Little Further (2024):
”The composer’s orchestral and broadly inspired compositional style combines acoustic and electronic soundscapes. Different elements are skillfully woven into a subtle tapestry. Traditional jazz as well as pop, electro and ambient influences are combined in the original arrangements that sound fresh and know how to surprise. ...as the best albums often do, the artist’s latest album Little Further unfolds in layers, leaving enough room for the listener’s own interpretation.”
-Finnish Indie Awards Jury / Indieco
“Aurora Hentunen's ability to cover wide-ranging idioms and a vast repertoire within the scope of her personal diction has become both a hallmark and a custom, inspiring various magazines to write that she creates sublime records without sounding excessive.“
-Giuseppe Maggiori / Windout (IT)
”…Gray Waves made me stop and think about the passage of time and the power of music. If not globally, at least on a personal level. It is a duo song with Grammy-awarded double bassist Linda May Han Oh. That in itself is of course astounding and brings an interesting addition to the song. However, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. There is some reflection of a new world, which is conveyed by the conversation of the piano and double bass playing. And when the electronic soundscape and Hentunen’s even ocean-like vocal masses are added to the beginning and end of the song, for the most sensitive listeners comes up the question, and maybe even the answer, to where does it all lead.”
-Lotta Savolainen / Soundi-magazine (FI)
“This music has jazz as its central element, but it sometimes also takes the ambient axis, it develops some convincing melodies, it knows how to be dense (´Pressured Speech´), contemporary, ethereal and sung pop (´The Last Ones´), hushed (´Gray Waves´ with the voice of Linda May Han Oh). The title track plunges us into an enveloping jazz that welcomes us and then distills a form of warmth, of tenderness!
…The whole thing ends with ´Letter´ and its sung or declaimed text, supported only by a piano and a synth. A perfect track that Billie Eilish should love! A beautiful solo farewell from Aurora after 42 minutes of enchantment and kindness. Finland definitely has some exciting artists and, fortunately, they reach our ears. This album is sensitive, light and above all very very beautiful. A big favorite.”
-Claudy Janet / JazzMania (BE)
“…Little Further offers a lot of what Wynton Marsalis would call “information”, both musical and by way of the letter.
Aurora Hentunen and her group subvert expectations right down to that final farewell.”
-Graham / Elsewhere (NZ)
“The gently swinging album exudes a haunting despondency, softened by a contemplative sound. Jazz, fusion pop and art music overlap with quite appealing currents.
The album is lightened by the composition Gray Waves, which features Grammy-winning Linda May Han Oh's supple stylization of bass strings. The captivating work derives its value from its sensuality.”
-Juha Seltz / Ilkka-Pohjalainen (FI)
"The album shows her sympathy for pop-electronics and rock. The playing of leader Aurora Hentunen on the piano is simple to minimalist. However, when listening to the entire album, the music flows smoothly, it does not disturb me. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the band, because they are considered one of the rising stars of the Nordic jazz scene!"
-Patrick Španko / skjazz.sk (SK)
"..The waves are very calm as Gray Waves paint its mood for almost five minutes. Bassist Linda May Han Oh, who has gotten high praises and rewards, gets to flex her fingers, while Hentunen's piano weaves the soul of the song, the beautiful, mournful melody. Occasionally dark clouds rise in the background, possibly from keyboards, but the little melody floats above the livelier waves like a bark boat. Nordic jazz is a hopelessly vague term, but that's clearly where this sits. A beautiful and repeatedly surprising jewel in its right, it makes one look forward to the upcoming LP."
-Mika Roth / desibeli.net (FI)
"...Aurora's fantastic piano and Linda May Han Oh's bass work perfectly together, and the vocal arrangements are also wonderful."
-Masayuki Koito / The Walker's Magazine (JP)
Frost (2019):
”Debut album was already great, and the second one ensures that Hentunen isn’t going to come down from the sharpest peak of Finnish Jazz”
-Pentti Ronkanen / Keskisuomalainen (FI)
”Young pianist-composer Aurora Hentunen is at the front of the rising Finnish jazz artists… In the Studio Hentunen with her young fellow musicians is excellent and recognizable, mastering her own style… The quartet has found it’s own voice in the style of Nordic Sound that is appreciated around the world. Frost’s music is from the beginning till the end melodic, beautiful and delicate.”
-Veli-Matti Henttonen / Salon seudun Sanomat (FI)
”...It's important to emphasize the importance of the long-term development of the quartet for Hentunen’s composership and musicianship. The sound created together is unique, well recognizable in its airiness and organicness. And just as it was revealed for the debut album, Hentunen’s strength is something very special: she is able to combine melodic clarity and ease of understanding with structurally diverse and rich entities.”
-Pentti Ronkanen / Suomijazz.com (FI)
"...The tune (Frost) has been built with its sensitivity and freshness, like the fine autumn's first sparkling winter rime on the lawn in the morning sun."
-Jere Elo / Kohta Jazzii-blog (FI)
Second Spring (2018):
“…At it’s best tracks the album reaches the top class of Finnish Jazz scene…Pianist Aurora Hentunen’s debut album reveals a diversed and matured vision. Hentunen’s piano solo played with partly damped strings surprises you with a great Cecil Taylor kind of free jazz vibe, that works well.”
”For a debut album, Second Spring is a notably original small masterpiece. It tells Hentunen’s personal stories so strongly they nearly get under your skin. The songs are like small, delicate stories and imageries, and the album as a whole is expertly put together. They’re tied together by a sense of timelessness and tranquil peacefulness. Even at its strongest the music doesn’t assault the listener, but instead invites the listener into its arms. Second Spring begins, flows and ends beautifully, like a quietly babbling brook. ”
-Mika Terho / Etelä-Saimaa (FI)
”…Also it should be emphasized that Hentunen is a very melodic composer. There are many great melodies on the album that will surely stick in the listener’s mind. For approaching music, melody and feeling are an important couple, and Hentunen’s significance is also lifted by the originality of the tonality. Combining easily understandable melodies with exciting structures and by that creating a fascinating atmosphere is not an easy task.”
- Pentti Ronkanen / suomijazz.com (FI)
CONCERT REVIEWS
“…And at the festival she presented her compositions from her third album Little Further (Eclipse Music, 2024), which literally came straight from the press to the festival. Aurora and company brought a kind of jazz peace and tranquility to the stage. When I asked Aurora after the concert if this was her business model - she replied that it was. You can simply feel the touch of a great man named Esbjörn Svensson in her music. I simply loved her layered, balladic and often beautifully graduated jazz! My 2nd highlight of the festival!”
-Patrick Španko / skjazz.sk (SK)
“The music was relatively modern, acoustic, Nordic jazz, but without them getting too close to what too many other Nordic bands are doing, with lyrical descriptions of nature that rarely provide the great musical experiences.
…These are five musicians that the Finnish jazz scene should take good care of, because there are young people here with great potential.”
-Jan Granlie / Salt Peanuts (NO)
"The progression of Hentunen’s compositions has always been skillfully dramatized. In the musical world of Hentunen, it is precisely the use of the band as a composer’s tool that convinces: individual voices or the conversations of various small groups, and with everyone’s collective power the band is really strong. The upcoming album will expand Hentunen’s image as a composer even further.”
-Pentti Ronkanen / suomijazz.com (FI)
"Aurora Hentunen Quartet turned out to already be fine and polished, but above all a group of great potential that we can expect a lot from in the future. Hentunen’s music managed to convince on a very comprehensive level, and in general it was a sort of ”freshness” that yours truly was especially charmed by.”
- Minna Rusanen / Jyri Ojala / Sanomalehti Karjalainen (FI)
“The different moods and atmosphere quickly followed one another giving [the listener] shivers. Aurora Hentunen Quartet offered a whole set of varied incredibly fresh and unique music. Players were on the same page and it was a pleasure to observe them; the members exchanged meaningful glances, spontaneous smiles and laughs. Band’s playing was beautiful, seamless teamwork and seemed effortless. We will definitely be hearing more about this diverse promising pianist and her band!”
-Minttu Kallinen / Vaarojen Sanomat (FI)
“In addition to Hentunen's delicate pianism (and like-minded singing), also the rest of the band’s musicians have risen to the top of their instrumental talent in our country…In summary, although the names aren't quite in the public eye yet, in terms of skills this is a real super band… AHQ's music is very melodic and approachable, but at the same time it is very varied and lively both in terms of rhythms and energy flows and in terms of song structures. The story of every single song carries, and so does the big story of the whole album and the concert. ”
-Pentti Ronkanen / suomijazz.com (FI)
”Hentunen played flexible liquid-like lines, to which the other band members responded intuitively and accurately, proving that AHQ is a fresh and exploratory group.”
- Matti Komulainen / Turun Sanomat (FI)
