Jazz Finland Live

Our Saturday “marathon” night is the biggest collection of music in a single venue the We Jazz festival has offered thus far. This is an “Event” with a capital E. The music ranges from here to there and beyond, and many of the constellations make their Helsinki debut, if not live debut at large. New music here, folks, step right in!

The Valley Of Search label out of New York hosts their own “festival within a festival”, presenting the entire lineup of the inspirational label. New York City “loft scene” pioneer Alan Braufman (see We Jazz Magazine issue 01 “World Galaxy” for more) appears here with a completely new quartet, bringing together We Jazz recording artists Ville Herrala (bass) and Joonas Leppänen (drums). Vibraphonist Patricia Brennan performs a solo set, as does the Swedish electronic musician Tomas Nordmark. Label founder Nabil Ayers has promised to MC the Valley Of Search fest and you can catch his interview during the day program.

Alexander Hawkins is a composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader who is ‘unlike anything else in modern creative music’. Working in a vast array of creative contexts, his own unique sound world is forged through the search to reconcile both a love of free improvisation and a profound fascination with composition and structure. This time around, Alex is in town for a solo piano set.

Pianisti Anni Kiviniemi presents her new trio, which is also a future We Jazz Records album project. Introspective trio music of the highest order, featuring Eero Tikkanen on bass and Hans Hulbækmo on drums. Hear the sounds of tomorrow… today!

Carl Stone presents his pioneering live electronic music, celebrating the release of We Jazz Reworks Vol. 2. He’s also featured on the Korjaamo day program, where you can learn more about how he approaches music making.

“Carl Stone is still ahead of the game when it comes to his knack for discovering a world of music in a grain of sound.” – Julian Cowley, The Wire

Fire! is the core trio of Mats Gustafsson (sax), Johan Berthling (bass) and Andreas Werlin (drums). Fire! formed in 2009 to develop a fresh approach to improvised music drawing on influences from free jazz, psychedelic rock and noise. FIRE! will be featured on the Saturday day program, giving a rare band workshop.

Brooklyn drummer / electronic musician Jason Nazary returns to We Jazz for a solo spot after his wildly successful debut last year, echoing music from the We Jazz released album “Spring Collection”, and much more.

Kannaste4 is a new group led by sax man Jussi Kannaste (of 3TM, Antti Lötjönen Quintet East, etc.). The band is set to release their debut album on We Jazz sometime soon(-ish). This is the first time ever this quartet takes the stage. Exciting!

Marthe Lea Band represents the new breeze of quality creative music from Norway. Their label Motvind Records is right there in the middle of it all, releasing honest and inspiring music one disc after the other.

[Ahmed] pianist Pat Thomas has agreed to stay with us for another night, performing a solo piano set. This is great news! Check out his brilliant solo album The Elephant Clock of Al Jazari for starters.

Teddy Rok is Teppo Mäkynen, man of many aliases and many musical ideas. In 2021, he released Atonal Drums on We Jazz Records. The projects live appearances have been quite scarce thus far, but each time Atonal Drums are on the bill, paying careful attention is recommended. This is a new duo version of the live set.

Berlin drummer Tilo Weber (of Y-OTIS) presents a new version of his lauded Four Fauns band, this time around bringing in local musicians Eero Savela (trumpet) and Otto Eskelinen (sax), along with Norwegian bassist Ole Morten Vågan for new musical adventures.

Open event