The free one-day festival, JazzPiknik, fills the heart of Helsinki with first-class Finnish jazz for the last time this summer. Along with the construction work for the new Amos Anderson Art Museum beginning in Lasipalatsi Square this autumn, the event loses its many-year home. Co-organised by the Finnish Jazz Federation and mbar, JazzPiknik has drawn hundreds of jazz enthusiasts to enjoy top artists in the urban milieu over its three-year existence.
JazzPiknik refuses to go quietly, however. With Eero Koivistoinen Quartet, led by the eponymous sax legend; Mopo, the darling rebels of Finnish jazz; and the soul and jazz powerball The Northern Governors as the headliner the last edition of JazzPiknik is nothing if not dynamite. Mopo will be seen on stage twice during the day, entertaining the younger members of the family in the afternoon and the older in the evening.
The festival will be topped off with a tight jam session, hosted by trumpeter Jorma Kalevi Louhivuori, giving us a unique opportunity to witness special one-off line-ups formed by some of Finland’s most brilliant musicians. JazzPiknik is hosted by DJ Markus ”Markka” Partanen, a veteran jazz journalist of the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE’s Jazzradio and a notable figure in the metropolitan jazz club scene.
JazzPiknik
Sun 2 Aug 2015 at 3.30PM - 01.30AM
Lasipalatsi Square & mbar terrace
Free entry
3.30PM DJ Markka
4.00PM Mopo's Kids' Concert (Linda Fredriksson, Eero Tikkanen, Eeti Nieminen)
5.30PM Eero Koivistoinen Quartet (Eero Koivistoinen, Alexi Tuomarila, Jori Huhtala, Jussi Lehtonen)
7:00PM Mopo (Linda Fredriksson, Eero Tikkanen, Eeti Nieminen)
8.30PM The Northern Governors (Jorma Kalevi Louhivuori, Mikael Myrskog, Osmo Ikonen, Petteri Sariola, Jyri Sariola, Linda Fredriksson, Jay Kortehisto)
10.00PM Jam session hosted by JKL – bring your own instruments along!
until 01.30AM DJ Markka
The Lasipalatsi Square area has no age limit but the terrace is restricted to audience aged 20 or more after 6:00PM. The venue has unimpeded access. JazzPiknik is co-organised by the Finnish Jazz Federation ry. and mbar ry. and it is supported by the City of Helsinki Cultural Office, Lasipalatsi Media Centre and the Finnish Music Foundation (MES).
JazzPiknik and Jazz-Espa
JazzPiknik has taken place in the Lasipalatsi Square since 2012 as a part of the Finnish Jazz Federation’s traditional Jazz-Espa Festival. This year’s Jazz-Espa concert series spans two weeks – from 27 July to 7 August – and features twenty major Finnish jazz artists and groups, including UMO Jazz Orchestra, Head to Head, a new project which sees trumpeters Jukka Eskola and Verneri Pohjola join forces, and Koko Jazz Orchestra, the very own house band of Koko Jazz Club, the metropole’s hot spot of jazz. The Jazz-Espa concerts start at 4:00PM and 5:30PM on weekdays and at 12:00 on Saturday 1 August. All concerts are free of charge.
More information and the schedule available on www.jazzespa.fi.