Saxophonist Timo Lassy belongs to Finland's best-loved and internationally most successful jazz artists. He has released four studio albums and is known for his rootsy, soulful style, which is both approachable and artistically ambitious. Beside himself, he has recruited some of the most sought-after jazzers of the country, and together the Timo Lassy Band is a tight-knit unit whose winning energy and seamless communication will swipe you off your feet!

Timo Lassy - sax
Georgios Kontrafouris - Wurlitzer piano
Antti Lötjönen - bass
Teppo Mäkynen - drums
Abdissa Assefa - percussion

Duration 1 h 15 min, no interval.

Tickets 25/20 €, Lippupiste.

Cloakroom fee 2 €

Open event

European Avant-garde, music platform - BERLIN meets FINLAND

Unexpected, spontaneous, fresh, surprising, seductive. Cooking at it's best!

Sound Scapes X-tensions mini festival gathers a top-level group of avant-garde music specialists from blooming Berlin and fizzing Helsinki. The debuting two-night festival offers a tantalizing view into the interesting world of avant-garde jazz and improvisation in the intimate Villa Hakasalmi, which is located in the highly cultural surroundings of Finlandia-talo – Finlandia Hall - and Musiikkitalo – The Helsinki Music Center. The festival is a part of Hakasalmi huvila- exhibition program “Musiikkia! kaupungin soivat muistot”.

 The contemporary musicians paint multidimensional aural images and take the listener onto a dramatically fluctuating seductive journey. The instant compositions highlight the artists virtuosity, which develop into suddenly evolving, surprising harmonies and emotionally biting dissonances. The compositional pieces all embrace and desert, take your breath away, disrobe, amuse and rejoice, while providing the listener the widest ranging once in a lifetime tasting menu of Europe’s hottest "echtzeitmusik". Hop on to the waves of the now and dive in for a experience in to the wonderful world of free improvisation.

 The festival program includes compositions by MOVE Quintet as well as compositions by the other involved ensembles - especially formed for Sound Scapes X-tensions. The ensembles include celebrated and internationally established musicians, representing at least seven different nationalities. Both of the festival nights will end in a unique improvisational tutti-performance including all the artists. 

 The artists presented include among others Harri Sjöström, soprano saxophonist living in Berlin who just performed in a historical Cecil Taylor retrospective ("Open Plan" in New York) and Teppo Hauta-Aho, the legendary Finnish avant-garde jazz double bass veteran. The new shooting stars of contemporary improvised music are represented by the Colombian cellist and multi instrumental wunderkind Sergio Castrillon, by the Finnish drummer/percussionist Janne Tuomi who is known a.o. for his role in the cult-prog-rock band Circle as well as collaborations with John Zorn and by the German pianist Achim Kaufmann, who recently received the highest rated German jazz prize "Albert Mangelsdorff award".

A few cherries on top include the contemporary music composer, pianist Markus Fagerudd, the local "free jazz radical" Jone Takamäki and Heikki Nikula, a gone-totally-mad-for-free-improvisation bass clarinetist.

MOVE quintet
Harri Sjöström
Emilio Gordoa
Achim Kaufmann
Adam Pultz-Melbye
Dag Magnus Narvesen
&
Markus Fagerudd
Jone Takamäki
Janne Tuomi
Heikki Nikula
Sergio Castrillon

Besides the MOVE –quintet and the tutti- orchestra the program will on both nights also consist of duos and trios formed from Finnish and foreign players, “Vertigo Dialogues”.

Open event

Open event

Il Mondo di Karri, the touring concert series hosted by Finnish pianist Karri Luhtala, presents Finno-Italian jazz!

Franco Capone - vocals
Karri Luhtala - keys
Paolo Cozzolino - bass
Pasquale De Paola - drums

Open event

Flame Jazz is pianist/drummer/composer Jussi Fredriksson’s vehicle for making Turku a first class jazz city. The new embodiment of the project is an all-star line up that now hits the stage of the brand new venue celebrating their album release.

Verneri Pohjola, tp
Max Zenger, a-sax
Karl-Martin Almqvist, t-sax
Severi Pyysalo, vib
Teemu Åkerblom, b
Jussi Fredriksson, dr

Tickets 22 €.

Doors 18:00, Showtime 19:00.

Open event

Founded in 2013, the outfit is formed by four original, acclaimed artists working in the fields of folk music, jazz and classical. Led by vocalist Mia Simanainen, Ajaton features Henrik Sandås on the bandoneon, Mikko Perkola on the viol and Kari Ikonen on the moog. Rather than defining themselves through formal or stylistic attributes, Ajaton is more interested in giving free rein to each member’s creative whims. Bringing together musicians who represent a host of musical styles and periods, Ajaton, ‘timeless’ in English, are true to their name. This quartet, like its instrumentation and repertory, is a sum of intriguing, seemingly incompatible parts: improvised landscapes, reminiscences of folk music, hints to medieval lute ditties and original compositions intertwine seamlessly in their hands.  

Mia Simanainen, vocals
Henrik Sandås, bandoneon
Kari Ikonen, keys
Mikko Perkola, viol

Tickets 15 €, members of Jazzklubi-76 10 €, students 6 €. Pre-tickets available at Levy-Eskot.

Open event

An all-star Finnish jazz ensemble celebrating their new release

Flame Jazz is pianist/drummer/composer Jussi Fredriksson’s vehicle for making Turku a first class jazz city. His hard work is paying off and now the maestro introduces an all-star line up celebrating their album release at Livelab.

Verneri Pohjola, tp / Max Zenger, a-sax / Karl-Martin Almqvist, t-sax / Severi Pyysalo, vib / Teemu Åkerblom, b / Jussi Fredriksson, dr

Doors: 18:00
Showtime: 19:00

Open event