Jazz Finland Live

Espoo Big Band ry. launches a new April Jazz Club Series, opening on 22 January at Sokos Hotel Tapiola Garden.

The club series will take place on Fridays for 20 times this year. Each time a student band of the pop/jazz department Ebeli, Espoo Music Institute, kicks off the night at 6:00PM. Some of Finland's finest jazz groups will take over each time at 7:00PM. After the headlining acts, the stage will be free for spontanous jam sessions.

Tickets are priced 10 € and available at the door only. Tables can be booked at Grill It, Tapiola Garden. The programme will be released in its entirety on the opening night.

6:00PM Muusi

7:00PM Verneri Pohjola Quartet One of the most internationally acclaimed jazz artists, Verneri Pohjola, first came to attention in early 2000s followed by the critical interest in Ilmiliekki Quartet. His first solo album, Aurora, was awarded as the jazz album of the year in the Emma Awards in 2009, but the final international breakthrough seems to have come along with the third album, the 2015 Bullhorn, which has been lauded by the press all over the globe.

Tickets 10 €

www.apriljazz.fi

Open event

Juhlat (Fete) is a new kind of performance concept, a composite of drama and jazz concert, exploring the themes of money, family and art.

You are invited to witness the birthday celebrations of the 60-year-old Matti Holma, Finland’s most industrous entrepreneur in heavy equipment. There will be juicy anecdotes, speeches given by friends and relatives and as the acme of the party, a big band concert by Sointi Jazz Orchestra. The party turns into a domestic row, however, when the younger generation calls their father’s capitalist values into question. Without money there would be no concert but is art to be reduced to exclusive entertainment for those with capital? To whom does high art belong in today’s world?

A great success last summer at Mustikkamaa Open Air Theatre, the show returns to the stage this January at Malmitalo on 22 Jan at 19:00 and 23 Jan at 17:00.

Duration approximately 2 hrs

Ticket prices: 15 € adults / 8 € (discount tickets)

Directed by Sirpa Riuttala
Sointi Jazz Orchestra conducted by Rasmus Soini
Script by Veera Tapper

On stage: Heikki Herva, Henna Holländer, Inkeri Hyvönen, Karlo Haapiainen, Marius Laiho, Kiia Laine, Tiina Mäki, Vili Orava ja Aliisa Rinne

SOINTI JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Rasmus Soini (conduction, compositions)
Petteri Hietamäki (alto sax, soprano sax, flute)
Pekka Seppänen (alto sax clarinet)
Frans Thomsson (tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet)
Janne Saarinen (tenor sax, oboe)
Sampo Kasurinen (baritone sax, bass clarinet)
Mikko Koponen (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Tomi Nikku (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Leo Kylätasku (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Jasmin Afaneh (trumpet, flugelhorn, flute, alto flute)
Ilkka Hongisto (french horn)
Mikko Haanpää (trombone)
Panu Luukkonen (trombone)
Matti Vuolahti (trombone)
Kenneth Ojutkangas (tuba, bass trombone)
Aleksis Liukko (piano)
Kaisa Mäensivu (double bass)
Siiri Partanen / Riku Leiniäinen (drums, percussion)

Open event

Eero ”Koippa” Koivistoinen turns 70 in January and kicks the year off with a series of concerts with UMO. This year also marks Koivistoinen’s 50th anniversary as an artist.

Koivistoinen, who is one of the best-known and most respected Finnish jazz musicians of all time, was one UMO’s founding members and worked as its artistic director for a time. Koivistoinen stepped into the limelight in 1969 by winning the group competition at Montreux jazz festival with his quartet. The win in Montreux resulted in a slot at the legendary Newport jazz festival in the US.

The concerts feature a cross-section of the works he’s written for big band over the decades, as well as a few new pieces and arrangements produced for this series. The material runs the gamut from Finnish jazz to African rhythms and American funk. Koivistoinen will lead the orchestra himself.

On January 22nd at the Savoy Theater Koivistoinen will be joined by vocalist Johanna Iivanainen, who will interpret Koivistoinen’s songs with lyrics by, e.g., Junnu Vainio. Further celebrations of this amazing career in jazz will take place at Kanneltalo, Malmitalo and Vuotalo during the last week of the month.

Open event

Led by the eponymous trombonist, Kasperi Sarikoski & Nuance is one of the most interesting newcomers of the Finnish jazz scene.
Despite drawing from as far and wide as indie rock and electronic music, this young group does not hold eclecticism as a value in itself but rather as a springboard to original, distinctive sound. Acoustic and electric instruments and effects are used to create a sonic palette that incorporates a wide variety of different tones and timbres. It is into these musical primary colours that the leader Kasperi Sarikoski then dips his pen when writing music for the group.
Their 2015 debut Essence (Fredriksson Music) gained them larger-scale attention and was praised by both critics and listeners alike.

Kasperi Sarikoski, trombone
Jere Haakana, guitar
Artturi Rönkä, keys
Vesa Ojaniemi, bass
Jonatan Sarikoski, drums

www.ksnuance.com

- Tickets 15/10€

- Production: Oulun Musiikkijuhlasäätiö

Open event