After nearly a decade away from the stage, Estonian folk innovators Paabel returned to Tallinn with Ajatu (“Timeless”) — a concert that proved timelessness does not have to mean perfection. Sometimes, it means being completely alive.
On 14 October, Fotografiska Tallinn hosted Paabel’s album presentation as part of Jazzkaar’s Autumn Jazz programme. The band, inactive since 2017, blends folk traditions with jazz, rock and improvisation.
“We’ve often been asked whether we’re a folk band or a jazz band,” vocalist Sandra Sillamaa told the audience. “But it doesn’t really matter. You’ve come here to enjoy the music, and so have we. With Paabel, even we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen on stage. Let’s see where we end up.”
It was an apt promise. Under deep blue lighting, the concert began with a mellow instrumental passage before the saxophone picked up the pace and five-part vocal harmonies filled the room. Guitars, keyboards, bagpipes, jaw harp and percussion moved between delicate, ancient-sounding passages and electric grooves. Rhythms shifted unexpectedly, instruments seemed to challenge one another before finding a common pulse. A tender keyboard solo evoked a misty meadow, while Arno Tamm’s powerful vocals blended into the arrangements almost like another instrument.
For all its musical sophistication, the concert never became overly serious. Songs paused, jokes interrupted introductions, and a saxophone entered in the wrong key, prompting the band to stop and reset. The audience laughed, the musicians grinned at one another, and everyone waited to see what would happen next.
The humour reached into the music itself. Introducing a song set in Setomaa, southeastern Estonia, Tamm described it as a song about spreading manure. Those unfamiliar with the Seto language, he added, were about to get an excellent opportunity for language immersion. Folk music, Paabel seemed to suggest, does not need to be solemn or treated like a museum piece. It can be earthy, funny and gloriously unexpected.
The band also reached back into its earlier repertoire. Sillamaa invited longtime fans to sing along, explaining that ten years earlier Paabel had been making quite different music. The old song “Pojad, tütred” (“Sons and Daughters”) brought familiar refrains back into the room, and when the audience joined a repeated “ja-ja-ja”, the crowd became part of the performance. The multigenerational crowd nodded, swayed and gradually began dancing near the front.
Yet this was no nostalgia-driven reunion. Ajatu remained at the heart of the evening, and Tamm encouraged listeners to explore the full album afterwards: its roughly hour-long collection was too much to fit into one concert. When Paabel needed a saxophonist for a performance at the Viljandi Folk Music Festival, Sillamaa had already sold her own instrument after the band’s hiatus. They called Lauri Kadalipp and discovered he knew the songs by heart, and was a devoted fan. Tamm joked that anyone hoping to join the band should learn the entire repertoire, just in case a phone call came.
Before the final song, Sillamaa revealed that it was a personal favourite because of one irresistible guitar riff. She had even asked guitarist Jaan Jaago to record it for eight hours straight so she could listen to it on repeat – a glimpse of how much the musicians enjoy one another’s playing.
The audience chants, “Kolm-neli, hea bänd!” (“Three-four, great band!”), became another running joke. The band credited sound engineer Rainer Lõik with inventing the phrase and suggested that the Viljandi Folk Music Festival should invite him to teach a workshop on this piece of modern folklore. It suited a band that treats tradition not as something frozen, but as something that keeps growing through shared experience.
By the end, the applause had grown louder and people were dancing near the stage. Paabel thanked the audience for joining them on an “interesting journey” and thanked Jazzkaar for making it happen. Beneath the mistakes, inside jokes and sudden musical turns was the chemistry of musicians who know how to listen to one another.
Nearly a decade after stepping away, Paabel did not return sounding preserved. They returned sounding alive.
Paabel – Ajatu (“Timeless”)
Wednesday, 14 October 2026, Fotografiska Tallinn
The band:
Sandra Sillamaa – vocals, bagpipes, jaw harp, glockenspiel
Arno Tamm – vocals, guitars, keyboards
Tõnu Tubli – drums, backing vocals
Lauri Kadalipp – saxophones, keyboards, bagpipes, backing vocals
Tanel Kadalipp – double bass, bass guitar, backing vocals
Jaan Jaago – guitars, backing vocals