Gourmet, a pioneer of Finnish instrumental music, releases its sixth album Symposium in May 2025. Recorded live in Helsinki in June 2017, the album brings Gourmet’s lush live sound to the recording for the first time, while remembering the band’s late members Petri Keskitalo and Janne Antikainen.

Symposium features nine live versions of pieces from the successful En garde album (2018), including the swamp rocker Pink Camel, the circus-flavored Love Gone Wrong and the virtuosic What Can We Do When The Sky Falls Down. The album was recorded at Gourmet’s concert at G Livelab in Helsinki on June 10, 2017.

With the release, Gourmet pays tribute to their late members Petri Keskitalo and Janne Antikainen, who passed away in spring 2023. “After Petri and Janne passed away, we started going through Gourmet archives and this G Livelab gig was so good that we decided to release it,” Esa Onttonen recalls. “Moreover, this was almost the only multi-track recording we found, so even in terms of sound quality, the material was suitable for release.”

In addition to the band’s founders Esa Onttonen (guitar) and Mikko Innanen (saxophone), the album features Ilmari Pohjola (trombone), Veli Kujala (accordion), Petri Keskitalo (tuba) and Mika Kallio (drums). The album is recorded by Kimmo Antikainen, mixed by Teemu Korpipää and mastered and vinyl cut by Virtalähde Mastering. Covers by Petra Innanen.

Gourmet is an ensemble founded in 1997 that performs instrumental compositions by Esa Onttonen and Mikko Innanen. The band has released five albums, the latest of which, New Habitat, was released in late 2020. Gourmet has performed in Finland, Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, the Netherlands, and Norway.

More details such as tracklist, musician and other credits can be found on the album page.

The new album is released digitally on May 2, 2025 and as a vinyl LP on May 16, 2025.

Promotional copies and other inquiries: see contact.