Jazz Finland Live

Thad Jones has been characterised as one of the best jazz trumpet soloists as well as one of the most important big band composers and arrangers of all times. It’s also said that he was also one of the world’s most prominent big band conductors. Even today, his compositions are key repertoire of big bands all over the world.

The year 2023 marks 100 years of the master composer’s birth. To celebrate the anniversary year, the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra honors this concert with trumpeter Jukka Eskola as soloist and Antti Rissanen as conductor. The concerts feature Jones’ master compositions from the repertoire of the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra from 1960’s and 1970’s.

Thad Jones and Mel Lewis visited UMO in December 1977. In addition to the concert at the Hesperia nightclub, an album called Thad Jones, Mel Lewis & UMO was recorded on the same visit. The album was later nominated for a Grammy in the Best Jazz Instrumental Performance – Big Band category in 1979. After the visit, UMO’s then-trumpeter Simo Salminen was attached to the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra.