Jazz Finland Live

Dunkel on Brecker // UMO with Michael Brecker: Live in Helsinki 1995 album release concert

Live in Helsinki 1995, a collaboration live recording by UMO Jazz Orchestra and sax legend Michael Brecker is set for release this coming autumn. A record release concert will be held on Friday 18 September at Savoy Theatre in Helsinki. The concert will feature tenor saxophonist Manuel Dunkel, who as a young man of 24 and new member of UMO Jazz Orchestra engaged in a fierce battle with Brecker, whom he greatly admired. This moment is also captured on this recording.

The album was recorded at the recently opened Royal Cotton Club in Helsinki in October 1995. The recording was produced by Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle and the release is UMO’s first from Yle’s archives to feature an international soloist. It is also Brecker’s first live album fronting a big band. The record as well as the concert feature compositions by Michael Brecker, Horace Silver, Vince Mendoza and Kirmo Lintinen, among others, with genres ranging from bebop to funk and ballads.

Saxophonist Manuel Dunkel (b. 1971) established his position as one of the prominent voices in the Finnish scene around the mid-1990s. He has been a member of the UMO Jazz Orchestra since 1994. Dunkel formed his own quartet in 1996, and to date he has released five albums with the group. He has collaborated with such international names as Paul Jackson, Rick Margitza and Kenny Wheeler, and played in several Finnish bands, e.g. in Jukka Perko’s Hurmio and Espoo Big Band. With his own quartet Dunkel has performed in e.g. Belgium and France and as a featured soloist in e.g. Japan, Sweden and Turkey. In 2011 Dunkel received the prestigous Yrjö-award from the Finnish Jazz Federation.

Tickets available at Lippupalvelu from 28 € / 24 € / 14 € (incl. service fees). The album is also available for purchase via Lippupalvelu, priced 20 €. It will be delivered on 17 September.

Teemu Åkerblom Quartet album launch concert at Putte's!

Teemu Åkerblom - Bass
Mikko Arlin - Drums
Max Zenger - Alto Sax & Flute
 Ville Vannemaa - Tenor Saxophone
and special guest: Verneri Pohjola - Trumpet

Open event