young Lions’. The leader of the movement, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who was about ten years younger than other musicians of the time, was followed by strict restorers of the bebop tradition and played what they considered the only ‘real’ Afro-American jazz.

Now, in 2026, this real jazz also includes the compositions of Davis, Newton and Wadud. The I’ve Known Rivers Trio headed by Ortiz makes its own interpretations of these compositions. The trio’s first performance was at Roulette Theatre in New York September 2025. However, a different, more well-known flautist joined the trio for that performance. This was Nicole Mitchell, who had also performed in Finland on several occasions. Mitchell is now replaced by first-timer Laura Cocks. Cellist Jeremy Harman is also performing in Finland for the first time.