Jazz Finland Live

Pianist Sid Hille plays at Temppeliaukio church.

Free entry!

Open event

Brews & Jazz Club at Bryggeri presents Lasse Hirvi Trio with a special guest, vocalist Sami Pitkämö.

Lasse Hirvi, piano

Wade Mikkola, bass

Heikki Sandren, drums

Sami Pitkämö, vocals & guitar

Free entry!

Open event

Estonian sextet Abraham's Cafe plays at Juttutupa's Rytmihäiriö club. The concert is part of the collaborative project, Heimojazz, between the Estonian and the Finnish Jazz Federations.

Marten Altrov – clarinet

Kaspar Uljas – accordion

Madis Meister – guitar

Joonas Pärn – oud

Sergei Segurov – bass

Tõnis Kuusk – drums

Open event

Dalindèo and Nieminen & Litmanen, two heavyweight talents of the Finnish jazz scene, join forces on a collaborative tour! The grand finale will be seen at Klubi, in Tampere.

During its 10-year existence, the Emma-awarded Dalindèo have proven to have a knack of merging different musical genres in a unique way. Their latest album, “Kallio”, took the group from the Brazilian dance floors of their early career to surf guitars and the bohemian side of the Finnish capital, and it is surely from here where the Balkan melodies and the influence of Finnish popular music of the1950s come from. Dalindèo is made of a strongly melodic style and cinematic feels and they are determined to make every member in the audience move.

The duo Nieminen & Litmanen has established itself as an inimitable instrumental dance band. This group has trusted its signature Hammond sound for almost ten years - successfully. From the beginning, Nieminen & Litmanen have made music that is both true to their taste and to the musical traditions their pieces draw from. And these traditions range from blues, rock, reggae, afro and soul to funk, popular music, rockabilly, punk, jazz and bossa nova.

Open event

Black Motor is a Tampere-based trio in whose music improvisational freedom plays a strong role. The group is formed by Sami Sippola (saxophones), Ville Rauhala (bass) and Simo Laihonen (drums). All the band members possess a solid background in both afro-American music and countercultures of popular music, such as punk rock. As a highly individual purring engine of raw improvisation and stout groove, they have proved indispensable for the Finnish jazz scene.

Black Motor also runs their own club, Black Motor Club, inviting guest artists to give an additional kick to their tunes. This time, the feature man will be the honourable pianist Seppo Kantonen (b. 1963), whose career has been both exceptionally long and versatile - and continues today as vital as ever. Kantonen won the Yrjö Award already in 1985 - only a few years after he had made his entrance in the Finnish jazz scene.

In the course of his career, Kantonen has worked with UMO, saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen, drummer Jukkis Uotila and countless other colleagues and friends from the jazz department of Sibelius Academy. He has not shunned rock or popular music either, to the contrary. Kantonen's rock-collaborations include such names as J. Karjalainen and drummer Remu Aaltonen. Of his own groups one could mention the trio Klang and quartet Tokka, started at the beginning of the 21st century. Of course the abovementioned groups and musicians are only drops in the vast ocean of Kantonen's collaborations.

Free entry!

Open event

Jarmo Saari Republic is a new supergroup built on the praised solo project Jarmo Saari Solu and branching out its experimental, lyrical and hypnotic soundscapes. Saari is a musician, composer and producer, and his CV includes shows in more than 30 different countries and appearances on well over 100 albums. Saari dreamed about this dream team for ten years, before it finally came into being in 2012, and it was Tampere Jazz Happening in November 2013 that saw the first gig of these “soldiers of light”.

Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix never had a chance to realise their ideas about collaboration, but luckily Jarmo Saari Republic has come forth to prevent such wrongs from occurring in the Finnish scale. The essence of the band lies in its versatile musicians, dynamic communication and unusual instrumentation. Each of the members has been working in the field of Finnish music already for two decades and with an exceptionally wide scope.

Jarmo Saari (b. 1970) is one of the most original guitarists of his generation. His musical visions have found an outlet in both his solo work and the bands Trubamolli, Filmtet, ZataBoo and XL. Saari is known for his visual compositional style and layered sound collages made with guitar and vocals, but also with a number of more unlikely instruments, such as theremin, baroque cello, trombone and glass harp. He has collaborated as a musician and composer with the following artists, for example: Jukka Perko, Tero Saarinen Company, Anna-Mari Kähärä, Trilok Gurtu, The Tapiola Choir, Pekka Kuusisto, Nils Landgren, Emma Salokoski, Felix Zenger, Meta4 String Quartet, UMO Jazz Orchestra, Mika Kaurismäki Pepe Deluxe and Tuomari Nurmio. In 2012, Saari was awarded with a Finland Prize by the Ministry of Education and Culture for artistic activity.

Sami Kuoppamäki, Olavi Louhivuori and Abdissa “Mamba” Assefa have earlier worked with such bands and artists as Kingston Wall, Oddarrang, Giant Robot, Kimmo Pohjonen, Fat Beat Sound System, Ilmiliekki Quartet, Tomasz Stanko, Nuspirit Helsinki, Tuomo, Anssi Tikanmäki’s Film Orchestra and Von Hertzen Brothers.

Why these three drummers, Jarmo Saari? – We have an abundance of skilled drummers in Finland, but it was this dream line-up with whom we finally got to try out the mad concept. I was given a Versoul baritone guitar by a number of friends for my 40th birthday, and I was honoured to hear Kuoppis and Mamba play in two sets in my birthday jam session. It was incredible to see it click between them! The rootsy and virtuosic Kuoppis and the intensely unpredictable Olavi play together with a wonderful flow, while Mamba seasons this soulful cake with earthy spices.

The debut album is due in the spring of 2014 by the label Rockadillo Records, and we will be treated to guest appearances from at least the following three artists: Sam Huber, Tommy Lindgren and the Rolling Stones sax player, Tim Ries.

Open event