The programme of We Jazz 2014 grows. Among the newly booked artists are Phronesis, Nils Wogram Root 70 With Strings, Lassy & Kontrafouris and Markus Pesonen Hendectet. The festival will see two new commissioned musical works, Mopo24 and Antti Lötjönen 3X, and debut shows by groups Lotjoenen/Maekynen+Richardson, Kannaste/Raghavan/Waits+ and Jukka Eskola Soul Trio. Also the number of venues increases as Ääniwalli, Teurastamo Kellohalli, Paavalinkirkko, Jemma HKI and Kahvila Sävy will host festival concerts this year. More artists and the timetable are to be announced at the turn of the month. Ticket sale will commence at the same time.
We Jazz 2014, to be held in Helsinki from 8 to 13 December, has announced new artists. Among the recently confirmed acts are Phronesis, a top-class European piano trio whose members come from Denmark, the United Kingdom and Sweden, and German Nils Wogram Root 70 With Strings that proved to be a real phenomenon at the esteemed Jazzahead! event. In addition the aforementioned, the festival will see two new collaborative projects featuring both Finnish and international jazz musicians: American saxophonist Logan Richardson will front the rhythm section formed by Finns Teppo Mäkynen (drums) and Antti Lötjönen (bass), and Jussi Kannaste, in turn, will perform with American bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Nasheet Waits. Berlin-based guitarist-composer Markus Pesonen’s eleven-piece, Hendectet, brings even more intercultural approach to the festival programme, featuring musicians from eight different countries.
Of course We Jazz 2014 offers topical Finnish jazz in addition to international stars. Among the recently confirmed Finnish groups are Elifantree and Kari Ikonen Trio, both of which expect to release new material late in the autumn. Olavi Louhivuori, the Pori Jazz Artist of the Year, will give tasters from his upcoming second solo album. The festival will also see a debut show from one of the most talked-of Finnish jazzers Jukka Eskola’s new band, Jukka Eskola Soul Trio. The equally hot and talented saxophonist Timo Lassy and pianist Georgios Kontrafouris will give a duo performance at the festival.
Similarly to We Jazz 2013, this year’s festival programme includes rare, specifically commissioned concerts. The energetic, fast-rising trio Mopo will play 24 gigs within 24 hours around Helsinki. Antti Lötjönen, the most sought-after Finnish bassist today, will take the stage with three trios at the same time; in one unique concert, Lötjönen’s bass will feature in Jaska Lukkarinen Trio, Joonas Haavisto Trio and SUN Trio both separately and simultaneously. We Jazz DJs will entertain the audience at club concerts. Following last year’s pattern, a young, promising Finnish jazz group will be selected as the We Jazz Rising Star and rewarded with We Jazz production services.
The programme of the opening concert of 8 December was announced earlier in the summer. The performers include American trumpeter Avishai Cohen’s trio Triveni, Serenity Ensemble led by drummer Teppo Mäkynen and Jussi Fredriksson’s unique solo piano set. The opening address will be given by the legendary M. A. Numminen, who also acts as the patron of the festival. Tickets to the opening concert are currently available for purchase, but all the buy-early-pay-less early bird tickets were reserved in three minutes. More festival guests and the timetable are to be announced at the turn of the month when the ticket sale will commence as well.
We Jazz 2014, happening around Helsinki at eight different concert milieus, will invade five new venues compared to last year’s edition. In addition to the familiar Aleksanterin teatteri, Siltanen and the homebase of We Jazz club Kuudes Linja, concerts will be hosted by Vallila’s mecca of techno music, Ääniwalli, Teurastamo Kellohalli, one of the upcoming venues of Helsinki, the solemn, atmospheric Paavalinkirkko and the two intimate locales of Café Sävy and Jemma HKI.
“We are still expecting to announce a few festival guests in the near future”, says Matti Nives, the artistic director of We Jazz festival. “A funny coincidence is that this year’s festival centers geographically so strongly in Kallio. This wasn’t planned but it seems natural, after all the office of We Jazz is located in Vallila, just a stone’s throw from the new concert venues of Paavalinkirkko, Ääniwalli, Teurastamo, Jemma and Sävy. This sort of an element of surprise is also a key part of the identity of We Jazz festival.”
The Helsinki-based creative office We Jazz launched a new week-long festival in Helsinki last year. This year the successful festival will spread around the city, introducing first-class international and Finnish jazz music. We Jazz 2013 was awarded in Femmagaala with a Mesta-Femma “as a home of the music”. Femmagaala has rewarded important players and artists of the Finnish underground music scene since 2004. Also, the marketing campaign of We Jazz 2013 received an honourable mention from the Finnish Periodical Publishers’ Association for best printed advertisement in November 2013.
We Jazz 2014
Helsinki 8.–13.12.
The festival on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/318852334938675/
Tickets to the opening concert: http://www.tiketti.fi/We-Jazz-2014-avajaiskonsertti-Aleksanterin-teatteri-Helsinki-lippuja/26741
The festival tickets will be available for purchase at Tiketti ticket shops in August.
We Jazz 2014 / confirmed artists:
Antti Lötjönen 3X (feat. Jaska Lukkarinen Trio, Joonas Haavisto Trio, SUN Trio)
Avishai Cohen Triveni (US)
Elifantree
Jukka Eskola Soul Trio
Jussi Fredriksson Solo
Kannaste/Raghavan/Waits+ (FI/US)
Kari Ikonen Trio
Lassy & Kontrafouris
Loetjoenen/Maekynen+Richardson (FI/US)
Markus Pesonen Hendectet (FI/DK/RU/NO/LU/SE/DE/IT)
Mopo24
Nils Wogram Root 70 With Strings (DE)
Olavi Louhivuori Solo
Phronesis (DK/UK/SE)
Serenity Ensemble
We Jazz DJs
We Jazz Rising Star 2014
The patron of the festival: M.A. Numminen
We Jazz 2014 / venues:
Aleksanterin teatteri
Jemma HKI
Café Sävy
Kuudes linja
Paavalinkirkko
Siltanen
Teurastamo Kellohalli
Ääniwalli
Partners and supporters: Image, Web-veistämö, Goethe Institut Finnland, City of Helsinki Cultural Office, The Finnish Music Foundation, Jazz department of the Sibelius Academy (University of the Arts Helsinki).