The 23rd Kerava Jazz Festival starts this Thursday, 22 May 2014. Like in previous years, the concerts will be organised around Kerava in milieus ranging from Kerava Sali concert hall to the church. Jam night is traditionally hosted by Pub Robins. The programme comprises international stars, Finnish and Scandinavian top-class jazz artists, without forgetting a splash of local colour.
Kerava Jazz starts on Thursday with the aptly named Finnish group Sarastus’s (“Dawning”) performance at Kerava church. On Friday, the church organ will be switched to a Hammond as drummer André Sumelius’s trio takes the Kerava Sali stage as the first act of the festival’s groove night. In the same concert, the great Pena “Ben Bay” Lahti interprets Cannonball Adderley’s rarer jazz-soul material, backed by a line-up oozing with talent. The night will close at Pub Robins, where Lowland Jamband, composed of such eminent Pohjanmaa lowland –natives as drummer Markus Ketola, guarantees a sweaty jam session.
The two main concerts are organised on Saturday at Kerava Sali. The night is started by composer Eero Hämeenniemi Nada’s 20th anniversary concert, which is followed by Chicagoan vibraphone wizard Jason Adasiewicz’s trio, Sun Rooms. The second concert sees guitarist Kalle Kalima back on the Finnish soil as he takes the helm of a top group, Calamari Union, side by side with such moulders of Scandinavian jazz as saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar. The main act, likewise from Chicago, trio Rempis/Abrams/Ra follows in the footsteps of such hometown greats as Sun Ra but in their own pace and never without straying to new delightful directions.
The Festival closes on Sunday morning with the Jazz Mass at Kerava church.
Kerava Jazz 2014 programme:
http://personal.inet.fi/yhdistys/keravajazz/
Festival tickets: