Jazz Finland Live

Open event

AR Quartet (formerly known as Artturi Rönkä Quartet) is a band of four young musicians from Helsinki, Finland. The group’s music is characterized by dynamic and energetic interplay and refined compositions, mostly written by Artturi Rönkä. In May 2012, the band won the first prize in the Finnish final of “Young Nordic Jazz Comets” competition and represented Finland in the international showcase in Copenhagen, Denmark. In September 2012, AR Quartet won the second prize in international “Jazz Hoeilaart” competition for jazz groups in Belgium. Jazz HUG record label released the band’s debut album in March 2014.

The 23-year-old pianist-composer Artturi Rönkä is Pori Jazz’s Artist of the Year in 2013 and had the honour of being the first Rising Star of We Jazz Festival 2013. Rönkä has also been successful in composing competitions. Highlights so far include the first prizes in both Finnish “Esko Linnavalli” (2011, organized by UMO Jazz Orchestra) and international “Jazzverk” (2012 Luleå, Sweden, organized by Norrbotten Big Band) big band composition contests.

The first two weeks, 3 - 13, of September AR Quartet will be touring around Finland for eight concerts. This tour, produced together with Jazz HUG and Finnish Jazz Federation, will take the young jazz lions to perform around Finland, e.g. in Kuopio, Tampere and Turku.

Sampo Kasurinen – soprano & tenor saxophones
Eero Seppä – bass
Artturi Rönkä – piano
Jonatan Sarikoski – drums

Wed 3.9. Tampere, AMC-klubi, Telakka
Thu 4.9. Kajaani, Koutasali, Kaukametsän kulttuurikeskus
Fri 5.9. Kuopio, Jazzklubi, Musiikkikeskus
Sat 6.9. Tallinna, Philly Joe's Jazz Club
Wed 10.9. Turku, Sibelius-museo
Thu 11.9. Helsinki, Malmisali, Malmitalo
Fri 12.9. Savonlinna, Wanha Kasino
Sat 13.9. Oulu, Pikisali, Kaupunginteatteri

Open event

Savoy Theatre autumn season opening will be celebrated in the beginning of September with two album release concerts of The Prescription, the new superb collaboration of Lenny Pickett and UMO Jazz Orchestra.

Lenny Pickett is the renowned tenor saxophonist and E-flat clarinetist who was a seminal horn-section member of the pop/funk band Tower of Power from 1972-1981, and has been a member of the Saturday Night Live band since 1985 and its musical director since 1995. Pickett is also known as a longtime session musician and arranger who has worked with a wide range of artists from David Bowie and Elton John to David Byrne and Katy Perry. Pickett’s singular instrumental voice is unmistakable.

The concert covers The Prescription, a 10-song collection of Pickett rowdy-to-waltzing originals, for example a robust rendition of the TOP hit What Is Hip, and the arranger and former artistic director of UMO Jazz Orchestra Rich Shemaria’s whimsical tune A Sad State of Affairs.

“This is a unique project that has artsy elements as well slow blues, uptempo swing, funk and eclectic music in the mix – it’s hard to categorize what this album is,” Pickett says.

Conductor Rich Shemaria. 

Tickets available at Lippupalvelu from 36,50 € / 32,50 € (normal 34 €, pensioners, unemployed, students and children 32,50 € + service fee from 2,50 €). Show & Dinner -ticket at Restaurant Presto 77,50 € / 73,50€ (normal 74 €, pensioners, unemployed, students and children 70 € + service fee from. 3,50 €).

Open event

Joona Toivanen Trio celebrates the release of their new album November. The album in question will be the fifth for the long-standing Finnish trio, and it was released by the acclaimed Italian label CAM Jazz. The trio is known for their lyrical, melodic style and tight-knit group dynamic - no wonder; the members have played together for more than fifteen years.

With the Toivanen brothers' currently residing in Sweden and Denmark, the concert is a rare treat for the Finnish audience.

Joona Toivanen, piano

Tapani Toivanen, bass

Olavi Louhivuori, drums

Tickets: 10 €

Open event

tuOKio is a concert series with a message. The concert series is produced by the OK Study Centre that invites a different group each year to write music around a certain social theme and go on a tour. This year’s theme is “make a change!” and the persuasive group to spread the word is a quartet consisting of the punk-jazz trio Mopo and singer-songwriter Ville Leinonen.

Leinonen and the members of Mopo were not acquainted before, but after the suggestion was made by the Study Centre they were very eager to get involved and to collaborate with each other. That punk is far from being dead is hardly a surprise, but the fact that its attitude has found a new proponent from the field of jazz may be. Mopo is a trio formed by three gifted young musicians, and the group lists jazz, the 70s punk rock and the Finnish nature as their sources of inspiration. Each member has their say in the process of making music, which makes the trio a fine example of a tiny democracy. Surprise is an essential element of Mopo’s philosophy. Ville Leinonen is a versatile artist who has shed his skin many times during his career. He started out in his youth in the group Valumo and has moved from the popular song of the 70s to Slavic folk songs and stage musical, from avant-garde to psychedelic rock and the project Camp Crystal Lake in which the soundscapes of the Holocaust met those of horror films. Who would be better to take a stand for a perpetually current theme in a democratic state – that of civic engagement and grass-root action?

Free entry!

Open event