News -page consists of current topics and interesting articles about jazz in Finland.
The first ever JazzHUG cruise takes the audience on a live jazz trip on the Baltic Sea. The ship leaves the Helsinki harbor on November 30th and returns in the morning of the 2nd of December. Rap artist Paleface will host the cruise and present seven Finnish live acts and a fierce jam session.
Hammond organ player Kalle Salonen hosts a new club in Bar Loose, starting in November. Salonen and his houseband play their own material, and the guest's compositions that are arranged for Hammond.
'Live With Lassy' double vinyl presents Lassy's Helsinki concerts in 2012. The release concert takes place in Savoy Theatre on December 14.
In the top 20 there's also another Finnish name, Alexi Tuomarila Trio. Drummer Olavi Louhivuori plays on both of the albums, Oddarrang's 'In Cinema' and Alexi Tuomarila's 'Seven Hills', and also on Susanne Abbuehl's charted record 'The Gift'.
The final concert of the Esko Linnavalli competition was aired live on YLE 1 radio on Thursday, the 7th of November. In the concert UMO Jazz Orchestra played ten best compositions out of the 30 original applicants. Teemu Takanen's 'Waiting For You' was awarded the first prize, and the second place was shared between Joonas Leppänen's composition 'Big Sur' and Teemu Halmkrona's 'Parting The Ways'.
The members of this improvising trio hail from Central Finland and West Coast, but the oil that burns in this machine is drilled from the rich and organic musical ground of Pispala esker, Tampere. That’s probably the reason why Black Motor sounds like a brotherhood of jazz and rock. The band narrows its influences down to “the continuum of Afro-American music, the many shades of blues ambiance, from swing to free jazz and punk rock”.
Liberty Ship, formed in 2012, navigates the deep waters of free jazz and improvised music in constant pursuit of liberated self-expression. Acclaimed saxophonist and composer Esa Pietilä leads this all-star quartet of accomplished Finnish jazz musicians, pushing each musician to the boundaries of their creative ability. Liberty Ship is without a doubt one of the most exciting and adventurous projects to emerge from the booming Finnish jazz scene.
Pianist and composer Kari Ikonen has been awarded the annual "Yrjö" award as the Finnish Jazz Musician of the Year. The Finnish Jazz Federation presented the accolade to Ikonen in Oulu on Saturday October 19 during the Finnish Jazz Convention. "Yrjö" is considered the highest accolade in Finnish jazz.
The composer Jussi Lampela will invite guest soloist to share the stage with his ensemble, first up: Verneri Pohjola 5 November.
Read John Fordham's review on Oddarrang's new album.
