Edward Vesala

The pandemic year brought a record harvest of jazz by women. While Finland prides itself on equality, there’s still a long way to go on the jazz scene, though.

"The overall sound is eerie, nocturnal and wintry – yet somehow comforting, as deep forests are for people of the North."

"Sublime guitar lines that soar like birds of prey in the sky, daring harmonic innovations and immersive metric modulations to make your heart bleed with anguish, ecstasy and joy."

Known as a fearless sound explorer and protean saxophonist, Tapani Rinne introduced jazz to ambient and techno years before it became a worldwide trend. After game-changing albums with RinneRadio, Wimme and others, he continues to blaze a trail of innovation.

Since 2005, Black Motor has been a proudly local Tampere institution, making its own idiosyncratic way apart from the orthodox Helsinki scene.

During her long and winding career, Iro Haarla has reinvented herself many times over. She has rolled with the punches and beat all odds to become one of the most original and soulful composers in Nordic jazz.

Progress is all about trying out new things, as every forward-thinking artist intrinsically knows. Nevertheless, a case could be made that it is not enough if only the vanguard embraces the unknown. Perhaps all could take a page out of Pepa Päivinen, Janne Tuomi and other open-minded musicians’ book.

2015 has been a milestone year for the 40-year-old UMO Jazz Orchestra. We invited three key figures to look back on the history of the internationally acclaimed big band.

The earthy tones of Pepa Päivinen’s saxophone are a cornerstone of Finnish jazz. To date [2003], the man has released three albums as a leader and made himself a name through various projects of differing sizes. He has performed for twenty years in the ranks of the UMO Jazz Orchestra and worked along the way with bandleaders like Jukka Tolonen, Edward Vesala and Anthony Braxton.