Turku Jazz Orchestra’s spring season spotlights local composers in the finals of the TJO Big Band Composition Competition and sees two acclaimed Finnish jazz artists, saxophonist Timo Lassy and vocalist Aili Ikonen, front the big band in two concerts. Also, the Big Band School will expand its education activities.
The spring programme will be kicked off with the finals of the very first Turku Jazz Orchestra Big Band Composition Competition on 3 February at the Logi 3 of Logomo in Turku. Open for composers based in Southwest Finland, the competition aims at increasing the visibility of local composers, musicians and cultural players. The jury is composed of the Teosto-winning jazz artist Mikko Hassinen, Jussi Fredriksson, the President of the Flame Jazz concert series, and the acclaimed vibraphonist Severi Pyysalo.
11 March will be dedicated to soul, jazz and soul jazz, when top saxophonist Timo Lassy joins Turku Jazz Orchestra as a soloist at Börs Night Club. In addition to Lassy’s original pieces, there will be select dainties from the repertories of e.g. Stanley Turrentine and King Curtis on the menu. The concert belongs to the programme of Turku Conservatory’s Puhallinpäivät (Horn Music Festival).
The spring season will be closed with a glamorous collaboration concert with Aili Ikonen and her group at the new Domino Theatre on 21 May, brought to us by Turku Jazz Orchestra, Flame Jazz and Turku City Theatre. The first half will see Ikonen and her ensemble perform new schlager-influenced jazz pieces from her upcoming album, due out in April 2016. The second half will be an anticipated revisit to the life and repertory of Ella Fitzgerald, with Ikonen and Turku Jazz Orchestra playing the best of Ella in classy big band arrangements.
The Big Band School will also open its doors in spring 2016 – and now more often than ever before. So far having run for two years, Turku Jazz Orchestra’s Big Band School offers classes in jazz and related genres for amateur musicians of all ages. This spring the school will increase the number or teaching periods from two to three, and encourage young jazzers, especially, to join the classes; on the agenda is the formation of a separate junior big band for the youth.
TJO: Spring 2016
Wed 3 Feb at 19.00 Finals of the Turku Jazz Orchestra Big Band Composition Competition, Logomo, Logi 3
Fri 11 Mar at 22.00 Soul & Jazz Night: Turku Jazz Orchestra feat. Timo Lassy, Börs Night Club
Sat 21 May at 19.00 Flame Jazz: A Night with Aili, Aili Ikonen and her group / Turku Jazz Orchestra & Aili: Ella!, DominoTheatre
The Big Band School:
Period 1: 12-13 Mar and 19-20 Mar
Period 2: 14-15 May and 21-22 May
Period 3: 1-2 Oct and 8.-9 Oct