At Savitaipale Soi festival, Maarit Hurmerinta and Aili Ikonen, the scintillating singers, will shine as the stars of Saturday’s outdoor concert. On Sunday in a church milieu, Jukka Perko with a special guest, Verneri Pohjola, will blow new life into traditional hymns.
In June, jazz will invade Savitaipale in many shapes and sizes as the three-day festival, Savitaipale Soi, offers ten concerts with almost 40 musicians in total.
This year, the emphasis will be on female vocalists and horns. The outdoor concert, organised on the final Saturday of June, has Maarit Hurmerinta, as lovely as ever, and dazzling jazz singer, Aili Ikonen. At Sunday’s church concert, the afternoon is opened by Sibelius Academy’s trombone quartet, Sibabones, followed by Jukka Perko’s trio project, Avara, with trumpeter Verneri Pohjola as their soloist.
The festival starts on Friday at Kartanohotelli Olkkolan Hovi, where a pair of young, talented siblings from Lappeenranta, Janne and Annika Valkeajoki, take the stage as the first performers of the night and the whole festival. Playing the accordion and the cello, the duo aims at demonstrating the many faces of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music; its solemnity, on the one hand, and the almost danceable lightness, on the other. Later on in the evening, the young Savitaipale-native singer-songwriter Tiina Korsakoff, will perform her original material straight from her secret notebooks.
The picnic style outdoor concert on Saturday in the grounds of Savitaipale Hakamäki museum is opened by the praised band Ammuu. The band plays children’s music and after the concert organises a music workshop for the younger members of the audience. The next festival guest, the award-winning jazz trio HERD with Aili Ikonen on vocals, will take the audience to nostalgic landscapes of Finnish popular songs in jazz arrangements. World music follows, as the ten-piece, Tri Cohiba, will demonstrate how to do the samba. Saturday night will be closed by the first lady of Finnish soul-rock, Maarit Hurmerinta and her band.
On Sunday horns will shimmer at Savitaipale church as Sibelius Academy’s trombone quartet, Sibabones, opens the final day of the festival. In the afternoon, the audience will be treated to the music of the spheres by saxophonist Jukka Perko’s group, Avara. The final tint on Avara’s luminous arrangements of traditional hymns will be added by the master of sonic chiaroscuro, trumpeter Verneri Pohjola.
SAVITAIPALE SOI 2014 / PROGRAMME:
Fri 27 June
Janne & Annika Valkeajoki
Kartanohotelli Olkkolan Hovi / at 6.00PM
Tiina Korsakoff, Plain Andy & The Amulettes
Ravintola Sahrami / at 9.00PM
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Sat 28 June / Hakamäki Museum grounds
Lastenmusiikkiorkesteri Ammuu / at 2.00PM
HERD & Aili Ikonen ”Jazzbasilli” / at 3.00PM
Tri Cohiba Live Salsa / at 5.00PM
Maarit & Sami Hurmerinta Band / at 7.00PM
Tri Cohiba + DJ Papá Montero
Restaurant Sahrami / at 9.00
Jarkka Rissanen & Tero Kaario Duo
Restaurant Piilipuu / at 9.00PM
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Sun 29 June
Sibabones Trombone Quartet
Savitaipale Church / at 2.00PM
Jukka Perko Avara feat. Verneri Pohjola
Savitaipale Church / at 4.00PM
Further information: Festival director Mika Terho / Savitaipale Soi ry. +358(0)500-879 056