Jazzia olohuoneessa: Bill Evans Trio at the home of Ilkka Kuusisto, Lauttasaari, Helsinki, October 1969
2026
43654px x 15773px
87.308" x 31.546" @ 500dpi
Electric painting
Jazzia olohuoneessa (Jazz in the Living Room) depicts the Bill Evans Trio performing in the Lauttasaari, Helsinki home of Finnish composer Ilkka Kuusisto in October 1969. Evans was visiting Finland with bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Marty Morell as part of the trio's 1969 Scandinavian tour. The performance was recorded by the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle and first broadcast in October 1970 as Jazzia olohuoneessa – Bill Evans Trio, with Erkki Toivanen interviewing the musicians between performances. Yle's Elävä arkisto account of the session records the visit, interview and performance in detail.
The trio performed Johnny Mandel's Emily, written for the 1964 film The Americanization of Emily; Burt Bacharach and Hal David's Alfie; and Nardis, composed by Miles Davis and closely associated with Evans. The Helsinki programme took place during a Scandinavian tour that also included a Yle-recorded concert at the University of Tampere on October 28, 1969.
Evans played Kuusisto's new Bösendorfer grand piano, praising its sound; Kuusisto later recalled that Evans, previously devoted to Steinway pianos, told him that the encounter made him consider buying a Bösendorfer himself. The story is preserved in Yle's history of the recording and in its profile of Ilkka Kuusisto. Evans also gave Kuusisto a copy of his album Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Among those present were Ilkka Kuusisto and members of his family; vibraphonist, jazz historian and broadcaster Jukka Haavisto with his wife Ulla; Yle jazz journalist Matti Konttinen; guitarist Åke Granfelt and his wife; and the Yle production crew. Kuusisto's daughter Lotta Kuusisto, then three years old, is visible beside the sofa, while her mother Marja Kuusisto and older sister Sanna Kuusisto appear on the left side of the room. Lotta later introduced a 2026 Yle 100 / Kino Regina screening of the film, documented by Jazz-Espa.
The programme is credited to director Hannu Heikinheimo, camera operator Reijo Malo and sound recordist Reino Aaltonen.
Special thanks to Lotta Kuusisto for identifying members of her family and a number of the guests present at the performance, and for sharing her memories of the day. Lotta Kuusisto on Instagram (@sixsto). Waltz for Lotta is a secondary title for the work after Evan's Waltz for Debby, written for his three year old niece.
The image is an electronic painting constructed from more than 300 selected and manipulated stills drawn from the surviving film record, combining different moments and viewpoints into a single reconstructed narrative.
Bill Evans at the piano, Eddie Gómez on double bass and Marty Morell on drums, surrounded by the Kuusisto family, Finnish musicians and journalists, guests and the Yle production crew in Ilkka Kuusisto's home, Lauttasaari, Helsinki, October 1969.
Detail: Bill Evans at Ilkka Kuusisto's new Bösendorfer grand piano. Kuusisto later recalled that Evans praised the instrument after the performance and, although previously devoted to Steinway, said the encounter made him consider buying a Bösendorfer himself.
Detail: Marty Morell on drums and Eddie Gómez on acoustic double bass. Morell's plays a Slingerland kit with a Rogers Powertone metal-shell snare.
Detail, right side of the room: host Ilkka Kuusisto seated on far end; his three-year-old daughter Lotta Kuusisto; Erkki Toivanen, Yle journalist and interviewer, seated on the sofa.; guitarist Åke Granfelt seated in front of the window with his wife; vibraphonist and Finnish jazz historian Jukka Haavisto seated against the far-right wall with his wife Ulla; and Yle jazz reporter Matti Konttinen seated at the extreme right.
Detail, left side of the room: at far left, Marja Kuusisto, seated wearing a necklace, with her daughter Sanna Kuusisto; the dark, long-haired woman seated further into the room was remembered by Lotta Kuusisto as a friend of Eddie Gómez. Standing by the doorway is the programme's director, Hannu Heikinheimo. The Yle production credits also list Reijo Malo as camera operator and Reino Aaltonen for sound; their precise positions among the visible crew have not yet been confirmed. Erkki Toivanen conducted the interview with Evans and the trio. Identifications of Marja and Sanna Kuusisto supplied by Lotta Kuusisto in 2026.