Jazz Finland Live

The supergroup will be taking the stage in a number of cultural centres around Central and Southern Finland this autumn.

Led by composer-guitarist Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen, Ricky-Tick Big Band & Julkinen Sana is a rare union of a 17-piece big band and a rap trio. Comprising some of Finland’s best jazz musicians and the pioneering rappers, Paleface, Redrama and Tommy Lindgren, this unique outfit will hit the road on a special tour this autumn. The tour will see them perform in seven prestigious venues around Central and Southern Finland.

Tour schedule:
14 Oct Kuopio Music Centre at 19
19 Oct Tampere Hall at 19
20 Oct Logomo, Turku at 20
22 Oct House of Culture, Helsinki at 15 and at 19 
4 Nov Jyväskylä Pavilion at 19
5 Nov Tapiola Hall, Espoo at 19

Last year a show hosted by the House of Culture, Helsinki, seating roughly 1,500 people, was almost sold out 5 months before the concert day. Due to a huge demand, another show was scheduled for the same day, seeing more than 2,600 fans in total attend. This is rare; especially when we are talking about such a niche genre as big band rap.

Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen, conductor, guitar, electric piano
Karri "Paleface" Miettinen, rap
Tommy Lindgren, rap
Lasse "Redrama" Mellberg, rap

Jukka Eskola, lead trumpet, flugelhorn
Kalevi Louhivuori, 2nd trumpet, flugelhorn
Mikko "Gunu" Karjalainen, 3rd trumpet, flugelhorn
Janne Toivonen, 4th. trumpet, flugelhorn

Petri "Pope" Puolitaival, 1st alto sax, flute, piccolo flute
Ari Jokelainen, 2nd alto sax
Jussi Kannaste, 1st tenor sax
Antti Hynninen, 2nd tenor sax, flute
Linda Fredriksson, baritone sax

Kasperi Sarikoski, 1st trombone
Juha "Jay" Kortehisto, 2nd trombone
Heikki Tuhkanen, 3rd trombone
Juho Viljanen, bass trombone, tuba

Antti Lötjönen, double bass
Sami Koskela, keys
Jaska Lukkarinen, drums

Tickets: 37,50 €

http://www.julkinensana.fi/ 

https://fi-fi.facebook.com/RTBBJulkinenSana/  

Open event

Keep on Swining in the Free World is a two-day mini-jazz festival that delivers fine jazz from traditional to more experimental sounds in Pori. 

Pepa Päivinen & Good Romans Tadpoles album launch concert
(Pepa Päivinen, Jussi Miettola, Ilari Filander)
Showtime at 20.00, doors at 19.30
Gallen-Kallelankatu 12
Tickets 10 €

This project is a  trio formed by young duo Good Romans and veteran saxophonist Pepa Päivinen.  They now present their sophomore in an album launch concert at the Validi Karkia club. 

Open event

Yrjö Award 2016 (FIN)
The most prestigious prize given to jazz musicians in Finland, the Yrjö Award will be presented by the Finnish Jazz Federation for the second time during the Tampere Jazz Happening. The event will culminate in a performance by the winner of the award.

The Finnish Jazz Federation Anniversary Orchestra (FIN)
The Yrjö award is Finland’s most precious jazz prize and every player in this Anniversary Orchestra, led by multi-reedsman Mikko Innanen, has got it. The new Yrjö recipient will be published in this concert and he or she will also play with the band. Innanen has picked the material from the repertoires of earlier Yrjö recipients, so you may view the concert also as a little lesson in the rich history of Finnish jazz.

Steve Lehman Octet (USA)
The alto saxist from New York is not just a musician and composer, but also a scholar, challenger and transformer of jazz, and a teacher in several academic institutions. Having worked, on top of his own bands, with the likes of Anthony Braxton, Vijay Iyer, Meshell Ndegeocello and Anti-Pop Consortium’s High Priest, he has lately researched computer-driven models for improvisation in his electro-acoustic music. Earlier he studied the relationship between jazz and African music. Steve Lehman’s burning desire for new solutions has made the American as well as European music journals call him “the foremost thinker in jazz”.

Marius Neset Quintet with Svante Henryson (NOR)
Before he played sax, Marius Neset took drum lessons early on. It influenced his compositional style. “The drums gave me an important rhythmic base. I learned very early to play in these odd meters so I have a very natural feel for it”, says the 30-year-old reedsman, who has an uncanny ability to make one sax sound like two or three. In 2003, he went to study in Copenhagen’s Rhythm Music Conservatory, where the British pianist Django Bates became his mentor. While playing in Bates’ Human Chain, Neset charmed several music business key figures, like Edition Records’ Dave Stapleton, with his unique style that can change from wild virtuosity to tender atmospheres in an instant. Cello player Svante Henrysonwon the Nordic Council’s music prize in 2015.

Tickets: 52,50 € / 42,50 €

Open event

Kaisa's Machine (FIN)
Double bassist, composer Kaisa Mäensivu studied at the famous Manhattan School of Music with Dave Liebman, John Riley and Jay Anderson. Now she’s back in Helsinki continuing her studies at the Sibelius Academy with Jukkis Uotila. This is Kaisa’s own acoustic quartet, but she also plays with the inter Scandinavian Taiga, Adele Sauros Quartet and the Sointi Jazz Orchestra. The busy jazz scene of today’s New York inspires Mäensivu especially, while the long continuum of African-American groove and swing and Scandinavian lyricism also mean much to her. Kaisa’s Machine will record their debut this autumn.

Aki Rissanen Trio (FIN)
12 years of studying classical piano early on has left a strong mark in Aki Rissanen’s playing style. Add to that the open-minded young man’s influences from electronic dance music, and the end result is decidedly different from other piano trios. The shiny elegance of TeppoMäkynen’s and Antti Lötjönen’s rhythm section is also essential to the band’s sound. The highly praised Amorandom (Edition Records, 2016) is Rissanen’s seventh album, but he has worked a lot with other artists in many styles, lately especially with trumpet player Verneri Pohjola and the American saxist Dave Liebman.

Lauri Porra Flyover Ensemble (FIN)
The son of Sibelius’ daughter’s daughter, Lauri Porrastarted playing the cello very early, but found the bass as an adolescent. It, especially the electric bass, became his main instrument, though he is also adept on cello, piano and trumpet. He has long been a member of metal band Stratovarius and has also played in singer Emma Salokoski’s and guitarist Ben Granfelt’s bands and Kotipelto, to name a few. As a leader he has made three albums, the latest being the excellent Flyover (Texicalli Records, 2015). Porra also composes a lot for movies, theatre and tv. Last year he finished Entropia, his Concerto for Electric Bass and Symphony Orchestra.

Tickets 25/20 €

Open event

James Carter Organ Trio (USA)
Born in Detroit in 1969, James Carter has played saxophone from age 11. He came to the limelight with his mentor, trumpet legend Lester Bowie, and belonged also to the Tough Young Tenors group. Nowadays he masters the whole sax family and a bunch of clarinets, while knowing the entire jazz history thoroughly. It’s typical for Carter to grab a certain style of jazz and pump new blood into it, like he does now with his organ trio. Julius Hemphill, Frank Lowe, Kathleen Battle and Wynton Marsalis are just a few of his partners in jazz. With over 20 albums as a leader in his catalogue, he is the cousin of jazz violinst Regina Carter.

Tickets 25/15 €

Open event

Open event

Eero Raittinen, one of the grand old men of Finnish music, joins forces with mod jazz quintet Hustle Fuzz on a tour that celebrates Raittinen's 1970 debut, Eeron Elpee. This unique tour is a smooth continuation of Raittinen and the up-and-coming group's earlier collaborative concerts, and brings the classic rarity disc to the 2010s with a bang. 

Eero Raittinen - vocals
Juho Hurskainen - saxophone
Jussi Reunamäki - organ
Henri Jokinen - guitar
Seppo Kylänpää - bass
Severi Koivusalo - drums

Tickets: 22/20€ 

Open event