The SaloJazz Festival will be held this year, but in a compact form. The 2020 festival, the ninth edition of the event, will be held as a series of three concerts with Finnish performers on the last Saturday in September.
In order for the event to be conducted safely within corona restrictions, all concerts will be held at Astrum Arena. The normal two-day festival program was already in place, but the SaloJazz board made new plans to meet current requirements. In a way, it’s a return to the early days of the festival, when the event was held in oneday.
- We will pay special attention to the restrictions and regulations required by the corona pandemic. We are creating an event that is safe to visit. The number of tickets sold for concerts is limited and special attention is paid to the hygiene of the concert venue and the layout of the audience.
This year thee event will make use of concert streaming, and a day ticket is on sale for the event. These new practices were tested in the summer, when the three-concert SaloJazz Kesä tour was held at the turn of July-August, with special attention paid to the health, safety and sense of security of the audience, performers and staff. All three gigs were filled with a limited audience, indicating a great need for live music. Organizing events will also ease the plight of cultural operators after the corona pandemic cleared musicians gig calendars.
The performers of SaloJazz Festival 2020 represent top names in Finnish jazz. The day begins with a solo concert by guitarist Teemu Viinikainen. Viinikainen's personal sound at the solo gig consists of a close connection between a traditional acoustic guitar and an extremely modified electronic sound.
Josén Pimeä Puoli trio brings unique vocal jazz joy to the event, and the trio has claimed its place in the Finnish jazz field with witty lyrics and swinging expression.
The audience magnet of the last two festivals has been Tepon Klubi, to which drummer Teppo Mäkynen has brought young musicians and new productions. This year the club will change to a concert where guitarist Tuomo Dahlblom and bassist Antti Lötjönen will form a trio with Mäkynen.
SaloJazz Festival 2020
Saturday 26.9. Astrum Arena
14:00 pm Teemu Viinikainen Solo
17:00 Josén Pimeä Puoli
19:00 Teppo Mäkynen: DLM
14:00 Teemu Viinikainen Soolo
Teemu Viinikainen, guitar
Teemu Viinikainen's personal sound consists of a close connection between a traditional acoustic guitar and an extremely modified electronic sound at a solo gig.
Teemu Viinikainen started playing guitar at the age of 7 and later applied to study at the Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory and then the jazz department of the Sibelius Academy, where he graduated with a master's degree in music in 2005. Viinikainen has studied guitar with renowned teachers such as Pat Metheny and Wayne Krantz.
Founded in 2001, U-Street All Stars, which has become very popular in Finland, was Viinikainen's first major jazz band, in whose ranks he began to gain visibility. Perhaps the greatest merit for Viinikainen is his demand as a skilled guitarist for several top bands, and his most important and long-term partner has been saxophonist Jukka Perko with his numerous bands. Viinikainen has also performed successfully with top international names such as Joe Levano, Vince Mendoza, Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman, Tim Hagans and Jeff Tain Watts. In Teemu’s playing expressive power, swing and virtuosity are important elements, but Teemu's presence, sensitivity and the sound of the guitar become the overriding sensations when listening to him.
17:00 Josén Pimeä Puoli
Jose Mäenpää, vocals, piano, trumpet
Arto Nurmi, bass, vocals
Jussi Miettola, drums, vocals
Josén Pimeä Puoli takes a look at the dark side of life sometimes with a laugh, sometimes tears in their eye and sometimes with irony. The band’s debut album Ihanasti kyyninen ('wonderfully cynical') was released in 2018. More magic is in store when the single Mustana from their next album comes to light in September 2020.
19:00 DLM = Dahlblom / Lötjönen / Mäkynen
Tuomo Dahlblom, guitar
Antti Lötjönen, bass
Teppo Mäkynen, drums
"After seeing the headlines: "Guitar is back in fashion" and "Chords are new black", we talked hard with Lötjönen. Would it be possible to find a guitarist who'd venture to improvise for three sets with us at the SaloJazz Festival 2020? Antti pulled an ace from his sleeve, “Tuomo Dahlblom.” He is one of the greats! A versatile guitarist who has received far too little attention in a world where content is judged on the basis of social media likes. I dialed the number and the answer from the other end of the wire came in like a shot. We celebrated with a sense of ease."
- excerpt from Teppo Mäkynen's diary from summer 2020