Jazz & Fly Fishing is a unique group of jazz musicians, adding a nuanced new genre to the  intersection of outdoor adventure and the arts. Hailing from the Nordic countries, the band members share a love for jazz music and fly fishing, which led to the formation of this one-of-a-kind group. The quartet includes internationally renowned Norwegian guitarist Håvard Stubø, award-winning piano player Joona Toivanen and bass player Tapani Toivanen from Finland, and Swedish drummer Fredrik Hamrå. The band has released three albums, a documentary DVD, and produced several short films that have gained over a million views on social media. Jazz & Fly Fishing is now embarking on their American tour, stopping at City of Asylum in addition to performing at clubs, festivals, fly shops, and river banks while documenting their adventures along the way.

This concert is presented in partnership with our friends at House of Swedenin Washington, D.C.

Jazz & Fly Fishing is a jazz quartet, a quirky film project, and a dream come true. It all started in Helsinki in 2008. Two young men met in a pub and came up with the ingenious idea of putting together a jazz band of fly fishermen. Those two men were Joona Toivanen, an award winning Finnish piano player who is also a passionate fly fisherman, and Petri Luukkainen, a professional documentarist from Finland with a profound interest in jazz music and fly fishing. A couple of pints later, they had decided to make a TV documentary about the project, too, and then all they needed was a band. The actual process of putting the band together turned out to be very similar to that of creating a boy band, only with slightly different criteria. The band members would have to be established, professional jazz musicians, deeply passionate fly fishermen, and of course, decent human beings. Joona’s kid brother, bass player Tapani Toivanen, and Swedish drummer Fredrik Hamrå fit the bill. They completed the quartet with guitarist Håvard Stubø and Jazz & Fly Fishing was born. Since then, the group has toured extensively in Scandinavia and Europe, released three albums and a DVD, and produced a vast array of short films, gathering a substantial international audience along the way.

Answering the Call to Adventure with Jazz & Fly Fishing