News -page consists of current topics and interesting articles about jazz in Finland.
Top names of suomijazz, singer Mirja Mäkelä, guitarrist Teemu Viinikainen and double bassist Juho Kivivuori tour Finland in ten consecutive concerts in October-November turn. The ten-year anniversary tour is produced by the Finnish Jazz Federation and Jazz HUG.
The Porvoo Jazz Festival comes again! Organised now for the fourth time, the festival has a new crew behind it: drummer Jaska Lukkarinen has been chosen as the new Artistic Director, while Elina Brooks will be acting as the producer. Other key team members include the founder of the festival, Antti Ansas, the graphic designer Hash Varsani and the Porvoo-based cultural handyman, Thomas Törnroos. Headlining acts of this year's festival include Viktoria Tolstoy, the Finnish Jazz Federation Jubilee Orchestra and Jukkis Uotila Quartet feat. Billy Hart.
The Road is Long – Live at Savoy Theatre is the third album by the Finno-Beninese funk-jazz-afrobeat combo. The group aims at funding the new album with the help of crowdfunding. You can contribute on the crowdfunding platform Mesenaatti.
The Finnish Jazz Federation will organize two tours and two co-produced tours in the fall of 2017. Application for the Jazz-Espa Festival 2017, taking place in July, can be completed with the same application form. Application closes on the 16th of October 2016. The Finnish Jazz Federation will complete the selection process before the year’s end.
Oddarrang, known for their inimitable cocktail of electronic soundscapes, jazz and post-rock, release their long-awaited fourth album, Agartha, on British Edition Records this September. The release will be followed by live shows at, for example, the Flame Jazz Cruise and We Jazz Festival 2016.
Italian label Cam Jazz releases the sophomore solo effort of A-listing Finnish jazz pianist Joona Toivanen this September. The outing, Lone Room, will be followed by an album launch tour in Toivanen's two home countries, Finland and Sweden.
The ninth edition of the Flame Jazz Cruise will cast off on Saturday 24 September. This time, the theme is soul, seeing some of Finland's best voices of the genre hit the stage on cruise ship Viking Grace.
Tampere Jazz Happening treats friends of music for the 35th time on 3 – 6 November 2016. Committed to delivering the best of modern jazz, the festival presents 24 music acts, eight of which are Finnish.
We Jazz, now organised for the fourth time, is Helsinki’s biggest annual jazz event. This year’s line-up includes American saxophonist Mark Turner and his quartet, saxophonist Logan Richardson with his Finnish confreres, American-German Amok Amor, the Berlin-based vocalist Lucia Cadotch and Norwegian avant-garde trio Huntsville. Among the Finnish artists to take to the stage are Jukka Perko Avara, Dalindèo, Iro Haarla Trio, Mikko Innanen 10+ and Aki Rissanen Trio. A new group Berlin X Helsinki Ensemble, carried out in collaboration with German festival XJazz, sees Finnish and German jazz stars join forces. Known for exploring new concert concepts for jazz, We Jazz 2016 presents a couple of special concerts at the Lapinlahti Hospital, a loft jazz house party and a number of gallery concerts. Tickets are now available for purchase.
Having released her third album, the boldly intimate Closure, in July, Nina Mya hits the road on a Finnish Jazz Federation tour on 21 September – 1 October. Along with the new disc, the charismatic and adventurous vocalist presented her new band, comprising such A-listing names as Jukka Eskola, Jori Huhtala, Henri Mäntylä, Petri Puolitaival and Tuomas Timonen.
