27.11.2014 11:15

We Jazz 2014 in Helsinki 1-13 Dec 2014

The Helsinki-based creative agency We Jazz ltd organizes the second annual We Jazz event which spreads over Helsinki and presents high-quality jazz from Finland and abroad. We Jazz 2014 also presents commisioned performative concepts which challenge the notion of live jazz music. The venues span from concert halls and clubs to a barber shop, a café and a church.

The week-long event We Jazz which had it’s successful debut in 2013 takes place in Helsinki on 8–13 December. But before that, December starts off with a spiritual jazz concert on Monday 1 December as Timo Lassy joins forces with the highly acclaimed gospel choir Higher Ground at Paavalinkirkko. We Jazz 2014 continues the search for new interesting venues in the city and presents a international cast of topical jazz artists across the genre's broad musical spectrum. The event, equally referred to as a "festival", "installation" and "utopia", also presents four varied commissioned works which operate on the conceptual borderlines of performance in jazz music. We Jazz 2014 spreads over the city finding several key venues near the We Jazz offices in the up-and-coming Vallila district.

The international acts at We Jazz 2014 include the hotly-tipped gem of European jazz, Phronesis, the American rising-star trumpeter Avishai Cohen with his trio Triveni, the minimal jazz trailbralzers Dawn of Midi from Brooklyn, and Nils Wogram Root 70 with Strings, who present music from their excellent recent release, "Riomar". Three acts – Kannaste/Raghavan/Waits+, Loetjoenen/Maekynen+Richardson and Markus Pesonen Hendectet – combine Finnish and international talent. Pesonen's rarely-seen international 11-piece orchestra includes players from 8 different nationalities.

The We Jazz collective's central role in the Finnish scene is echoed by a solid lineup of local talent. Jukka Eskola Soul Trio and Olavi Louhivuori Solo make their debut on stage while Kari Ikonen Trio and Elifantree present their new music. Jimi Tenor's solo piece Jazz à la Karma staged at the Jemma HKI barber shop promises to be a cosmic affair, and Lassy & Kontrafouris find sax man Timo Lassy and organ grinder Georgios Kontrafouris in a relaxed setting. The living legends of Finnish jazz, pianist Olli Ahvenlahti and saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen, will perform their compositions with a group consisting of three generations of jazzmen in a quintet assembled for the occasion. As per last year, We Jazz awards a local newcomer band the "We Jazz Rising Star" title. The selected group will be assisted by We Jazz in the launch of their career in the fields of concept planning, PR and graphic design. The official patron of We Jazz 2014, M.A. Numminen, will kick off the jazz week with a jazz themed performance at the opening concert at Aleksanterin teatteri.

We Jazz 2014 also presents four commisioned works which will step outside the traditional realm of a jazz event. Drummer Tatu Rönkkö of Elifantree and Efterklang finds his venue plus instruments in people’s kitchens for his solo percussion piece "I Play Your Kitchen". The hotly-tipped trio Mopo will play a whopping 24 performances during 24 hours starting on Fri 12 December at noon. The most sought-after bass player in Finland, Antti Lötjönen, will perform with three groups at once on 10 December at Ääniwalli, assembling a performance which features the bands playing both simultaneously and separately.

A significant part of the venues of We Jazz 2014 are new in comparison to last year as the search new surprising locations for jazz music in Helsinki continues. This year's venues include the barber shop Jemma HKI, the cozy Café Sävy, the "Kellohalli" room at the Teurastamo (Abattoir) cultural centre, and the premier Helsinki venue for electronic music, Ääniwalli. In addition, We Jazz 2014 also hosts concerts at three venues which were part of the debut event last year: the atmospheric concert hall Aleksanterin teatteri, the brunch location Siltanen and the collective's home turf, club Kuudes linja.

Check out all the We Jazz 2014 events and get your tickets here.
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