The first Beatwave Festival of the year at mbar will be a memorable one; the festival will host the biggest names in its history this June. Beatwave Festival’s partner is Red Bull Music Academy, and in co-operation with mbar will present three hot artists, Ladi6 (NZ), Onra (FR) and FaltyDL (US) first time in Helsinki. At the same weekend, on Sunday, mbar will also host the Söndag Jazz jam sessions.
Beatwave Festival 5 June to 8 June
On Saturday 7 June, two different metropolises and two different continents meet as two mighty producers, FaltyDL from New York and edGeCut form New Delhi, each bring the sound of their home city to Helsinki. FaltyDL is a producer of electronic music who blends classic genres of the Big Apple, hip hop, dubstep, garage, soul, jungle and electronica among others, without forgetting the more nostalgic incarnations of NY and Chicago club music, in his sets. A talented Finnish RBMA alumnus, Somepoe, will be seen on stage on the same night.
Like the New Yorker, Indian producer, EdGeCut, will also give his first show in Finland on Saturday. He fashions his music from equally hybrid elements, combining genres from dub and break music to drum’n’bass and psychedelic sounds, while the foundations lie in jazz, classical Indian sound and electronic music. Behind the stage name is the man Ish Shehrawat, also the president of Sound Reasons Festival. His live set at the Beatwave Festival is preceded by trio, 3 Corners of the World, composed by Petri Kuljuntausta (FI), David Rothenberg (US) and Robert Jürjendal (EST). Organic and electronic elements shake hands in their ambient sound.
The main act on Friday 6 June is the French MPC wizard, Onra. He is one of the most interesting beat artisans that have emerged in recent years. Onra’s releases “Chinoseries” and “Long Distance” are textbook examples of the art of sampling and digging up original, rare samples. On Friday night, Finnish sound is represented by High Hopes DJs, Leo Luxxxus, Nada and Freddy M.
Thursday, the opening night is dedicated to Finnish first-class DJs; Desto, Fanu, Quadra and The Blue Explosion of Love From Outer Space. Their styles range from R’n’B and hip hop beats to disco and house and from jungle and half-tempo to juke, and footwork.
Beatwave Festival continues until small hours on both Friday and Saturday on the mbar indoor stage. At Friday's after party, VJ Indigo will conjure up juicy visuals as the sound department is the responsibility of Estonian DJs L-OW and 1derl&. Saturday’s after party is dominated by bass music by courtesy of Mean Seed DJs.
Söndag Jazz 8 June
Ladi6, who has been dubbed as the Erykah Badu of New Zealand, is seen performing on the Finnish soil for the first time on Sunday 8 June, at the Söndag Jazz (Sunday Jazz) jam night. The dreamily husky-voiced singer takes a fresh approach to contemporary soul and hip hop in her vocals. The Finnish sound is represented by The Irrationals, who are currently finishing their new album. The Irrationals will be joined by top-class guests, Tuomo, Sara Sayed and Thelo Ekow, each grabbing the mike in their turn. Last year Söndag Jazz sessions saw such names as J.K.L. Quintet and rapper Gracias. DJs Aleksi Myllykoski and BennyBen will entertain Söndag Jazz audience during the intervals.
The final Söndag Jazz club night of summer 2014 is held on 17 August. This will be a special occasion as the closing night presents two internationally acclaimed Finnish trumpeters, Jukka Eskola and Verneri Pohjola’s, new group, Head to Head. Far from the traditional solo battling, this group aims at probing the heights where the unique instrumentation of two trumpets can reach.
Söndag Jazz, managed by Aleksi Myllykoski, is realised in co-operation with fashion label Makia.
Jazziest 15 June
Mbar treats the audience to more jazz the following Sunday, 15 June, when club series Jazziest, concentrating on new, cool, Finnish jazz acts, continues. This time the stage is taken by Rime, a group founded by vocalist Sara Sayed and saxophonist Antti Hynninen. Initially began as a vocalist-producer duo, the group grows into a six-piece when playing live. The live band includes Antti Kujanpää (keys), Tapio Backlund (bass), Jooel Laakkonen (drums) ja Juhani Grönroos (guitar). Rime has performed at Flow Festival, for instance, and the debut “Our Kingdom”, was released already three years ago, in 2011. Their sophomore will come out shortly.
mbar oy Mannerheimintie 22-24 00100 Helsinki