Ivor Makes Tea Quartet present a fresh voice and approach to English traditional music. Led by Staffordshire fiddle player Robbie Sherratt, the Helsinki-based ensemble combine their vast ranging specialities of Nordic folk, klezmer, jazz and contemporary art music with Sherratt’s research-based arrangements and compositions to form a unique sound bursting with both age-old and newfangled ideas. Exponents of Finland’s cutting-edge folk scene they have a shared background of studying at Sibelius Academy. Due to the band’s unusual instrumentation, Sherratt searched for similar ensembles to aid orchestration ideas; the answer came in the form of Smallfilm’s ‘Ivor the Engine’ which soon gave inspiration for their whimsical band name. Featuring Robbie Sherratt (fiddle & lead vocals), Annika Lyytikäinen (clarinet & vocals), Neea Lamminmäki (piano & vocals), and Antti Salovaara (bassoon & vocals) prepare to be entranced by these fine young musicians.
Videos filmed by Jarmo Romppanen.
Photos taken by Heidi Lyytikäinen.
You can listen to one of our rehearsal tapes here: