KAISA MÄENSIVU
KAISA MÄENSIVU
“The rhythm and the groove; that's always felt natural to me.”
Originally from Finland, Kaisa Mäensivu is a bass player living in New York City.
She is the founder of the quartet, Kaisa's Machine, and has played internationally,
leading her band at Ronnie Scott’s in London, Smalls Jazz Club in New York and
the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland.
The contemporary scene in New York has shaped her style and strengthened her
technique. Composing for Kaisa's Machine is her chance to channel those
influences and explore the groove aesthetic she is so drawn to. At the same time
Kaisa holds dear her connection to Europe and she stays close to her musician
friends there.
Growing up in Finland, there was always a piano in Kaisa's home and she recalls
it was her first instrument, “I would always climb up to the piano and play to
entertain myself.” She started lessons early, aged six, but it was seeing a woman
play double bass on television that set things in motion, “It looked so impressive”,
and it chimed deeply with the connection she has to rhythm.
Studying jazz at the prestigious Sibelius Academy in Helsinki heralded a career as
a musician, along with graduating from the Manhattan School of Music in 2017,
a place she had dreamed of studying at. It was there she had the chance to learn
from professors such as Dave Liebman and a personal hero, Ron Carter. “Hearing
Ron Carter on the Miles Davis Quintet live recordings was a key influence.
What really blew me away were his note choices, just how creatively he builds
the bass lines and takes risks that lead the music to new places.”
Kaisa has had to take risks herself; dropping the piano for upright bass, leaving her homeland of Finland for America, and jumping in on jam sessions – always a test of nerve. “When I just moved to New York I went to this club uptown called Smoke Jazz Club. The feeling of walking into a random club on a weeknight and hearing musicians I didn't know of, and them sounding that amazing - I was blown away.” That same night the club opened up for a jam and Kaisa jumped in, “I was so nervous, but I think it went pretty well because I got my first gig in New York from that session.” Some might have felt overawed but Kaisa lifted herself to meet the challenge, “Yeah, that's what New York does,” she observes.
It is that metal that's helped her musicianship to blossom. Kaisa has shared the stage with the likes of Kurt Rosenwinkel and Dave Kikoski, and she has won several awards including first prize at the International Riga Jazz Stage contest for bass players in 2018 and the ’Rising Star’ award at the Pori Jazz Festival.
Kaisa now splits her time between New York and Helsinki when she’s not on tour somewhere else in the world. “I've been nomading pretty hard, but I've enjoyed seeing a lot more of the US and of Europe too. If I go to a place and I don't know anyone there I find a jazz club and if you can sit in and play with the local musicians you immediately have friends, you feel connected. I really love that about jazz.”
ABOUT ME
SHOWS
KAISA'S MACHINE
March 22, Zinc Bar NYC
KAISA'S MACHINE
March 23, Chris' Jazz Cafe PHL
SVETLANA
March 31, Blue Note NYC
KAISA'S MACHINE
April 4, Smalls Jazz Club NYC
KAISA'S MACHINE European tour
April 10, Lugano, Switzerland
April 11, Donau 115, Berlin
April 12-13 Jazzahead! 2024 European showcase, Bremen
April 14 Sauna Exhibition, Finland Embassy, Berlin
April 17, Viktoriateatern, Malmö
Emmi Uimonen & The Wind Machine
May 2, G Livelab Tampere
DANIEL MIGLIOSI "On the Edge" Album release tour
May 10, Like A Jazz Machine Festival, Luxembourg
May 11, Sounds, Brussels
May 13, Aircheck Session, Luxembourg
May 15, Crazy Coqs, London
May 16, Salon de Jazz, Cologne
May 17, Hemingway Lounge, Karlsruhe
May 19, A-tran, Berlin
KAISA'S MACHINE US tour
June 1st, Bar Bayeux, Brooklyn
June 5th, Sam First, LA
June 7th, The Grape, Ventura CA
SIRINTIP "Mycelium"
June 26, The Jazz Gallery
KAISA'S MACHINE
June 22 & 23, Rochester Jazz Festival, NY
KAISA'S MACHINE
July 14, North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam NL