Jazz Finland Live

Saxophonist-flautist Sakari Kukko will bring his praised project Valo (Light) to Urkuyö ja Aaria festival on Thursday 21 August. It will be the first time for the group to perform their material, recorded in August 2013 at the time of full moon, live. The album's material consists of quartet Valo’s arrangements and new versions of Finnish and European religious music, and we are sure to hear such beloved pieces as Armas Saasalo’s Tuhansin kielin, Ilmari Hannikainen’s Matkamiehen virsi, Kukko’s original composition Elävää vettä along with a number of hymns from Switzerland, Austria and France live this Thursday. In addition to the leading man Kukko, Valo is fromed by the excellent jazz musicians Iro Haarla, harp and piano, Ulf Krokfors, bass, and Mika Kallio, drums.

Sakari Kukko, the founder and leader of the world music group Piirpauke, has always had one foot in the realm of jazz music. Kukko was awarded with the prestigious Yrjö award by the Finnish Jazz Federation in 1976, and his 2001 album Virret, which consisted of his renditions of Finnish hymns, was a great critical success.

Iro Haarla is a classically-trained pianist, harpist, composer and arranger who has come to be associated with the strain of European free jazz in recent years especially. Haarla is also an Yrjö-winning artist, and her quintet’s sophomore album was awarded with the Jazz EMMA in 2011.

Ulf Krokfors is one of the most sought-after jazz bassists in Finland. He has been a member in Edward Vesala’s Sound & Fury and Kraktau, and had major collaborative projects with such as Iro Haarla, Sakari Kukko, Juhani Aaltonen and Henrik Otto Donner. In recent years he has concentrated upon composition and his own groups increasingly.

Drummer Mika Kallio’s style has always been characterised by an extreme versatility, an ability to listen and a richness of nuances. Kallio has been associated most often with acts that fall outside the strain of mainstream jazz. He came second in Monaco City Hall International Jazz Soloist Competition in 1999.

See the programme in its entirety: http://urkuyofestival.fi/?p=244

Artist meeting at 9PM at Pitäjäntupa.

Tickets: 15,50–24,50 € Lippupiste and at the door one hour before the concert.