Jazz Finland Live

Iro Haarla: piano and John Hollenbeck: drums

The first meeting of two respected composers and musicians. In the concert, we will hear the compositions of both of them from their extensive repertoires as new interpretations. A unique concert awaits!

Iro Haarla is one of Finland’s most famous jazz composers and musicians. She has made several notable and acclaimed recordings together with top Finnish and international musicians. Iro has received the Jazzliitto’s Yrjö award in 2006 and the Finnish Jazz Legend award in 2020 from Music Archive Finland.

John Hollenbeck is a renowned composer, drummer, band leader and teacher. He was professor of drumming and improvisation at the Jazz Institute Berlin in 2005-2016 and in 2015, he joined the Faculty of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music in Montreal as a professor of drumming. Perhaps his most famous band is the Claudia Quintet, which has also visited Finland, in addition to this, he has e.g. large ensemble John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble.

John Hollenbeck visited the first part of the Jazz Finland Residency last year and will now continue during 1-21 August 2022. Despite the corona pandemic last year, Hollenbeck managed to meet about 50 Finnish musicians during his two-week visit, teach at the Sibelius Academy’s jazz music teachers’ camp, and give a concert with a band made up of Sibelius Academy teachers at the KOKO Jazz Club in Helsinki on August 19 (one of the best concerts of 2021) and perform a concert with UMO Helsinki on August 24.

Iro Haarla´s home page

John Hollenbeck´s home page

Photos: Sakari Puhakka

The concert is supported by City of Helsinki, Svenska Kulturfonden and The Finnish Music Foundation.

Tickets: 20/15/12 €

Open event

Saxophonist Pauli Lyytinen, accordionist Harri Kuusijärvi and bassist Eero Tikkanen are performing in Western Lapland during the best fall colors. The nature’s multi-toned palette reflects also the acoustic trio’s music, as they paint it with both, the reds, yellows and blacks of Argentinian tango and the blues, greens and whites of the Finnish seasons – blended with the rainbow of jazz.

“Tour in Lapland is a return to the roots. Not just my own, but also the band’s: the unforgettable founding camp of the trio took place some years ago in Pello’s Lankojärvi lake. Lapland’s strange magic is still a part of the band’s dna”, says accordionist Kuusijärvi.

Kuusijärvi sees Jazz Finland’s climate project as an important and concrete step towards sustainable touring: “In a country the size of Finland, it’s practically impossible to be a professional performing artist without covering a decently large turf and mileage. Already we think about our carbon footprint, prefer trains over flights, and some pioneers have even tried carbon-neutral touring. We hope that carbon-neutrality is soon a given thing on jazz tours too.”.

Sole Azul
Pauli Lyytinen, saxophone / Harri Kuusijärvi, accordion / Eero Tikkanen, double bass

https://www.harrikuusijarvi.com/soleazul 

Sole Azul on a Residency Tour 15.–21.8.2022

Mon 15.8. at 19.00 Kittilä, Kaukonen, Töpäri
Wed 17.8. at 17.00 Muonio, Muonio library
Fri 19.8. at 18.00 Äkäslompolo, Yllästunturi Nature Centre Kellokas
Sat 20.8. at 18.00 Tornio, Åström Manor Courtyard Riihi
Sun 21.8. at 16.00 Rovaniemi, Ounasvaara’s Juhannuskallion lava

Produced in co-operation with Hiljaisuus association

In 2022–2023, Jazz Finland runs a project, titled Jazz Finland’s carbon-neutral touring model. The aim is to map the carbon footprint and handprint of Finnish live music, and to develop Jazz Finland’s own tour system to become more environmentally sustainable. On top of their three regular tour productions, Jazz Finland produces or supports seven pilot tours in the fall of 2022.

Open event