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Jazz Finland Live

Jazz-Espa: Kirke Karja & Mikko Innanen,Espan lava, helsinki31.7. At 13:00

Kirke Karja (www)

keikka

Jazz-Espa is an urban festival produced by the Finnish Jazz Federation, focusing on Finnish jazz music. The event presents a diverse and contemporary selection of top names in Finnish jazz as well as young promising talents to a broad audience.

Estonian pianist Kirke Karja and Finnish saxophonist Mikko Innanen are among the leading jazz musicians of their generations in their home countries.

Karja is known for her unique harmonic musical language and experimental, uncompromising performances. Her music, sometimes dark in tone, incorporates influences from contemporary music. She leads several ensembles and is best known for her trio Karja/Renard/Wandinger. As a solo pianist, she has performed Paul Hindemith's masterpiece "Ludus Tonalis," blending original material with free improvisation. In her own compositions, Karja uses similar tools to Hindemith. One of her compositions is a piano concerto that she has performed with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.

Innanen is a versatile and open-minded artist who moves smoothly from freely improvised music to fully composed pieces, from intimate solos and duos to large orchestras. With a long international career, Innanen has performed in 38 countries across five continents, and his wide-ranging playing and compositions have been recorded on nearly 80 released albums.

Karja and Innanen met in 2018 while playing in a band called Captain Kirke and the Klingos. Since then, they have performed together in trios with, for example, guitarist Jaak Sooäär and drummer Karl-Juhan Laanesaar. This duo promises exciting and boundary-breaking collaborations!

Kirke Karja - piano

Mikko Innanen - saxophones

The concert is organized in collaboration with the Embassy of Estonia in Helsinki.

Pictures: Karja: Sohvi Viik, Innanen: Kaisa Rautaheimo

Gigs on the same day in helsinki

Rytmihäiriöklubi: Jani Malmi Trio & Trio aVoTJuttutupa, helsinki31.7. At 19:00

Jazz-Espa: Sanna RuohoniemiEspan lava, helsinki31.7. At 16:00

keikka

Jazz-Espa is an urban festival produced by the Finnish Jazz Federation, focusing on Finnish jazz music. The event presents a diverse and contemporary selection of top names in Finnish jazz as well as young promising talents to a broad audience.

Based in Stockholm, artist and composer Sanna Ruohoniemi is making a name for herself internationally, standing out in the jazz world with her skillful vocal techniques and versatile compositions. She released her new album "Let Everything Happen" last February. The album, her third, is a continuation of the previous "Start from Nothing," which was praised by Europe Jazz Media Chart as one of Europe's finest music releases in November 2018.

Ruohoniemi's compositions boldly navigate the world of modern jazz, firmly anchored in history. The album features everything from swing and grooving bebop to folk melodies and tango. In addition, there are insightful lyrics in multiple languages.

Sanna Ruohoniemi - vocals and compositions

Fredrik Lindborg - saxophones and bass clarinet

Joonas Haavisto - piano

Lars Ekman - double bass

Daniel Olsson – drums

Picture: Orlando Boström

Jazz-Espa: PUHTI TrioEspan lava, helsinki31.7. At 17:30

keikka

Jazz-Espa is an urban festival produced by the Finnish Jazz Federation, focusing on Finnish jazz music. The event presents a diverse and contemporary selection of top names in Finnish jazz as well as young promising talents to a broad audience.

PUHTI Trio is a unique chamber ensemble in the Finnish music scene, consisting of two woodwind musicians and a cellist. The musicians have a strong background in jazz, improvised music, and classical music. Pepa Päivinen and Jorma Tapio have a shared history dating back to the legendary Edward Vesala's Sound & Fury band from the 1980s. The trio's music is rich and interesting, ranging from carefully composed pieces to intuitive improvisation. The compositions are almost entirely the ensemble's own production. The various wind instruments create a rich and dynamic sound.

Pepa Päivinen – saxophones, flute

Juho Kanervo - cello

Jorma Tapio – saxophones, flutes

Picture: Jouko Vatanen

ISME: ResonaariDuo Vili & Juho with FriendsMusiikkitalo, helsinki31.7. At 17:00

ResonaariDuo Vili & Juho with Friends

Free entry

ResonaariDuo Vili & Juho with Friends performs at Musiikkitalo terrace, as part of the International Society for Music Education's 36th World Conference.

The concert is part of the International Society for Music Education’s 36th World Conference in Helsinki from 28.7.-2.8.2024. The event is hosted by the University of the Arts.