Elifantree Hachi

The bold international jazz project featuring members from Scandinavia, The UK, France, Switzerland and Japan

Elifantree releases ambitious double album "Hachi" - featuring top drummers from around the world

The album is the result of a bold, large-scale project supported by the Kone Foundation, during which sound artist Anni Elif, saxophonist Pauli Lyytinen, and sound engineer Joonas Saikkonen travelled the world with a mobile studio, recording music in unconventional environments together with eight international percussion artists.

"In the autumn of 2018, we hit the road and traveled for recordings not only across Finland but also to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England, Switzerland, France, and Japan. We created music in highly varied and impactful locations - including a mausoleum, a water tower, a lakeside in the forest, and the Tokyo subway, to name a few. Some of the drummers were already familiar to us, but most encounters were first-time meetings," Elif explains.

The aim of the project was to create something truly special in collaboration with unique individuals. It was a musical journey like no other. The scope of the project is also reflected in the sheer amount of recorded material - only a fraction of which made it onto the double album.

Two singles were released in advance of the album. The first, Finland: Black Sheep, recorded in Finland with Elifantree's long-time drummer Olavi Louhivuori, came out in spring 2020. The second, Sweden: Gold Dust, was released in October 2024 and features Swedish drummer Andreas Werliin. Other percussionists featured on the album include Terje Isungset (NO), Lisbeth Diers (DK), Marc Pell (UK), Julian Sartorius (CH), Yuko Oshima (FR), and Ryosuke Kiyasu (JP).

Over the course of their career, Elifantree has toured extensively around the world. The group has appeared at major festivals both in Finland and internationally, including Fusion Festival (DE), The Great Escape (UK), Akbank Caz Festival (TR), World Cultures Festival (HK), Helsinki Festival, Pori Jazz, Flow Festival, and numerous other stages - even as far as Japan.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

Denmark: Lek Kajahdus Finland: Black Sheep Switzerland: Clockwork Norway: Mausoleum I Sweden: Gold Dust Japan: Shibuya Film Noir England: Mixtape Denmark: Fönsterrutorna France: Solace

Disc 2:

Japan: Spirit of Shinjuku Finland: Kasi England: Burnout The Lounge England: Teatime at England: Breezeblock Shed Chorale for Mormor Norway: Mausoleum II