UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra's spring season highlights female musicians and composers.
CHINA MOSES (US) FEAT. UMO HELSINKI JAZZ ORCHESTRA – GREAT VOICES
American jazz singer and songwriter China Moses, who made her first visit to UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra in November 2020, will return to Finland in spring 2023! The concerts at G Livelab Tampere, Sellosali in Espoo and new Dance House Helsinki are part of UMO’s Great Voices series, dedicated to stellar vocalists from around the world.
The repertoire of the concerts is compiled from the forgotten and unforgettable gems of vocal jazz, as well as China Moses’ own compositions with brand new big band arrangements. You can expect music also from e.g. The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Millie Jackson and Bill Withers. The concerts will be conducted by UMO’s chief conductor and artistic director Ed Partyka, who will also arrange the majority of the renewed repertoire. Expect a wide range of moods and genres from jazz to blues, swing to funk and melancholic ballads to explosive energy!
Having won over audiences around the world, this power woman takes jazz to a new era and creates her own standards. A winning performer, China Moses (b. 1978) approaches jazz in her compelling, unconventional and eclectic way. She is an original songwriter who has inherited her exceptional brilliance from her mother, the celebrated Dee Dee Bridgewater. So far, Moses has issued six solo albums – the first of which came out when she was only 17 – and appeared on dozens of recordings as a sidewoman. She has also tackled the Great American Songbook during her career, paying homage to defining jazz and blues voices who have inspired her, including Dinah Washington, Nina Simone and Etta James. In addition to her career as a musician, the versatile artist has appeared on silver screen and worked as a TV and radio host.
WED 29 MARCH 2023 AT 7 PM // G LIVELAB, TAMPERE
THU 30 MARCH 2023 AT 7 PM // SELLOSALI, ESPOO
SAT 1 APRIL 2023 AT 7 PM // DANCE HOUSE HELSINKI
Conducted by Ed Partyka
Tickets for Tampere concert Tiketti.fi, glivelab.fi and G Livelab -app 39 € / 29 € / 15 €
Tickets to Espoo and Helsinki concerts Lippu.fi 39 € / 29 € / 15 €
KATHRINE WINDFELD (DK) & UMO HELSINKI JAZZ ORCHESTRA
For over twenty years, UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra has played a special Silent Music concert at Easter. These concerts in Holy Week have already become a beloved tradition among the jazz-digging citizens. This Easter, UMO’s tradition continues at Musiikkitalo on Holy Thursday and at Mikael Agricola’s Church on Good Friday.
UMO invites Danish pianist, composer, arranger and band leader Kathrine Windfeld to present her music in Helsinki. Windfeld (b. 1984) is considered one of the most exciting and refreshing new Scandinavian jazz composers in many years. Her talent is combined with a fantastic musical enthusiasm and a strong drive. The concert features Windfeld’s compositions and arrangements, as well as a new commissioned composition for UMO. Windfeld conducts the orchestra from behind the piano.
Windfeld’s compositions are often narrative, as she wants her music to be easily accessible even to listeners who are maybe not that much into jazz. The Guardian describes Windfeld’s music as a rare combination of delicacy and strength, a colourful meeting of sophisticated harmonic passages, driving grooves and poetic ballads that float into her explosive arrangements.
Awarded the prestigious Rising Stars Jazz Award in 2020, Windfeld is a sought-after guest composer and conductor. With her big band compositions and recordings, she has received countless awards and rave reviews in international publications such as Downbeat, Le Monde and Jazzthing. In addition to her own big band, Windfeld has recorded and collaborated with top notch European jazz orchestras, such as hr-Bigband, Bohuslän Big Band and Danish Radio Big Band, and has shared the stage with e.g. with Mike Stern and Seamus Blake.
THU 6 APRIL 2023 AT 1 PM // MUSIIKKITALO, PAAVO HALL, HELSINKI
FRI 7 APRIL 2023 AT 6 PM // MIKAEL AGRICOLA CHURCH, HELSINKI
Conductor Kathrine Windfeld
Tickets to Musiikkitalo concert Ticketmaster.fi 9,50 € or at Musiikkitalo's ticket sales 8 €
Tickets to Agricola church concert Ticketmaster.fi 25 € / 20 € / 15 €
ALBUM RELEASE CONCERT: UMO HELSINKI JAZZ ORCHESTRA & NINA MYA – SEARCHING MY SOUL
The jazz singer Nina Mya and UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra will release their joint album Searching My Soul in March 2023. The album is part of the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra’s Great Voices series, dedicated to stellar vocalists from Finland and abroad. The album release concert will be held at G Livelab in Helsinki on Monday 8.5.2023.
The Great Voices has featured numerous concerts since 2020, and this digital album is the first recording to be released in the series. Nina Mya’s rich and dark voice is very unique in the Nordic region and is perfectly suited to open the album series.
The album consists mainly of Nina Mya’s own compositions with new big band arrangements written by UMO’s chief conductor and artistic director Ed Partyka, who also conducted the album.
MON 8 MAY 2023 AT 7 PM // G LIVELAB, HELSINKI
Conductor Ed Partyka
Tickets Tiketti, Lippu.fi, glivelab.fi and G Livelab -app 33 € / 25 €
Kathrine Windfeld / Photo: Stephen Freiheit