Jazz Finland Live

Conductor Kari Heinilä leads UMO Jazz Orchestra into the world of big band giants in the official summer opening and admission free concert at Espa Stage. The concert focuses on the music of Duke Ellington (1899–1974) and Gil Evans (1912-1988) and will feature essential pieces from two of the probably most important jazz composers of all time.

Ellington and Evans walked strictly their own paths, conductor Kari Heinilä explains. ”If you compare them to other composers of that time, their music stands out as unique. Neither of them wrote music that sounds like anyone else’s. In the time when big band music was in vogue, arrangements were often made with such a pace, that they all tended to sound alike. Ellington and Evans however wrote music, that was full of surprises and unusual instrumentations.”

The Duke Ellington part of the concert will feature a significant piece A Tone Parallel To Harlem (Harlem Suite) from the beginning of 1950’s – a fifteen minute long musical poem that consists of many parts and represents Ellington’s endeavor to compose concert pieces rather than something for people to dance to. The Mooche, which is a unique interpretation of blues with its unusual instrumentation, represents the rootier side of Ellington.

The Gil Evans part of the concert consists of his arrangements instead of compositions. In case of Evans, the line between a composition and an arrangement is however very thin. For example an arrangement of Orgone from George Gershwin’s musical Porgy & Bess, which will be performed in the concert, transformed almost to a whole new composition in the hands of Evans. The concert will also feature Evans’s interpretations of the music of Charles Mingus.

Check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xtVCG3dJ4M

Open event

Adele Sauros Quartet
(Adele Sauros – tenor and soprano sax, Vili Itäpelto – piano, Kaisa Mäensivu – double bass, Ville Luukkonen – drums)

Elena & The Rom Ensemble
(Elena Mindru – voc, Sampo Hiukkanen – violin, Tuomas J. Turunen – piano, Eero Seppä – bass, Anssi Tirkkonen – drums)

Johannes Sarjasto Quartet
(Johannes Sarjasto – alto sax, Artturi Rönkä – piano, Janne Tuovinen – bass, Joonas Leppänen – drums)

Grantstand Quartet
(Lauri Vihro – guitar, Samuli Rautiainen – piano, Mikael Saastamoinen – double bass, Sami Nummela – drums)

Young Nordic Jazz Comets started in 2000 and has since been a recurring event on the Nordic jazz scene. The main purpose is to create attention to new jazz talents, giving them the opportunity to meet their future audience and to play at professional venues. Until 2012, this event has been organised as an annual competition. Starting in 2012, the countries involved in YNJC, wanted to focus more on the aspect of promotion, and not the competitive elements. The idea is to create a club event for young aspiring jazz talents at one of the key jazz venues in one of the Nordic countries each year. The goal will be to attract as much attention as possible from key people within the jazz community in the Nordic countries/the rest of the world, be it jazz clubs, festivals and the music press.

The procedures for selecting the bands for the Nordic showcase vary from nation to nation. In Finland, the process is based on applications according to which four bands compete in the national finals in May. The national Finnish winner represents the country in the YNJC main event. The Finnish representative for the Nordic YNJC showcase at the Jazz Finland festival is chosen in a band competition at Koko Jazz Club on May 17th.

The bands play a 15-minute set each, and the professional jury reviews their performance. In addition to the YNJC showcase in September, the winner gets a grant of 1.000 €, a concert at the Jazz-Espa festival, mentoring for international careers and a concert at the next year’s Finnish YNJC competition. The runner-up gets a grant of 700 euros, and the jury has also an optional prize of 300 € to hand out to an outstanding band or soloist. All the bands also get personal feedback after their performance.

The fifteenth Nordic Young Nordic Jazz Comets showcase takes place during the Jazz Finland festival in Helsinki on the 18th of September. The YNJC showcase is a part of the programme of the Europe Jazz Network General Assembly weekend, and there will also be plenty of international jazz media reps in the audience. In general, the YNJC showcase is the perfect opportunity for a young band to present themselves to the industry and the wide audience.

Read more about YNJC: www.youngnordicjazzcomets.com 

Open event

Renzo Ruggieri, a master of jazz accordion from Italy visits Joensuu. During his visit at the Conservatory of Joensuu, Ruggieri will both teach and perform himself. The Finnish Accordion Institute acts as a co-organiser.

A leading exponent of Italian Jazz, Ruggieri has performed all over the world in formations that range from solo, duo, combo to the Renzo Ruggieri Orchestra. He has realised significant works and composed theatre music, also cooperating with the Opera Theatre of Rome, as well as performing with the famous artist, Antonella Ruggiero, at the Sanremo festival in 2007. He was the first accordionist to record albums completely based on improvisation with his "second soul", the Solo Accordion Project. In 2009, at the International Accordion Festival of Castelfidardo, he was awarded the Voce d'Oro, which was previously assigned to other famous musicians including: Gorni Kramer, Richard Galliano, Astor Piazzolla, Art Van Damme.

Ruggieri will perform on Saturday at Teatteriravintola terrace with the best jazz musicians of Joensuu. The concert is co-organised by Joensuu Conservatory and Jazzkerho -76.

Tickets: 15/6 €. In advance at Levy-Eskot shop.

Open event

Tickets 8€ (doors open at 8pm)

Jarmo Saari Republic is a new supergroup built on the praised solo project Jarmo Saari Solu and branching out its experimental, lyrical and hypnotic soundscapes. Saari is a musician, composer and producer, and his CV includes shows in more than 30 different countries and appearances on well over 100 albums. Saari dreamed about this dream team for ten years, before it finally came into being in 2012, and it was Tampere Jazz Happening in November 2013 that saw the first gig of these “soldiers of light”.

Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix never had a chance to realise their ideas about collaboration, but luckily Jarmo Saari Republic has come forth to prevent such wrongs from occurring in the Finnish scale. The essence of the band lies in its versatile musicians, dynamic communication and unusual instrumentation. Each of the members has been working in the field of Finnish music already for two decades and with an exceptionally wide scope.

Jarmo Saari (b. 1970) is one of the most original guitarists of his generation. His musical visions have found an outlet in both his solo work and the bands Trubamolli, Filmtet, ZataBoo and XL. Saari is known for his visual compositional style and layered sound collages made with guitar and vocals, but also with a number of more unlikely instruments, such as theremin, baroque cello, trombone and glass harp. He has collaborated as a musician and composer with the following artists, for example: Jukka Perko, Tero Saarinen Company, Anna-Mari Kähärä, Trilok Gurtu, The Tapiola Choir, Pekka Kuusisto, Nils Landgren, Emma Salokoski, Felix Zenger, Meta4 String Quartet, UMO Jazz Orchestra, Mika Kaurismäki Pepe Deluxe and Tuomari Nurmio. In 2012, Saari was awarded with a Finland Prize by the Ministry of Education and Culture for artistic activity.

Sami Kuoppamäki, Olavi Louhivuori and Abdissa “Mamba” Assefa have earlier worked with such bands and artists as Kingston Wall, Oddarrang, Giant Robot, Kimmo Pohjonen, Fat Beat Sound System, Ilmiliekki Quartet, Tomasz Stanko, Nuspirit Helsinki, Tuomo, Anssi Tikanmäki’s Film Orchestra and Von Hertzen Brothers.

Why these three drummers, Jarmo Saari? – We have an abundance of skilled drummers in Finland, but it was this dream line-up with whom we finally got to try out the mad concept. I was given a Versoul baritone guitar by a number of friends for my 40th birthday, and I was honoured to hear Kuoppis and Mamba play in two sets in my birthday jam session. It was incredible to see it click between them! The rootsy and virtuosic Kuoppis and the intensely unpredictable Olavi play together with a wonderful flow, while Mamba seasons this soulful cake with earthy spices.

The debut album is due in the spring of 2014 by the label Rockadillo Records, and we will be treated to guest appearances from at least the following three artists: Sam Huber, Tommy Lindgren and the Rolling Stones sax player, Tim Ries.

Open event