UMO Jazz Orchestra

Maarit Kytöharju is a Helsinki-based photographer who specialises in taking photos of music and musicians. She made us a compilation of 12 photos reflecting the shifting moods in live music in Finland in 2020.

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.

Violinist Maria Puusaari writes to the FMQ readers about music that is significant for her, and about the role of music in her life during important turning points and times of crisis.

The Finnish Baroque Orchestra (FiBO) emerged as a pioneer in its field in Finland. Now, this nimble ensemble is adopting a new, democratic leadership model. With two artistic planners and an executive director, the orchestra aims to become a tighter-knit team competent not only in performance but also in audience outreach.

We have come a long way from the days when audiences at concerts of contemporary music consisted of a tiny handful of dedicated professionals. This was the inevitable conclusion when looking at the size and structure of audiences at this year’s Musica nova Helsinki festival. There were several concerts where people actually had to be turned away, and the audience base ranged far beyond the diehard contemporary music enthusiasts.

Seamlessly, keyboardist and composer Kari Ikonen spins a distinctive sound of his own that draws on music from around the world, grounded in US jazz and fusion of the ‘60s and ‘70s. On Moog synthesizer, acoustic or electric piano, he plays with ecstasy and a fascination with rhythm.

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.

Jazz composer and musician Heikki Sarmanto was one of his generation’s foremost figures in the 1960s, when Finnish jazz moved away from the traditional towards a more original sound. Another Finnish jazz revolutionary who has been unconcerned about music genres is Henrik Otto Donner, although the two men’s approaches have differed.

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.

Jimi Tenor has never been an easy subject for anyone trying to label his work. Seemingly free of genre boundaries, the musical vocabulary in Tenor-land has just expanded further with his new project, Itetune. This time the artist has even created his own instruments.

"What a great night it was at the short-lived Helsinki Royal Cotton Club on 20 October 1995. On stage was the Finnish flagship big band, UMO Jazz Orchestra, with saxophonist Michael Brecker. "

"Crime jazz or soundtrack sounds? Yes, but in addition to allusions of the ’60s there are other things to chew on in Jimi Tenor and UMO Jazz Orchestra’s collective effort."