Bio

“Jarmo Jalava writes songs rich in whimsy and wonder. Think of Bruce Cockburn’s crisp melodicism and Daniel Lanois’s low-burn intensity….Jalava has edge, intelligence, heart and soul,” — Charles Foran, world music reviewer for The National Post.

“Warm, celestial sounds…mighty words…Jalava mixes lovely music with a mind, body and spiritual message,” — The Peterborough Examiner.

With musical influences that span the globe (traditional folk, Appalachia, blues, indigenous chant, Latin, roots rock, klesmer, Hindustani…), Mexico-based Finnish-Canadian Jarmo Jalava’s trilingual songwriting is that of a poet (recipient of three Ontario Arts Council Writer’s Reserve grants and past editor with the international literary journal Exile).  In his early twenties, while supporting himself as a busker, he hitchhiked the equivalent of the circumference of the globe, followed by several years of driving a taxi in Toronto.  Today, when not making music, he is a respected ecologist, with more than 100 professional publications to his name.  Jarmo’s music displays an ecospiritual consciousness, evoked by his deep connection to the lands and peoples of his two homes — the coast of Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada, and the volcanic mountains of south-central Mexico.

Jarmo’s 2001 debut album, Hole in the Sky, led to invitations to perform in the Festival of Lights in Peterborough, Ontario, and Tapsan Tahdit music festival in Nokia, Finland, and received airplay on both sides of the Atlantic.  Jarmo’s second independent release, Rites of Passage [2005], has been heard across Canada on CBC Radio and university radio.  Jarmo has performed on the main stage at Toronto City Hall’s Nathan Phillips Square, has been a featured artist with the Tlapan Cultural Center concert series in Mexico City, as well as the Parque Nacional Desierto de Los Leones music series in Mexico.  Recent tours have taken him to Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, the states of Washington and New York, as well as Mexico. 

From the sublime title track, What Is Your Dream? to the ridiculous Kiss Me (While I Still Have Teeth), Jarmo Jalava’s third album [IndiePool 2010] is a world-folk tour de force.  For a taste, you might first listen to Suitcase, Kiss Me, What Is Your Dream? and Dogs.  But the only way to fully savour the depth, uniqueness, humour and beauty of this album – not to mention the brilliance of its supporting cast – is to listen to it in its entirety.

Jarmo often performs with his partner, best-selling author Alison Wearing. Together they weave heartfelt songs with transcendent and often hilarious stories of their somewhat nomadic lives.   Alison Wearing is the multiple award-winning, best-selling author of Honeymoon In Purdah – an Iranian Journey, as well as a playwright, actor, singer and dancer.  She is currently touring a musical, spoken-word and dance performance based on her soon-to-be-published memoir, Giving Into Light, at theatres and festivals in Canada.