Jazz Finland Live

David Helbock Trio

Two rewards and the audience prize at the world biggest jazz-piano-solo competition of the Montreaux Jazzfestival, a lot of enthusiastic international reviews for his CDs and the most important prize in Austria 2011 – the “Outstanding Artist Award” – David Helbock, the pianoplayer coming from a small little village in Austria called Koblach, is with no doubt, on his way up to a great international musical career. Helbock is not only a great pianist, he is also a very individual thinker, who is investing not only a lot of dexterity but also quite an amount of brain activity to his projects.

Since 2010 Helbock created an international stir first and foremost with his non-conformist trio Random/Control. After intensive touring with Random/Control, Helbock released a trio album called “Aural Colors” (Traumton, 2015).

David Helbock, piano
Raphael Preuschl, bass ukulele
Herbert Pirker, drums

Kalevi Louhivuori Quintet

Jorma Kalevi Louhivuori aka J.K.L. is one of Finland’s finest up-and-coming musicians/composers. Kalevi Louhivuori Quintet’s début album “Almost American Standards” (CAM JAZZ) contains new music that may sound somewhat familiar. The idea was to compose pieces that could have been written in the 1950’s and -60’s. You may well hear the influence of masters such as Horace Silver, Ahmed Jamal, Duke Ellington and Miles Davis. So this is a must see for fans of music from this era. This April Jazz concert will be an album release celebration for J.K.L.’s new band.

J. Kalevi Louhivuori, trumpet
Ville Vannemaa, saxophones, clarinet
Mikael Myrskog, piano
Eero Seppä, bass
Jaska Lukkarinen, drums

Open event

Suomen Jazzliitto – The Finnish Jazz Federation – celebrates its 50-year journey this year. Celebrations begin with the concert at April Jazz. Jazzliitto’s celebration orchestra plays Finnish jazz music and the arrangements of music pieces by saxophonist Mikko Innanen. All members of the orchestra and all soloists have been awarded with the “Georgie Prize” (Yrjö -palkinto), which is the most prestigious annual jazz prize in Finland.

Mikko Innanen, saxophone
Kari Ikonen, piano
Teemu Viinikainen, guitar
Ulf Krokfors, bass
Teppo Mäkynen, drums
Anna-Mari Kähärä, vocals
Eero Koivistoinen, saxophone
Seppo “Paroni” Paakkunainen, saxophone, flute
Severi Pyysalo, vibraphone
Antti Sarpila, klarinetti, saxophone

Open event

Bernhoft:

“Conjuring the raw sound of Richie Havens and Sly Stone with the spirit of Mayer Hawthorne and Sharon Jones, Bernhoft is so obviously a star that it feels only a matter of time before he breaks stateside.” – Los Angeles Times

The Norwegian Jarle Bernhoft was catapulted onto the world stage in an instant when the 2015 Grammy Award nominees were announced. Bernhoft’s album “Islander” was nominated for Grammy in the R&B category, alongside Aloe Blacc, Sharon Jones & the Dap-kings, Robert Glasper and Toni Braxton & Babyface. It was the first time in history a non-american had been nominated in this category.

Jarle Bernhoft, vocals, guitar, keys

Tomi Salesvuo East Funk Attack:

Leading the nine person East Funk Attack band is Tomi Salesvuo, an energetic drummer extraordinaire who can handle just about any and every style. His swinging skills have long been in high demand among countless Finnish artists. The second legend in band is none other than guitarist Marzi Nyman.

Anniina Karjalainen, vocals
Kasperi Kallio, rhodes, keys
Roope Löflund, saxophone
Mari Talala, trumpet
Marzi Nyman, guitar
Matias Kiiveri, guitar
Jarkkis Toivanen, bass
Joonas Kaikko, percussion
Tomi Salesvuo, drums

Open event

Open event

Vocalist and lyricist Kiki Rautio joins Fusiotherapy at Kairo. Together with bassist Timo Tuppurainen Raitio has written new songs about love and loss, which will now be presented to the audience along with a few bossa nova classics and loans from Heikki Sarmanto's repertory. 

Kiki Rautio, voc
Timo Tuppurainen, b
Antti Utriainen, p
Kille Miettinen, dr
Jussi Kontinen, g

Open event

Open event

Open event

Elena Mindru (RO) – vocals
Sampo Hiukkanen – violin
Tuomas J. Turunen – piano
Eero Seppä – bass
Anssi Tirkkonen – drums

Led by the dazzling jazz vocalist Elena Mindru, Elena & The Rom Ensemble's key charms include compositions influenced by Romanian folk music, Mindru’s captivating voice and refreshing instrumentation – including the violin, an exotic ingredient in a jazz group. Founded in 2013, the group established itself in a short period of time: they won the Finnish semi-finals of Young Nordic Jazz Comets Competition in 2014 and represented Finland in Euroradio Jazz Competition in Rotterdam in June 2015. Their debut album, Evening in Romania, came out in 2014 on Mindru’s own label EM Records, and met critical acclaim in Finland. 

Tickets 17,50/11,50 €

Open event