Jazz Finland Live
OutoJazz 2025 | Sointi Jazz Orchestra,Teatteri Kiisu, outokumpu17.5. At 12:00
Tickets 25 €
After Friday's phusion loadings, the Latauslauantai will be blasted from the start with Sointi Jazz Orchestra filling the air of Teatteri Kiisu.
This 18-piece supergroup, founded in the fall of 2013, is known for its unique jazz orchestra sound, which includes unusual instrumentation and arrangements that make extensive use of replacement instruments. The group annually performs new concert packages tailored specifically for it, with guest soloists ranging from Juhani Aaltonen to Aili Järvelä and Mathias Eick to Maria Faust.
At the OutoJazz gig, Sointi Jazz Orchestra will perform material from their studio album Jäähyväiset (Flame Jazz Records). The album is inspired by the wonders of nature and the contradictory relationship between nature and man. The compositions on the album, hailed as an experiential masterpiece, expand the boundaries of traditional jazz orchestra expression with interesting instrumentation. The songs draw influences from a variety of musical styles as the band reaches out to the edges of jazz orchestral music and beyond. The band's previous performances have been praised as intense, downright captivating experiences, full of joyful grooves. The colorful arrangements and extensive use of replacement instruments that have become SJO's trademarks are also strongly present in the compositions on the new album.
Gigs on the same day in outokumpu
OutoJazz 2025 | Antti Lötjönen + Kalle Kalima duoJauhimo, outokumpu17.5. At 13:30
Tickets 15 €
The enrichment process in the Old Mine ore mill comes to life for a moment when the duo Antti Lötjönen & Kalle Kalima slow down to turn their fine-grained mill.
The meticulous and multi-nuanced playing of bassist Antti Lötjönen, who received the 2024 Yrjö Award from the Finnish Jazz Association and is one of the most respected jazz musicians in Finland, and guitarist Kalle Kalima, who has a wonderful career in Central Europe, are given a completely new lease of life in the minimalistic and beautiful space of the mill.
Their collaboration began at Salo Jazz 2023. In the fall of 2024, the duo recorded the album Stings, Bites and Scratches, which was released by Eclipse Music on January 31, 2025. The OutoJazz gig continues the boundless and imaginative journey that began with the album into the heart of jazz and improvised music.
Antti Lötjönen – double bass
Kalle Kalima – guitar
OutoJazz 2025 | HOTARinnerikastamo, outokumpu17.5. At 14:30
HOTA
Free entry
"Lojjautatko?" was the question asked at the Oravikoski mine when a friend was offered a dose of Hota powder – a now-banned painkiller that also contained a hint of amphetamine in its heyday. We don't know for sure which verb was used to describe the use of this trope at Outokumpu's Old Mine, but here too it was prescribed for headaches caused by explosive gases, among other things.
Hardly anyone has a headache on a Latauslauantai Saturday afternoon, but a dose of HOTA is served to everyone. This time, however, not in powder form and with banned ingredients, but as freely vibrating sound waves at the Rinnerikastamo in the Old Mine.
HOTA is a five-member orchestra that has been operating for about 40 years, originally from Joensuu, and defines its playing as loft improvisation. When you come down from the Jauhimo concert, you can expect a leisurely free jazz float, during which you can also explore the Mining Museum exhibition in the space. Admission to the concert is free!
Martti Haila – saxophone
Jarmo Saarti – percussion
Raino Kukkonen – keyboards
Jari Kupiainen – guitar and electric bass
Hannu Pelkonen – guitar and double bass
OutoJazz 2025 | WishamaliiTeatteri Kiisu, outokumpu17.5. At 16:00
Wishamalii
Tickets 20 €
This line-up consists of three adventurous musicians from very different geographical and musical backgrounds. Having just released their first album Al-Bahr on the German label Nordic Notes, the band is captivating with its completely unique music, wide tonal palette, refined harmony and charming stage charisma. The package is completed by pianist Kari Ikonen's revolutionary invention – the Maqiano micro-tuning device, which allows him to play Arabic maqam scales and other micro-intervals on an acoustic piano!
The name Wishamalii refers to the Nordic way of interpreting Arab-Andalusian Muwashah songs, although the majority of the band's repertoire is music composed especially for this band.
Palestinian-Jordanian singer, oud player and composer Nemat Battah is an active and respected musician in the world music scene in Finland and Sweden. He also works as a lecturer at the Sibelius Academy's Global Music department.
Award-winning Finnish composer and pianist Kari Ikonen is quite a speciality in today's music panorama. He is constantly searching for new paths inspired by the different musical cultures of the universe. Ikonen tours the world as a solo pianist and with several Finnish and international ensembles.
Ethiopian-born Abdissa "Mamba" Assefa is certainly Finland's most prominent percussionist, naturally blending his own musical rhythmic art into any band, situation or genre.
Nemat Battah – vocals, oud
Kari Ikonen – piano (with Maqiano™ microtuner), Moog synthesizer
Abdissa "Mamba" Assefa – percussion
OutoJazz 2025 | Big Band BuffaRavintola Vanha Paja, outokumpu17.5. At 17:00
Outokummun puhallinorkesterin Big Band
Tickets 26,90 €
Although jazz nourishes the soul, the body also needs food. But what could be more perfect than combining the two, and this is achieved more than excellently at OutoJazz's Latauslauantai Big Band Buffa. There, alongside the delicious buffet food at Restaurant Vanhan Paja, easy-to-digest jazz music is served by the Outokumpu brass band Big Band, which is celebrating its 112th anniversary this year. Conductor Mika Hirvonen has put together a repertoire of hand-picked classics for his historic orchestra, which may even be scientifically proven to promote digestion and good mood.
The concert is reserved for diners, so for the same affordable price you can enjoy food, company and good music!
OutoJazz 2025 | Kalmari QuartetTeatteri Kiisu, outokumpu17.5. At 19:30
Kalmari Quartet
Tickets 20 €
Kalmari Quartet is a brand new supergroup, where musicians who have made extensive international careers come together.
The strong expression of Kalmari Quartet stems from diverse experiences and musical views. The unique and rich compositions of the band members (Kalle Kalima, Aki Rissanen, Antti Lötjönen and Markku Ounaskari) are skillfully intertwined, creating a deep and multidimensional soundscape. They flow forward energetically, like a mystical squid rising from the depths of the sea, hiding an endless number of secrets.
The evening will be opened by Antti Lötjönen & Kalle Kalima. Bassist Antti Lötjönen, who recently received the Yrjö Award from the Finnish Jazz Association and is one of the most respected jazz musicians in Finland, and guitarist Kalle Kalima, who has a wonderful career in Central Europe, are on an extensive album release tour. Lötjönen and Kalima's music combines the experience of thousands of gigs on concert stages around the world with the freshness of a new line-up. The gigs and the album released by Tampere-based Eclipse record label offer a boundless and imaginative journey into the heart of jazz and improvised music.
Kalle Kalima – guitar
Aki Rissanen – piano
Antti Lötjönen – double bass
Markku Ounaskari – drums
OutoJazz 2025 | LATAUSLAUANTAIN ILTAKLUBI Matilda Nikkinen ja Maja Mannila TrioRavintola Vanha Paja, outokumpu17.5. At 20:00
Matilda Nikkinen
Tickets 20 €
The opening act of the Saturday night OutoJazz club is the young singer-songwriter and soprano Matilda Nikkinen.
In addition to her work as a vice-chancellor, Nikkinen openly draws influences from many different genres, but soul, R&B and jazz are especially close to her heart. The most important thing in music for her is the freedom to be exactly who she is and to express herself without external frames – then the soul of the music can flourish in itself! At the OutoJazz gig, Nikkinen's songs will be arranged for a piano trio. The singer, who has performed as a soloist with the Joensuu City Orchestra and at the Joensuu Arena on several occasions, has a strong view of music and its role in the world. This will be unclear to no one when Matilda's delicate and at the same time unashamedly powerful voice takes over the atmospheric restaurant hall of Vanha Paja!
On Saturday night, the OutoJazz party continues and continues, when the impressive young jazz/soul singer, pianist and composer Maja Mannila and her trio take over the Iltaklubi stage.
The musician, who comes from a family of musicians, has a sure grip on music while emphasizing the importance of freedom and fun in creating and playing music. With her band, she performs her own English-language songs, which are a mix of r'n'b, soul, jazz and gospel music. Maja Mannila Trio was selected to represent Finnish new jazz at the 2023 Nordic Jazz Comets event. Internationally, the band has performed in, among others, Japan, Germany, Slovenia, England and Estonia. In addition, Maja had two concerts in April 2023 as a soloist of the Kaunas Big Band in Lithuania with her own material. Maja also plays and sings in the young, emerging band Peela. In 2021-22, she performed in Iiro Rantala's Flock band, touring Central Europe.
Maja's debut album Up & Down, released in June 2022, was well received by the Finnish media. Her second album Seasons was released in November 2023.
