Jazz Finland Live

EVENT CANCELLED

UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra tackles the music of its new Artistic Director and Chief Conductor, Ed Partyka. Jazz vocalist Nina Mya brings in some stardust as orchestra’s soloist.

Please note that auditorium capacity is limited. The event will be held with a smaller number of customers than usual. Members of the same party can sit side by side if they wish. The staff will guide the audience at the venue. Contrary to prior information, there is no intermission in the concert. Audience safety at concerts >>

The programme will focus on Partyka’s newest albums Kopfkino and In The Tradition which he has recorded with his own group, Ed Partyka Jazz Orchestra. Partyka has his own, unique style of composing and arranging, and his relaxed and refreshing approach to serious music is easily approachable. The concert includes his compositions Summer of My Discontent and Overcast as well as his arrangements for Joe Lovano, Tom Waits and Wayne Shorter’s music.

Tickets from Lippu.fi including service fee:
Normal price 32 €
Retirees 25 €
Students, unemployed, kids, servicemen 15 €

Trombonist, composer, arranger and conductor Ed Partyka (b. 1967) was born in the United States but moved to Europe almost 30 years ago. Today based in Austria, he acts as UMO Helsinki’s Artistic Director and Chief Conductor in 2020–2021. He has collaborated with a number of renowned European big bands, including the German hr-Bigband and NDR Bigband and worked as a guest conductor, artistic planner and arranger for the Vienna Jazz Orchestra and Zurich Jazz Orchestra. Besides leading his own group, the Ed Partyka Jazz Orchestra, Partyka has collaborated with the likes of Bob Brookmeyer, Carla Bley, Robben Ford and even the Finnish pop-rock group Sunrise Avenue. He is the department chairman of the Jazz Institute at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz and teaches composition in the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Lucerne, Switzerland. Partyka is known as a first-class orchestra leader and expert on orchestral musicianship.

Nina Mya is a rewarded Finnish jazz singer, composer and vocal teacher. She has published three albums as a band leader: Flying Solo (2012), Our Time (2014) and Closure (2016), which was also published and praised in Germany. She has performed all around the world in big arenas, festivals and clubs. Besides of her own band she has performed and recorded also as a featuring artist with many big names in the music industry, such as Frank McComb, Tia Fuller, Iiro Rantala and Jukkis Uotila. Nina Mya has a dark, technically impressive voice and she is a soulful and strong interpreter who combines jazz, soul and gospel influences in a unique way. www.ninamya.com

”Ed Partyka’s imagination and skills range far across the expectations of customary big band arrangements. Where others would write flatly, he combines with a fine sense strong rhythms, voluminous wind instruments, precise breaks and tender interludes with complex voice leading.” Werner Stiefele, Journalist

“Jazz singer Nina Mya’s international name might even fool someone with her origin: her voice, sound, style and technique reminds of a confident professional with a much longer career path.” Helsingin Sanomat

Photo: Teemu Mattsson

Highly renowned Finnish pianist-moogist-composer Kari Ikonen brings out his new Kandinsky-inspired solo piano repertoire ”Impressions, Improvisations and Compositions”. His compositions and improvised passages are inspired by Japanese koto music and Arabic music, with an array of unusual preparations and special techinques. Ikonen’s own invention, the revolutionary Maqiano is a totally unique install-and-remove device that allows him to play the Maqamat (≈Arabic scales) and other micro-intervals on grand piano. For the last 20 years Ikonen has been into Arabic, Middle Eastern and Turkish music, and thanks to his invention now he’s able to extend his melodic vocabulary beyond the conventional tunings. He is accompanied by drummer and fellow Arabic music enthusiast Mikko Hassinen, who’ll be playing the Riqq and Daff drums.

Kari Ikonen, piano
Mikko Hassinen, percussions

Ebeli Show 4.30pm
Kari Ikonen solo feat. Mikko Hassinen 5.30pm

Free admission!

Open event