Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble

In 2009, Finnish guitarist Janne Halonen traveled to West Africa’s Benin to study voodoo rhythms. He befriended percussionist/vocalist Noël Saïzonou, and the idea of ​​a band was born.

Since then, the Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble has grown into a group of eight top musicians, toured on four continents, and released five highly praised and appreciated albums. In 2020, the Finnish public broadcasting company YLE made a documentary/concert film about the band’s performance at the Etnogala award ceremony, where the band was also nominated for the “Band of the Year” and “Crossroads” awards the previous year. In 2019, the Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble hosted the Maailmankylä festival’s 20th anniversary concert in the center of Helsinki, where the ensemble accompanied several top Finnish artists on stage. Other highlights from the bands long and winding road include performances at the Sziget Festival in Hungary in 2014, a showcase at WOMEX in Las Palmas in 2018, the ACC World Music Festival in South Korea in 2019 and the Benin tour in 2015.

Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble is:
Noël Saïzonou – A vocalist, percussionist, dancer, composer and a band leader
Janne Halonen – Guitarist, producer, composer, arranger and bandleader
Sampo Riskilä – Bassist, project president
Juha Räsänen – Drummer
Visa Oscar – A pianist, keyboardist, producer, band leader and composer
Joakim Berghäll – Saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer and band leader
Kasheshi Makena – Percussionist, vocalist, trombonist, dancer, teacher and composer