We Jazz, now organised for the fourth time, is Helsinki’s biggest annual jazz event. This year’s line-up includes American saxophonist Mark Turner and his quartet, saxophonist Logan Richardson with his Finnish confreres, American-German Amok Amor, the Berlin-based vocalist Lucia Cadotch and Norwegian avant-garde trio Huntsville. Among the Finnish artists to take to the stage are Jukka Perko Avara, Dalindèo, Iro Haarla Trio, Mikko Innanen 10+ and Aki Rissanen Trio. A new group Berlin X Helsinki Ensemble, carried out in collaboration with German festival XJazz, sees Finnish and German jazz stars join forces. Known for exploring new concert concepts for jazz, We Jazz 2016 presents a couple of special concerts at the Lapinlahti Hospital, a loft jazz house party and a number of gallery concerts. Tickets are now available for purchase.
We Jazz, a well-known pathbreaker of the Finnish jazz scene, organises the fourth annual We Jazz festival in Helsinki on 4 – 11 December this year. Invading a number of venues around Helsinki, the event, now spanning eight days instead of a week, delivers the best of Finnish jazz topped off with a number of international stars. This year’s programme includes the likes of American Mark Turner Quartet, featuring trumpeter Avishai Cohen, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Damion Reid alongside the leader-saxophonist; the Finno-German Berlin X Helsinki Ensemble, led by Finnish saxophone player Timo Lassy and German trumpeter Sebastian Studnitzky; trio Dunstan, formed by American saxophonist Logan Richardson and Finns bassist Antti Lötjönen and drummer Teppo Mäkynen; and quartet Amok Amor, which sees the feisty trio Wanja Slavin–Petter Eldh–Christian Lillinger team up with American trumpeter Peter Evans. Finnish acts to take to the stage during the eight-day jazz carnival include Dalindèo, Oddarrang, Mikko Innanen 10+, Iro Haarla Trio and Jukka Perko Avara. Solo improvisation inspired by the syndromes, “rigid writer’s honour” and “general world pain”, that the famous writer Aleksis Kivi was once diagnosed with will be heard in the former Lapinlahti Hospital. The tickets to all concerts are now available for purchase.
”This year sees We Jazz grow almost by stealth,” says the Artistic Director Matti Nives. “It simply turned out that we needed an extra day to accommodate all the artists and new venues to the programme. Thus, there is a very practical reason for the expansion. As to this year’s programme, the steady rise of Finnish jazz is definitely evident, but we were also able to book some of our favourite international artists. Like before, we have wanted to go experimental with certain concert concepts to explore new milieus for live jazz.”
In keeping with their forward-looking philosophy, the festival will also offer a number of album launch shows. New releases will be out shortly from from Oddarrang, Dunstan, Mikko Innanen 10+, Mikko Innanen & Simo Laihonen and Jukka Eskola Soul Trio, each of whom will also celebrate their new albums at the festival. Three of these – by Mikko Innanen 10+, Dunstan and Jukka Eskola Soul Trio – will be co-released by Grotto Editions and We Jazz, adding to the series of 10-inches that the two labels launched together some time ago.
Literary offerings will be provided by M. A. Numminen, the patron of the festival, who will be reading passages from his recent book Jazzin meining. This time the festival will also venture to the field of cinema by screening the 1974 sci-fi epic, Space Is the Place, that illuminates the world of the astro-jazz legend Sun Ra, at Kallio’s new Riviera Cinema Bar.
The Finnish Independence Day will coincide with the festival for the first time this year, and it will be celebrated at a special Independence Day Reception at the Lapinlahti Lähde. This free event sees the orchestra We Jazz Juhlakombo, whose line-up will be announced later, take to the stage in the afternoon.
The programme can be found in its entirety on http://wejazz.fi/2016
The second issue of the We Jazz magazine is now out
Like this year’s festival programme, also the We Jazz 2016 magazine was published at the Helsinki Design Week. The magazine plunges headlong to the world of jazz, offering a number of interesting features and high-quality visual content. Another We Jazz product, the 96-page tabloid comprises children’s jazz reviews, album recommendations, a 45 anniversary feature about the record shop Digelius Music, another feature about jazz record publishing and more. Among the abundant artistic content are the three spreads curated by art galleries VS Gallery, Helsinki Contemporary and SIC.
“The second issue of our magazine really ups the game compared to the first one,” says Matti Nives, the Editor in Chief and Artistic Director. “We have tackled subjects that do not necessarily touch the festival itself. I firmly believe that, being much more than a traditional marketing strategy, the magazine brings a new dimension to the concept We Jazz.”
The 7000 copies of the issue will be distributed to record shop and cafes, for example.
Should you wish to have a copy by post, please contact press@wejazz.fi
WE JAZZ 2016
Helsinki 4 –11 Dec
ALL ARTISTS
Aki Rissanen Trio
Amok Amor (DE/US)
Anni Elif Egecioglu
Berlin X Helsinki Ensemble (DE/FI)
Buba Wii Aa
Dalindèo
Dunstan (US/FI)
Harri Kuusijärvi
Huntsville (NO)
Iro Haarla Trio
Jazz kiinnostaa live
Jorma Tapio & Kaski
Jukka Eskola Soul Trio
Jukka Perko Avara
Katu Kaiku
Lucia Cadotsch "Speak Low"
M. A. Numminen
Mark Turner Quartet (US)
Markus Pesonen
Mikko Innanen 10+
Mikko Innanen & Simo Laihonen
Mikko Sarvanne Hip Company & Beibi P
Oddarrang
OK:KO (We Jazz Rising Star 2016)
Otis Sandsjö & Friends (SE/FI)
Pauli Lyytinen Magnetia Orkesteri
Ville Herrala
We Jazz DJs
VENUES
El Fant
Cinema Andorra
G Livelab
Dubrovnik Lounge&Lobby
Genelec House
Cafe Sävy
The Finnish National Theatre
Lapinlahden Lähde
Riviera Cinema Bar
WHS Teatteri U:NI:ON
PROGRAMME
SUN 4 Dec at 11
El Fant
JAZZ KIINNOSTAA BRUNCH
SUN 4 Dec at 18
The Finnish National Theatre, Main stage
BERLIN X HELSINKI ENSEMBLE (DE/FI)
JUKKA ESKOLA SOUL TRIO
MON 5 Dec at 18
Cafe Sävy
M. A. NUMMINEN: JAZZIN MEINING
MON 5 Dec at 19
Cinema Andorra
MARK TURNER QUARTET (US)
MON 5 Dec at 21
Dubrovnik Lounge&Lobby
DUNSTAN (US/FI)
KATU KAIKU
WE JAZZ DJs
TUE 6 Dec at 14
Lapinlahden lähde / Independence Day Reception
WE JAZZ JUHLAKOMBO
WED 7 Dec at 17
Riviera Cinema Bar
SUN RA – SPACE IS THE PLACE (1974, 82 min)
THU 8 Dec at 18
Cafe Sävy
OTIS SANDSJÖ & FRIENDS (SE/FI)
THU 8 Dec at 19
Genelec House
PAULI LYYTINEN MAGNETIA ORKESTERI
BUBA WII AA
FRI 9 Dec at 18
Cafe Sävy
JORMA TAPIO & KASKI
FRI 9 Dec at 19
Cinema Andorra
MIKKO INNANEN 10+
FRI 9 Dec at 21
Dubrovnik Lounge&Lobby
DALINDÈO
HUNTSVILLE (NO)
WE JAZZ DJs
SAT 10 Dec at 16
Helsinki Contemporary
OK:KO (We Jazz Rising Rising 2016)
SAT 10 Dec at 17
G Livelab
ODDARRANG
SAT 10 Dec at 19
Lapinlahden Lähde
JUKKA PERKO AVARA
MIKKO SARVANNE HIP COMPANY & BEIBI P
MARKUS PESONEN: WATERISTIC
IMPROVISATION IN THE ROOM OF ALEKSIS KIVI:
ANNI ELIF EGECIOGLU, HARRI KUUSIJÄRVI, MARKUS PESONEN, VILLE HERRALA
SUN 11 Dec at 11
El Fant
JAZZ KIINNOSTAA -BRUNCH
SUN 11 Dec at 16
Helsinki Contemporary
MIKKO INNANEN & SIMO LAIHONEN
SUN 11 Dec at 18
G Livelab
AKI RISSANEN TRIO
IRO HAARLA TRIO
Event on Facebook
http://www.wejazz.fi/2016
#wejazz2016
Partners: Club-Mate, Genelec, GLO Hotel, Goethe-Institut Finnland, Grotto Editions, Helsinki Design Week, Image, Lapinlahden Lähde, Radio Helsinki, Finnish Jazz Federation, Jazz Department of the Sibelius Academy, Unifilm, Web-Veistämö, XJazz Berlin, The U.S. Embassy.
Supporters: City of Helsinki Cultural Office, Finnish Music Foundation, The Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
TICKETS (now available) on http://lippu.fi/wejazz2016
Photo: Maarit Kytöharju.