I do a bunch of things; this site is dedicated for the music-related lot. At present it mostly consists of playing electric bass in an electrified contemporary original folk/world music group Okra Playground with which we’ve released two albums – ”Turmio” (”Disgrace”) and ”Ääneni yli vesien” (”My Voice Over the Waters”) – and which tours in and out of Finland, my home country.
Besides my work with Okra Playground I’ve had the pleasure to play with numerous other ensembles and on about a dozen quality records covering musical styles from jazz to rock, pop, funk, hip hop and beyond. I love my music to have rhythm and attitude, which is probably the reason I’ve steered towards Afro-American musical styles right from the beginning. Those are the two main attributes I’ve always aimed for in my playing as well – rhythm and attitude; just the good stuff, no gimmicks.
Teaching has been an important side of my musical career. I graduated in 2012 becoming a qualified music educator. During the years I’ve taught bass, music and music theory in different public and music schools. Since spring 2012 I have been in charge for organizing and executing the musical activities and rehearsals of a local organization for recovering drug addicts.
And just like everyone else, I’ve done my share of composing and arranging, too. I’ve always tried to maintain an active role in all the groups I’ve played with even if I wasn’t the original composer. I’ve arranged horns, strings and lately some female a cappella as well – mainly in pop and rock settings. The music I’ve made myself includes ie. instrumental pieces for theatre, hip-hop beats and singer-songwriter-esque pop tunes.
That’s about it, I guess. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact me at sami.kujala@gmail.com. Have a song that needs a bass line? Even better. Bring it on!