Jyväskylä is a thriving student hub in Central Finland. In addition to the colourful campus life and various subcultures, the city has particularly much to offer to music lovers, and jazz is no exception. Jazz Jkl association was founded in 2017 to bring high level jazz concerts to downtown Jyväskylä.
One of the founding members of Jazz Jkl association, guitarist Tuomas Paukku, loves his home town for its vibrant culture life:
– In Jyväskylä there are plenty of young adults and students. Different music genres and alternative subcultures live side by side here, and jazz has a lot of potential new audience in the crossing point, Paukku says. He feels that the jazz-related institutions that already exist in the city, are doing well and echoing the message with a good energy.
– Jyväskylä Big Band, Air Force Big Band, the students and faculty of Jyväskylä Polytechnic and the jam sessions in the downtown club Poppari form a solid backbone to the local jazz culture. The audience who come to our jazz concerts is pretty diverse, depending on the artists and the venue, reflects Paukku. His own ensemble, Jazz Jkl Collective, features four generations of musicians, and their concerts draw also seniors to the mix.
The students might find the next concerts particularly interesting: on March 2 the coolest Finnish trumpeter Jukka Eskola takes the Poppari stage with his acclaimed Soul Trio, with Mikko Helevä on organ and Teppo Mäkynen on drums; and on Thursday, April 4 bassist Janne “Jean Erik” Tuovinen plays with his band.
Upcoming Jazz Jkl Live concerts
Sat 2.3. Jukka Eskola Soul Trio, Poppari at 7pm, tickets 12/8 €
Thu 4.4. Jean Erik, Poppari at 8pm, tickets 10/6 €
Fri 19.4. Good Jazz Friday: Olavi Louhivuori Superposition! + Jazz Jkl Collective feat. Heidi Ilves, Poppari at 6pm, tickets 15/10 €
Thu 16.5. Jere Haakana Varjosto, Poppari at 8pm, tickets 10/6 €
Photo: Jukka Eskola, photographed by Miikka Pirinen
www.jazzjkl.fi
www.facebook.com/jazzjkl