Jazz Finland Live

Free entry

The Tower's jazz Saturday features as its guest awarded trumpetist and soulful vocalist Mikko Pettinen, who performs together with pianist Lassi Kouvo.

Open event

Tickets 20 €

Winner of Jazz Emma of the Year Selma Savolainen brings her Horror Vacui ensemble to Linnajazz Club at Suistoklubi.

Selma Savolainen - vocals
Max Zenger - clarinets
Toomas Keski-Säntti - piano
Eero Tikkanen - doublebass
Okko Saastamoinen - drums

Open event

Tickets 30 €, Saturday pass 45€

Piotr Schmidt is a Polish jazz trumpeter, music producer, band leader, and an assistant professor at the jazz department of Nysa College. Schmidt earned his Doctor of Music degree in 2016. Schmidt has released 16 albums under his own name. Since 2011, he has consistently placed among the top spots in the Trumpet Soloist of the Year category in the Jazz Top poll conducted by Jazz Forum magazine.

The music heard in Kerava mainly consists of material from the album Komeda Unknown 1967. The background of the album is interesting. The most internationally known composer of Polish jazz music, Krzysztof Komeda, composed music to the poems of Polish poets. Six of these compositions remained unrecorded and were believed to be lost forever. However, the director of the Komeda Heritage Foundation, Krzysztof Balkiewicz, found the manuscripts of these compositions in the National Library of Warsaw. Knowing Schmidt's skills in composition and arrangement, Balkiewicz gave him the manuscripts to work on. Schmidt interpreted them in his own way but perfectly succeeds in conveying the spirit of Komeda's era on the album Komeda Unknown 1967.

Open event

Free entry

In the music of pianist Joonas Haavisto and Lithuanian saxophonist Kęstutis Vaiginis, crystal-clear melodies blend with Baltic melancholy, creating a foundation for dynamic interplay. The duo's sound ranges from sacred spaces to wild torrents.

Haavisto and Vaiginis met during the after-jam sessions of Lithuania's largest piano competition, Jazz Improvizacija, in 2006. Since then, they have toured as a duo, a quartet, and with chamber orchestras. Their debut album Moon Bridge was recorded at Oslo's Rainbow Studios and released worldwide by the Japanese label Eight Island in 2024.

Both musicians have established notable international careers with their own ensembles. Vaiginis has collaborated with artists such as David Kikoski and Mike Stern. Later in the evening, Vaiginis will also perform in the festival's main concert as a member of the Piotr Schmidt Quintet. Haavisto, a Steinway artist, has performed with his trio at venues such as the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York and the Tokyo Jazz Festival in Japan.

Open event

Tickets 30€, Saturday pass 45€

The performer in the first part of the concert, saxophonist, pianist, bandleader, and composer Mark Fransman (b. 1976), hails from Cape Town. Fransman's musical style is therefore characteristically South African, with stirring melodies and expressive (poly)rhythms. Fransman has performed with artists such as Pharaoh Sanders, Abdullah Ibrahim, and Manu Dibango. In Kerava, Fransman will present the repertoire of his Homage Trio, featuring bassist Tapani Varis and drummer Simo Laihonen.

In the second part of the concert, Sointi Jazz Orchestra will be joined by British pianist, composer, and bandleader Ivo Neame. Neame is internationally recognized as one of the most innovative figures in the contemporary jazz scene. The concert will feature Neame's compositions for jazz orchestra, arranged for the Sointi Jazz Orchestra. Led by Rasmus Soini, the Sointi Jazz Orchestra is an innovative 17-piece ensemble, known for its unique sound, which arises from its unconventional use of various instruments.

Open event

Free entry
Showtime at 21:00

Boogie On The Rocks (Shaken AND Stirred!) throws a party at Bar Bulldogissa!

Open event

Tickets 20 €

Originally, Street Level was formed for a couple concerts, but since the cooperation worked well, the trio kept going. The event starts with a solo bass concert and a bass clinic by Jan-Olof Strandberg.

Open event