Finland’s second oldest jazz festival, Turku Jazz Festival, is just round the corner. The festival will now be organised for the first time as a part of the project, Jazz City Turku. The programme is composed of hot, big names of Finnish jazz – including Jukka Perko, Nina Mya, Dalindèo and Eero Koivistoinen.
With the new cultural coalition Jazz City Turku that has intensified the collaboration between several local jazz players of the city, the Turku Jazz Festival has undergone a facelift. The 47th edition of the festival takes place on 18 – 21 August. Top-notch live jazz will invade the inner courtyard of the Brewery Restaurant Koulu, and the Turku Jazz in Flames late night clubs will offer exciting encounters of veteran and up-and-coming Finnish jazzers. The high-quality jazz offerings of this year’s festival have been buzzed about widely, and the tickets are selling faster than never before.
“The line-up concentrates on topical Finnish jazz acts, seeing all artists play their new material. While the future of Finnish jazz is definitely in the limelight, we have not forgot the past either: the Finnish Jazz Federation Jubilee Orchestra, celebrating the federation’s 50th anniversary, offers updated versions of Yrjö Jazz Awardees’ music. Flashbacks to the history of Finnish jazz come in visual format, too, when the Yrjö jazz prizes will be exhibited during the festival. Masters such as the 70-year-old Eero Koivistoinen and the legendary Olli Ahvenlahti, will encounter hungry youngsters at the late night clubs at the venue Tiirikkala”, says Jussi Fredriksson, one of the newest members of the festival crew.
Local colour is strongly represented in the festival line-up. On Friday, the Turku Jazz Artist of the Year, Jusu Heinonen, will take to the stage; while Aura Flow, named after Turku’s famous river Aura, present material from their new sophomore album, Dynamo, on Saturday. Sunday will see the acclaimed big band Turku Jazz Orchestra hop on the stage, and local jazz and soul can be enjoyed at Börs Park and Tiirikkala during the Turku Night of the Arts on the opening day.
The city will be swarming with hot jazz names throughout the festival. Teppo Mäkynen, selected as the Flame Jazz Artist of 2017, performs with Jukka Perko and in the Finnish Jazz Federation Jubilee Orchestra; while the guitar wizard Teemu Viinikainen can be caught live thrice. Added to them, young artists, such as vocalist Nina Mya and trombonist Kasperi Sarikoski with their groups and trios Buba Wii Aa and Bowman Trio, will electrify the atmosphere with their youthful energy.
Turku Jazz Festival 2016
Thursday 18 Aug: Turku Night of the Arts
Aura Stage, Brewery Restaurant Koulu
17.00 The Conscript Band Finland
19.30 Dandy Gravy ´n´ Funks
Börs Park
18.00 Joana & Bossakopla
19.00 Harlem Jazz Clubin jamit
Tiirikkala
22.00 Turku Jazz in Flames: Turku Conservatory Workshop & Teemu Viinikainen
23.30 Jam Session
Friday 19 Aug
Aura Stage, Brewery Restaurant Koulu
17.00 Turku Jazz Artist of the Year 2016: Jusu Heinonen Gyl5
19.00 Finnish Jazz Federation Jubilee Orchestra
20.30 Dalindéo
Tiirikkala
22.00 Turku Jazz in Flames 2016: Olli Ahvenlahti & Bowman Trio
23.30 Jam Session
Saturday 20 Aug
Aura Stage, Brewery Restaurant Koulu
14.00 Kuiper Trio
17.00 Aura Flow
18.30 Nina Mya
20.30 Jukka Perko & Hurmio 2.0
Tiirikkala
22.00 Turku Jazz in Flames 2016: Eero Koivistoinen & Buba Wii Aa
23.30 Jam Session
Sunday 21 Aug
Aura Stage, Brewery Restaurant Koulu
16.00 Kasperi Sarikoski & Nuance
17.30 Turku Jazz Orchestra & Teemu Viinikainen: Tarantino!
19.00 Final Jam Session