Jazz Finland Live

Pauli Lyytinen – ten. sax, Harri Kuusijärvi – acc, Eero Tikkanen – b

When thieves took his instruments in Azul, Argentina, Finnish accordionist Harri Kuusijärvi decided to take the Argentinian tango, make it his own and plant it in the Nordic permafrost. Drawing on the stylistics of jazz, the group performs both tango-inspired originals and new arrangements of Finnish and Argentinian classic tangos. Their debut album will be released this summer.

Open event

Aapo Heinonen – p, comp, Teemu Takanen – sax, Héctor Lepe – gtr, Vesa Ojaniemi – b, Tomi Saikkonen – drs

The energetic and buoyant Aapo Heinonen Quintet issues their third album this spring. We will be in for modern jazz with big band influences seasoned with Balkan and Latin rhythms. The carefully-written structures grip the listener, while the improvised solo sections both serve the whole and allow for surprising and serene sub plots.

Open event

Kadi Vija – voc, Pekka Seppänen – sax, Vili Itäpelto – keys, Jukka Haavisto – el. b, Mika Säily – drs

Drummer Mika Säily’s solo project Bikutsi released their debut, Mozaique, in late 2016. Initially, the album was to be the sophomore of his ethno-jazz group Jamaze but the composer’s own hand became more visible in the outcome than planned. Bikutsi’s music reaches to many directions, from through-composed and experimental jazz where a host of theories and genres meet to world music and lyrical jazz fusion.

Open event