Turku Music Festival features a series of four jazz concerts in Linnateatteri during 14th to 17th of August. The concerts are co-produced by Flame Jazz.
The first shots in the four-day jazz barrage are fired on Wednesday night by one of the pioneers in suomijazz, saxophonist Jukka Perko with his intensively swinging Streamline Jazztet ensemble. The band's repertoire is a compilation of Finnish and international evergreens with a fresh bebop twist.
On Thursday night the riverside stage of Linnateatteri is dedicated to two piano trios. First one features the captain of the Flame Jazz flagship, Jussi Fredriksson. The trio plays Fredriksson's new compositions. The second piano act of the doubleheader is Aki Rissanen Trio. Rissanen has received a flood of praise for his new Amorandum project, which combines animation films to music.
The weekend starts on Friday with a sweet and playful jazz evergreen concert by Herd trio featuring vocalist Aili Ikonen. The "Jazzbasilli" (jazz bacilli) repertoire presents vocal jazz schlagers and other loved tunes from the past. Laila Kinnunen's hit songs get a new and exciting form in the hands of these young and mischievous doctors - they may not aim to cure the bacilli but just spread the epidemic!
The Flame Jazz @ TMF concert series peaks in the much-awaited performance of Koko Jazz Orchestra, which is the house band of the sizzling jazz club Koko in Helsinki. Koko Jazz Club was founded by bassist Timo Hirvonen in 2010, and the orchestra lay its cornerstone shortly after by Hirvonen, drummer Jussi Lehtonen and pianist Jussi Fredriksson. In the afterparty concert of the Turku Music Festival the Koko Jazz Orchestra plays its founders' electric material arranged for four wind instruments and rhythm section.
Wed 14.8.2013 at 21 Jukka Perko Streamline Jazztet
Jukka Perko – sax
Teemu Viinikainen – g
Ville Herrala – b
Teppo Mäkynen – dr
Thu 15.8.2013 at 20 Piano Trio Music: Aki Rissanen Trio + Jussi Fredriksson Trio
AKI RISSANEN TRIO
Aki Rissanen – p
Antti Lötjönen – b
Teppo Mäkynen – dr
JUSSI FREDRIKSSON TRIO
Jussi Fredriksson – p
Jori Huhtala – b
Mika Kallio – dr
Fri 16.8.2013 at 21 Herd & Aili Ikonen “Jazzbasilli"
Aili Ikonen – voc
Panu Savolainen - vibr
Mikko Pellinen – b
Tuomas Timonen – dr
La 17.8.2013 klo 22 Koko Jazz Orchestra
Tero Saarti – trp
Ville Vannemaa – a. sax
Joonatan Rautio – ten. sax
Kasperi Sarikoski – trmb
Jussi Fredriksson – keys
Timo Hirvonen – b
Jussi Lehtonen – dr
All concerts at the Linnateatteri restaurant, address: Linnankatu 31.
Tickets to the concerts: 25/20€ (www.lippupalvelu.fi)