Kerava church, Papintie 2
Program 20€ at the door
Oluthuone Paasikivi, Paasikivenkatu 4
Free entrance
Kerava hall, Keuda, Keskikatu 3a
Tickets 25€ +
Lippu.fi handling fee.
Ticket sale also at the door
Oluthuone Paasikivi, Paasikivenkatu 4
Free entrance
Kerava library, Paasikivenkatu 12
Free entrance
Kerava hall, Keuda, Keskikatu 3a
Tickets 30€, Saturday pass 45€ + Lippu.fi handling fee. Ticket sale also at the door.
Kerava hall, Keuda, Keskikatu 3a
Tickets 30€, Saturday pass 45€ + Lippu.fi handling fee. Ticket sale also at the door.
Kerava church, Papintie 2
Free entrance
Aurinkomäki/Kerava hall if it rains
Free entrance
Aurinkomäki/Kerava hall if it rains
Free entrance
Aurinkomäki/Kerava hall if it rains
Free entrance
Kerava library, Pentinkulma hall
Free entrance
Kerava church, Papintie 2
Wed 11.9. at 7pm, program 20€ at the door
Since Kvalda's performance, Aili Ikonen has performed at Kerava Jazz as a member of the band Hereä. Antti Kujanpää has had multiple performances at the festival, including with bands such as Auteur Jazz and Reporters, and as a duo with Joakim Berghäll. Kujanpää's most memorable project was at the 2017 festival with the band GI/AN/T, along with drummer Tuomas Timonen and Norwegian singer Gine Gaustad Anderssen.
Over the years, Aili Ikonen has developed into a radiant, international level singer, composer, and lyricist. Her exceptionally broad career includes four solo albums in Finnish, numerous collaborative albums, big band productions, Ella Fitzgerald interpretations, and jazz pop songs.
Ikonen performs widely with top contemporary artists. She has been heard as a soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Radio Symphony Orchestra, UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Norrbotten Big Band, Tampere Philharmonic, and Dallapé.
Aili Ikonen is also known today as a member of the vocal ensemble Rajaton.
The concert promises sophisticated music from two top professionals!
Music sample:
Oluthuone Paasikivi, Paasikivenkatu 4, Thu 12.9. at 8pm, Free entrance
Kadi Vija - vocals
Mikael Saastamoinen - bass
Ville Luukkonen - drums
The band's musicians are solid jazz professionals. Kadi Vija, described as a phenomenal singer known for her instrumental vocal style, has gained fame through soloist guest performances with the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, collaborations with pianist Seppo Kantonen and vibraphonist Arttu Takalo, as well as her own bands, Kadi Vija Key Project and Kadi Quartet.
Double bassist Mikael Saastamoinen plays in, among others, Linda Fredriksson's Juniper, Olavi Louhivuori's Superposition, and OK:KO.
Drummer Ville Luukkonen plays in Anna Inginmaa's band, the Arto Ikävalko Trio, and has been running the Manala Afterwork club in Helsinki for years.
Kerava hall, Keuda, Keskikatu 3a
Fri 13.9. at 7pm, tickets 25€ + Lippu.fi handling fee. Ticket sale also at the door.
On stage, the musical worlds of two artists merge!
In addition to Vartiainen and Lassy, the lineup includes organ virtuoso and jazz doctor Mikko Helevä, and on drums, Vartiainen's own son, Roni Vartiainen.
"Just got a change to listen Almost Standards album from Varre. Beautiful! Varre plays his ass off! Wonderful guitar playing! The tunes are beautiful and the band is smoking!" (Mike Stern)
"Guitarist Varre Vartiainen brings together the best domestic talents in jazz music on his surprise album. The result is a fascinating double-exposure effect. A fresh and organic musical play of the familiar and the unfamiliar." (Harri Uusitorppa, Hs)
Music sample:
Oluthuone Paasikivi, Paasikivenkatu 4,
Fri 13.9. at 8.30pm, Free entrance
The house band is led by guitarist Lasse Keso, who also acts as the jam host.
Kerava chruch, Papintie 2
Sun 15.9. at 10am, Free entrance
Kerava hall, Keuda, Keskikatu 3a
Sat 14.9. at 5pm, tickets 30€ / Saturday pass 45€ + Lippu.fi handling fee. Ticket sale also at the door.
Fransman is a prolific composer. In recent years, he has developed an astonishing playing technique that allows him to play the tenor saxophone and piano simultaneously - the former with his right hand and the latter with his left! This technique serves artistic expression rather than technical gimmickry. Fransman's musical style is typically South African, characterized by captivating melodies and expressive (poly)rhythms.
Mark Fransman has performed with globally renowned artists such as Pharaoh Sanders, Abdullah Ibrahim, and Manu Dibango, as well as many notable figures in South African jazz, including Johnny Clegg, Nduduzo Makhathini, Louis Moholo-Moholo, and Winston Mankunku Ngozi. He has appeared at international festivals: The North Sea Jazz Festival (NLD); Edge of Wrong Festival and Vadsø International Festival (NOR); Swedish Jazz Celebration (SWE); and Euro De Afrique Festival (ITA). In 2023, Fransman spent two months in Chicago and New York with the support of The Transatlantic Jazz Exchange (NY) program. He performed at The Chicago Jazz Festival and The Englewood Jazz Festival with the renowned saxophonist Ernest Dawkins.
As a producer, Mark has twice won the prestigious SAMA (South African Music Award). His latest album, "Introducing Sonik Citizen and Cape Tone," was awarded the best contemporary jazz album of 2023 in South Africa (Mzantsi Jazz Award).
In Finland, Mark Fransman presents the program of his Homage Trio. As the name suggests, it includes new compositions dedicated to South African jazz composers and instrumentalists. He is joined by double bass player Tapani Varis and drummer Simo Laihonen. The rhythmic and melodic expression of Varis and Laihonen brings new nuances to Fransman's compositions.
Musiikkinäyte:
Ivo Neame is an internationally renowned pianist, composer, and bandleader who has established himself as one of the most innovative figures in the contemporary jazz scene. Neame has collaborated with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band and the London Sinfonietta. In addition to his own ensemble, he is especially known for his work with Phronesis and the Marius Neset Quintet, as well as collaborations with Hermeto Pascoal and Kenny Wheeler. Neame's music has been described as an astonishing blend of virtuosity, sophistication, and playfulness.
The compositions to be performed in the concert are characterized by rhythmic richness and harmonic sophistication. They draw influences from various styles, including South Indian classical music, West African music, and contemporary European jazz and classical music. Neame has found inspiration in the writings of authors Roger McGough and Douglas Adams.
Sointi Jazz Orchestra is an innovative 17-member ensemble that, over its 10-year history, has become accustomed to presenting new works tailored specifically for it. The band's unique sound arises from its unusual instrumentation, which makes use of interchangeable instruments. The ensemble specializes in performing primarily new music composed in the 21st century and has collaborated with many distinctive international and domestic guest soloists, such as Mathias Eick, Anders Jormin, Maria Faust, Marius Neset, and Juhani Aaltonen. The ensemble has released five studio albums, one of which, "Kolibri" (2020), was nominated for the 2022 Teosto Award.
Music sample:
Kerava library, Paasikivenkatu 12, Sat 14.9. at 3pm, Free entrance
The debut album Moon Bridge was recorded at Oslo's legendary Rainbow Studio and released worldwide by the Japanese label Eight Island in the spring of 2024.
Haavisto and Vaiginis met at the after-jam sessions of Lithuania's largest piano competition, Jazz Improvizacija, in 2006. A musical connection was effortlessly established, and since then, the friends have toured together as a duo, a quartet, and even with a chamber orchestra.
Both musicians have built prominent international careers with their own ensembles. Vaiginis has collaborated with the likes of David Kikoski and Mike Stern. Vaiginis will also perform later in the evening as a member of the Piotr Schmidt Quintet at the festival's main concert.
Haavisto, a Steinway artist, has toured the world with his trio, performing at venues such as the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York and the Tokyo Jazz Festival in Japan.
Music sample:
Born in 1985, Piotr Schmidt is a Polish jazz trumpeter, music producer, bandleader, publisher, and associate professor at the jazz department of the University of Nysa, as well as a former lecturer at the jazz department of the Music Academy in Katowice. Schmidt earned his doctorate in music from the Academy in 2016. He also serves as the CEO of the Silesian Jazz Club Music Association, the oldest continuously operating jazz association in Poland, which organizes concerts and festivals.
Piotr Schmidt has released 16 albums under his own name. Since 2011, he has regularly ranked among the top trumpet soloists in the annual Jazz Top poll conducted by Jazz Forum magazine.
The music heard in Kerava will primarily consist of material from the album "Komeda Unknown 1967." The background of this album is interesting. The internationally renowned Polish jazz composer Krzysztof Komeda composed music to the poems of Polish poets as part of Joachim Berendt's "Jazz i poezja" (Jazz and Poetry) series. These compositions are found on Komeda's album "Meine Süsse Europäische Heimat."
Six of these compositions remained unrecorded and were believed to be lost forever. However, Krzysztof Balkiewicz, director of the Association for the Care of Krzysztof Komeda's Heritage, discovered the manuscripts of these compositions in the Komeda archive of the National Library in Warsaw. Knowing Schmidt's skills in composition and arrangement, Balkiewicz entrusted him with the manuscripts for development. Schmidt interpreted them in his own way but succeeds perfectly in conveying the spirit of Komeda's era on the album "Komeda Unknown 1967."
In Kerava, Schmidt will also perform compositions from his "Hearsay" album and possibly music by Poland's other national hero, Tomasz Stanko, who is well-known in Finland and performed at the festival in 2002.
Music sample:
Guitarist Arttu Ahola and drummer Alvar Claramunt study at Sibelius High School in Helsinki, bassist Aleksi Nivala at Kerava High School, trumpeter Eelis Vähälä at Sompion Yhteiskoulu in Kerava, and singer Onni Eloranta graduated from Helsinki Coeducational School in 2015.
Most of the band members have also participated in the pop/jazz conservatory camp in Nakkila and performed, for example, at the jazz street stage at Pori Jazz Festival.
In the future, Mannila aims to record and tour internationally both with her band and as a solo artist. She has been noticed by English drummer Richard Spaven and singer Anthony Strong, who have invited her to perform with them. Maja Mannila's debut album "Up & Down" was released in June 2022.
Music sample:
The band's music combines African American roots music with the language of jazz, through extensive improvisations, original compositions, and polished arrangements.
Originally formed in 2012, Honk mainly performed with Orpana, Jonni Seppälä, Ville Vallila, and Juppo Paavola, who passed away this year, as a quartet with Orpana being the only woodwind player. The expanded lineup with two additional saxophonists was born from the idea of performing Orpana's arrangements for multiple woodwind players. The extended ensemble played its first gig in winter 2020.
Music sample:
In a semi-theatrical music drama, the life and music of South African composer, pianist, and bandleader Chris McGregor (1936-1990) are brought to light. McGregor, alongside Abdullah Ibrahim, is one of the most internationally renowned figures in South African jazz.
After graduating from the Merchant Navy Training Academy, McGregor enrolled at the South African College of Music led by Professor Eric Chisholm. During the day, he studied the demanding musical languages of Béla Bartók and Arnold Schönberg, and in the evenings, he immersed himself in the music of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk from records. When combined with the rhythmically and melodically captivating folk music of the Xhosa tribe, familiar from his childhood, we find ourselves at the forefront of a new jazz expression.
In the early 1960s, McGregor began collaborating with black South African jazz musicians from various tribal backgrounds. He led The Blue Notes ensemble, whose members were forced into exile due to the practiced apartheid policies in 1964. They ended up in London and had a significant influence on the local jazz scene. McGregor also founded the large ensemble The Brotherhood of Breath.
Chris McGregor is brought back to life in the music drama featuring compositions he wrote for The Blue Notes, interpreted by a multi-instrumental jazz trio. Going back to the roots, the music arrangements are handled by the award-winning jazz musician and producer Mark Fransman from Cape Town. Bassist Tapani Varis and drummer Simo Laihonen bring their own melodic and rhythmic expertise to the ensemble. The drama is enhanced by a photo presentation of Cape Town by Jazz Pastor Markku Salo.