The 37th annual Tampere Jazz Happening will begin this Thursday, 1st November, 2018. The opening concert of this year’s festival is provided free of charge for the audiences, and features altogether three Austrian ensembles: Mario Rom’s Interzone, Kompost 3, and Elektro Guzzi.
Starting on Friday, all three venues of the Tullikamari plaza – Pakkahuone, Klubi, and Telakka – will be filled with concerts by some of the most interesting artists in modern jazz. Friday night’s concert event at the Pakkahuone venue will begin with the award ceremonies of the Yrjö Award, which is the most prestigious prize given to jazz musicians in Finland, presented by Jazz Finland (former Finnish Jazz Federation). The evening will continue with performances by Henri Texier Sand Quintet from France, Norwegian composer Trygwe Seim and his work titled “Helsinki Songs”, as well as Josef Leimberg & The Astral Progressions Orchestra hailing from the U.S.
Olavi Louhivuori’s ”The Net of Indra” will begin the festival program on Saturday. This new ensemble consists of some of the top musicians in Nordic jazz. During the same concert event, the audience will also be treated to performances by the Slovakian pianist Kaja Draksler’s octet, as well as the French-Cuban ¿Que vola?, whose musical style ingeniously combines jazz with rumba. Furthermore, the evening event at Pakkahuone on Saturday will be opened by a very interesting collaboration of two drummers: Hamid Drake from the U.S. and Yuko Oshima from Japan. The event will be concluded by the ensemble Rymden, which includes Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström from the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, complemented by Norwegian pianist Bugge Wesseltoft.
On the last festival day on Sunday, the Pakkahuone stage will include concerts by Fire! Orchestra, lead by Mats Gustafsson, Jamie Baum Septet+ from New York, as well as the legendary, pioneering avant-garde orchestra, The Art Ensemble of Chicago.
The late nights of the festival will offer intensive grooves at the Klubi concerts. On Friday night, the listeners will be enchanted by the Ghost-Note, who are launching their European tour at the Tampere Jazz Happening. Equally groovy, Timo Lassy & Ricky-Tick Big Band Brass will take the Klubi stage on Saturday.
The concerts at the Telakka venue will focus on some of the most stellar artists in Finnish jazz. Friday’s event will feature Tampere’s very own Black Motor. The evening continues with performances by Martti Vesala Soundpost Quintet and Maxxxtet lead by Max Zenger. Saturday’s sold-out event at Telakka will include concerts by 3TM lead by drummer Teppo Mäkynen, as well as the ensembles Halme Prospekt and Mopo feat. Mikko Innanen. Emma Salokoski & Ilmiliekki Quartet will play at the final concert event of the festival on Sunday, which is also provided free of charge to the audiences. The final concert can also be listened to as a live broadcast on Yle Radio 1.
Photo: Elektro Guzzi by Klaus Pichler