The cozy and high-quality SaloJazz Festival will be held for the thirteenth time at the end of September during the market weekend.
The SaloJazz Festival features seven concerts and a jazz brunch with performers from Finland as well as guests from the United States, Estonia, Sweden, and Denmark. The four-day music event includes concerts at Restaurant Musine, Salo's main library, and the Salo Parish Hall.
This fall's program also introduces a new feature: talk sessions. The event kicks off with a panel discussion "One Hundred Reasons to Come to Salo," where the importance of culture and events in Salo's urban landscape and ways to improve collaboration between events, businesses, and the city will be discussed. The panel will be musically introduced by drummer Teppo Mäkynen. Other panelists include Maria Silvennoinen, Executive Director of the Finnish Jazz Federation, Salo's new Cultural Manager Mikko Nortela, and entrepreneur and city council member Stina Siikonen.
On Friday, the festival features two concerts. The quartet led by vocalist Karmen Rõivassepp, which has established itself in Scandinavia since its debut in 2018 and is breaking into the broader European jazz scene, opens the evening. Rõivassepp won the 2024 Estonian Music Awards for Jazz Album of the Year and was named Jazz Musician of the Year at the 2024 Jazzkaar Festival in Estonia. Friday evening concludes with The Stance Brothers performing Teppo Mäkynen's music, blending influences from Brazilian funk and sample-based hip hop. The evening wraps up with traditional jazz jams.
Saturday begins with two free concerts. The first, at Salo Library, features the fresh Kadi Vija 3 ensemble. Kadi Vija is known for her phenomenal vocal style and instrumental use of her voice. The SaloJazz collaboration with music schools continues with a performance by the Mikko's Band ensemble from Espoo Music Institute's pop-jazz department at Musine.
The Kuparisali at Salo Parish Hall hosts American singer Sharón Clark and Swedish pianist Mattias Nilsson, who have performed together for several years. Their concert program is built around the 100th birth anniversary of singer Sarah Vaughan.
The Kaira band brings together an interesting combination of leading music and cultural influencers. The band's unique concept involves top jazz musicians coming together once a decade to create a new Finnish jazz album. Kaira's second album Air was released in March 2024, featuring a powerful horn section representing the pinnacle of Finnish jazz. Saturday late night features the rising star of Finnish indie music Arppa with his jazz band.
The festival concludes on Sunday with a Jazz Brunch featuring pianist Markus Niittynen, who has selected a program of traditional jazz classics. SaloJazz's Executive Director Marko Heikura will present the festival program and performers during the preview event on Thursday, September 12.
Program
Thursday 12.9.
19:00 Jazz Introduction: Festival Program, Musine
Thursday 26.9.
19:00 "One Hundred Reasons to Come to Salo" Panel, Musine
Friday 27.9.
19:00 Karmen Rõivassepp Quartet (EE/DK), Musine
21:15 The Stance Brothers, Musine
22:30 Jams
Saturday 28.9.
12:00 Kadi Vija 3, Salo Library
14:00 Mikko's Band, Musine
17:00 Sharón Clark / Mattias Nilsson (US/SE), Parish Hall
19:00 KAIRA, Musine
21:30 ARPPA, Musine
22:45 DJ
Sunday 29.9.
11:00 Jazz Brunch / "Standards and Collected Classics," Musine
Karmen Rõivassepp Quartet © Martin Dam Kristensen