News -page consists of current topics and interesting articles about jazz in Finland.
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.
If you notice album or live reviews or articles on Finnish jazz, interviews on Finnish musicians or other international, edited web material, please share the link or text with us and leave a note to press(at)jazzfinland.fi. We'll publish the texts in original language in our blog section and aim for creating them a section of their own in the future, if it seems that we're receiving a lot of material.
In Cinema album takes Oddarrang's sounds deep into visual storytelling. The release concert is also a film concert at the We Jazz 2013 festival in December
The annual Finnish Jazz Convention is an event bringing together many of the key figures on the field of Finnish jazz. Traditionally the Jazz Convention is organized by a member organization of the Finnish Jazz Federation. This year's concert program is produced by the Oulu-based Jazz 20 association. The recipient of the Yrjö Award will also be published in the headliner concert on Saturday.
One of the names to keep your eye on, Maratone Quintet, goes on a four-concert tour in Finland.
