News -page consists of current topics and interesting articles about jazz in Finland.
Finnish-Beninese group, Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble, began the summer season by spending a week in the city of Bari in Apulia, Italy. The group played live thrice during their stay at Bari in Jazz Festival. http://www.bariinjazz.it/
The opening concert of the second We Jazz happening presents American trumpeter Avishai Cohen with his trio, Teppo Mäkynen’s Serenity Ensemble, and Jussi Fredriksson’s rare solo piano performance. The opening address of the jazz week will be given by M. A. Numminen, the patron of the festival. This year the festival tests the appeal of a new, special ticket type.
Last year, Tampere Jazz Happening introduced three Danish jazz groups at the festival’s opening concert. The fruitful co-operation continues this year in the shape of band exchange, as three groups from Tampere have been booked to play at Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2014. Copenhagen Jazz Festival begins next week, on 4 July.
Kalkkiranta Jazz, organised in Sipoo by the sea on 16 August, brings some of the brightest stars of Finnish jazz on the stage. This year’s performers are Tuomo, Timo Kärmäräinen & Teemu Viinikainen duo and trio HERD & Aili Ikonen with a special guest, Vieno Kekkonen. The driving force behind the programme has been the festival’s new artistic director, vibraphonist Panu Savolainen.
Finnish group Jazz Wars, led by pianist-composer Jussi Fredriksson, will give a three-concert tour in Northern Italy this July.
Joonas Haavisto Trio has been booked by the acclaimed Tokyo Jazz Festival whose programme this year includes such names as Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Benny Golson and Christian McBride. The trio will perform on 6 September at the legendary The Plaza, which has hosted several ECM artists’ concerts in earlier years.
The Helsinki-based jazz production organisation We Jazz is planning on releasing an exclusive documentary on the last December’s inaugural We Jazz festival. In actuality the venture is still uncertain, but We Jazz is confident that there are enough people who are – to borrow the organisation’s own slogan – “into jazz” to enable the project.
Jazz Finland Festival, that is organized in Helsinki in 18 - 21 September 2014, presents in its seminar program views to international music business and production of jazz events.
Koko Jazz Club was awarded with the JAMU prize 2014 by Jazzmuusikot ry (Finnish Jazz Musicians association). The prize is granted to any person or body in recognition of their contribution to the status of jazz music in Finland.
Markus Pesonen (b. 1984) is a Berlin-based Finnish composer, musician, sound artist and photographer. Pesonen employs an interdisciplinary approach to making art, combining art forms ranging from performing arts to music and visual arts. His new exhibition, "Water", is an audio-visual experience combining image with live music. Café Bar No 9 hosts the exhibition that opened on 9 June and closes on 6 July.
