Finnish Jazz Federation, the umbrella organisation of Finnish jazz, has awarded drummer Markku Ounaskari with the Yrjö award on Friday 31 October at Tullikamarin Pakkahuone, Tampere Jazz Happening. The Yrjö is the most prestigious jazz prize in Finland. The Varjo-Yrjö, granted by the Finnish Broadcasting Company, Yleisradio, was given to the Turku-based jazz society Flame Jazz. In addition to the two prizes, the Andania prize, to honour a life's work in the field of jazz, was given to Juha Söder. Söder has been an active and long-standing member and the President of the Finnish Jazz Federation.
Valtakunnalliset Jazzpäivät (National Jazz Convention), initiated in 1967, is an annual jazz event, organised in a changing location and with a different member association each year. The Finnish Jazz Federation holds its general annual meeting and rewards an accomplished Finnish jazz musician with the Yrjö prize at the Jazzpäivät. The Yrjö is the most prestigious jazz award and the biggest acknowledgement that a jazz musician can receive for his or her work in Finland. In 2013 the winning artist was pianist Kari Ikonen.
This year, Valtakunnalliset Jazzpäivät took place in Tampere, jointly with the Tampere Jazz Happening. The Yrjö prize 2014 was given to drummer Markku Ounaskari. Ounaskari's successful international career was seen strongly in his favour by the Finnish Jazz Federation.
Ounaskari's style is characterised by his excellent skill of reading the musical form and the dramatic arch in any situation and genre. An individual sense of groove and way of interpreting rhythm are some of the cornerstones of his distinctive, subtle style that has no equal in Finland. A fine example of a very musical drummer and an excellent musician in his own right, Ounaskari was an obvious choice for the winner of the Yrjö prize this year, says Jaska Lukkarinen, a member of the board of the Finnish Jazz Federation and a drummer himself.
The material Yrjö prize is a work of art, made by an artist native of the city where the Jazzpäivät takes place that particular year – this year the sculpture "Kaksi vasenta kättä ja yksi oikea" ("Two left hands and one right") by Anssi Kasitonni. "You know a bad drummer from the fact that they have two left hands, an ok drummer from having one left and one right hand and an excellent drummer from having two left hands and one right", describes the artist.
The Finnish Broadcasting Company Yleisradio's Varjo-Yrjö prize was rewarded for notable contributions to the Finnish jazz culture at the same event. The prize was received by the Turku-based jazz society Flame Jazz, managed by Jussi Fredriksson, for reviving the old capital's jazz life with new jazz events and clubs.
Flame Jazz was originally started to increase the jazz concert offerings during the year 2011 when Turku held the title of the European Capital of Culture. However, Flame Jazz came to stay, and has ever since enriched the jazz scene of Turku significantly. Flame Jazz collaborates with local players and has been ingenious in funding new local arenas for Finnish jazz. The founder and coordinator Jussi Fredriksson has created several new forums for live jazz, of which the most visible have been perhaps the increasingly popular Flame Jazz boat cruises between Turku and Stockholm, says Markus Partanen, the host of Yle's Jazzradio.
A versatile handyman of jazz, Fredriksson received another prize very recently when the Finnish Musicians' Union granted him the annual recognition award at Helsingin Musiikkimessut on 24 October 2014.