DIG. Festival, organised by the jazz department of the Sibelius Academy, will come for the twelfth time at the end of October. The festival features influential guests from Finland and abroad, including American guitarist Mike Stern and UMO, Teemu Viinkainen and Mika Kallio of the Finnish household names.
It is the time of the yearly DIG. Festival again. The twelfth edition of the jazz festival, organised by the jazz department of the Sibelius Academy, takes place at Helsinki Music Centre from 28 to 30 October 2014. DIG. features a bunch of A-listing jazzers from Finland and abroad. The international star this year is American guitarist Mike Stern, one of the most influential talents of his generation. Stern will perform with a group of Finnish artists of the highest standard. However, concert halls Black Box and Camerata will be filled with Finnish music in especial: UMO Jazz Orchestra features several notable soloists, either current students or alumni of the Academy, and solo performances will be heard from guitarist Teemu Viinikainen and drummer Mika Kallio. Also, two groups that are right now on Finnish jazz enthusiasts’ lips gig at DIG.: a Finnish super band JSR, led by guitar hero Jarmo Saari, and drummer Mikko Hassinen’s stellar quintet Elektro GT that draws from the exciting world of electronic music.
Mike Stern (b. 1953) has belonged to the most respected jazz guitarists already for several decades. Membership in Miles Davis’s band in the early 1980s catapulted Stern to fame, and the young guitarist played also with drummer Billy Cobham and Blood Sweat & Tears. He has led his own groups since 1985 and released 15 albums, the latest of which, All Over the Place, came out in 2012. Moreover, he has made guest appearances with Brecker Brothers and Yellowjackets and, in the 80s, Sibelius Academy’s Professor of jazz music Jukkis Uotila’s group. Stern’s new album, Eclectic, is a collaborative work with guitarist Eric Johnson at just a right time for the festival. Finns Joonatan Rautio (sax), Tmo Hirvonen (bass) and Jussi Lehtonen (drums) will take the stage alongside Stern at DIG. Festival.
Similarly to previous years, DIG invites a host of famous Sibelius Academy alumni to take the limelight: the brightest stars of Finnish jazz, Aili Ikonen, Joonatan Rautio and Jukka Eskola – each graduates of the academy – front UMO Jazz Orchestra on Thursday 30 October. The concert programme consists of pieces that have been composed or arranged especially for the occasion, mainly premieres, that is. The compositions have been penned by either former or current students and teachers, such as Teemu Takanen, Artturi Rönkä, Sampo Kasurinen and Jarno Kukkonen. Two exceptional artists, Mika Kallio and Teemu Viinikainen, each take up the challenge of giving a solo performance: these masters of their own instrument will be seen on Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30, respectively. The guitar wizard Jarmo Saari presents his newest project JSR, with three very different drummers: Abdissa “Mamba” Assefa, Sami Kuoppamäki and Joonas Riippa. Drummer Mikko Hassinen, in turn, leads his hyped quintet Elektro GT on stage on Wednesday. They will present material from their recent album, taking the audience on a trip into the borderland of jazz and electronic music.
DIG. will be wrapped up on Thursday night with a final jam session, which will no doubt bring the roof down.
Copies of Eclectic by Mike Stern and Eric Johnson for press use on: press@heihei.fi
http://www.facebook.com/digfestivaali
http://www.siba.fi/whats-on
DIG. Festival 2014, Helsinki Music Centre / Black Box & Camerata 28 –30 October
Tue 28 Oct at 7:00PM, Black Box: Mike Stern (US) with Finnish Friends.
Tickets: 37,50 / 27,50 / 17,50 € (Lippupalvelu ), 35 / 25 / 15 € (Helsinki Music Centre box office)
Wed 29 Oct at 7:00, Black Box & Camerata: Elektro GT, Mika Kallio solo, JSR.
Tickets: 27,50 / 17,50 / 11,50 € (Lippupalvelu), 25 / 15 / 10 € (Helsinki Music Centre box office)
Tickets: 27,50 / 17,50 / 11,50 € (Lippupalvelu), 25 / 15 / 10 € (Helsinki Music Centre box office)
Pre-tickets: Lippupalvelu (www.lippupalvelu.fi), prices listed above include service fees.
MIKE STERN WITH FINNISH FRIENDS
Mike Stern (US), electric guitar / Joonatan Rautio, sax / Timo Hirvonen, bass / Jussi Lehtonen, drums
ELEKTRO GT
Mikko Hassinen, drums & electronics / Jorma Kalevi Louhivuori, trumpet / Timo Kämäräinen, guitar / Jussi Fredriksson, keys / Lauri Porra, bass
JSR
Jarmo Saari, baritone guitar, vocals, sampler, taurus pedal, theremin
/ Abdissa “Mamba” Assefa, percs & drums / Sami Kuoppamäki, drums / Joonas Riippa, drums
UMO MEETS SIBIS
Kari Heinilä, conductor
Soloists (among others) Aili Ikonen, vocals / Joonatan Rautio, sax / Jukka Eskola, trumpet
The Sibelius Academy provides the highest-level music education in Finland. The institution prepares its students for the independent creative work of an artist, pedagogue and expert of music. It is part of the Helsinki University of Arts, formed by the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, the Sibelius Academy and the Theatre Academy Helsinki.