Jazz pianist and composer Joona Toivanen (born 1981) is a Finnish musician based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Over the past two decades, he has toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and the USA, performing and recording with leading artists across jazz and improvised music.
Toivanen’s music is lyrical and exploratory, moving freely between tradition and avant-garde. His playing combines clarity, sensitivity and a strong sense of form, often extending the acoustic piano through prepared sounds and subtle electronic elements.
His current solo project, Field Notes, takes the piano outside its traditional setting. Using the portable acoustic Keybird piano, Toivanen creates site-specific music in landscapes and spaces where an acoustic piano would rarely be heard, allowing the acoustics, sounds and character of each place to become part of the improvisation. The first Field Notesalbum will be released by We Jazz in 2027.
Toivanen is also active with the Joona Toivanen Trio, whose recordings have been released by We Jazz, Blue Note and CAM Jazz, and with the Nordic quartet Jazz & Fly Fishing. He collaborates widely with musicians across the Nordic jazz and improvised-music scenes.
Alongside his performing career,
Toivanen works as an educator in piano, improvisation and music theory. He holds a Master’s degree in Music and is a certified music teacher.
Redolent of Bill Evans, Joona Toivanen’s piano jazz sounds simultaneously fresh and individual, timeless and unbounded.
— Keskisuomalainen
Joona Toivanen created a bit of jazz evolution…
— Hufvudstadsbladet
Hypnotizing minimalism; the possibilities of the prepared piano strike the listener with their irresistible pulse.