Ida Alanen Trio | Signe | Valtteri Laurell Nonet feat. Antti Sarpila – Jazz-Espa

Jazz-Espa is a rare treat even on an international level: this number of free concerts by such high-level artists in the heart of a city can’t be found anywhere else!

The festival features 17 jazz acts, both experimental styles and traditional sounds.

Monday 31 July 2023

Klo 13.00 | Ida Alanen Trio
Ida Alanen Trio’s music draws inspiration from visual forms and the borderline between sleep and awakeness, inviting images from the subconscious into broad daylight. The trio’s seamless sound is a result of three years of collaboration, and the ensemble alternates effortlessly between carefully orchestrated compositions and free improvisations.

The ensemble’s leader Ida Alanen is currently enrolled in the Master’s Degree Programme at the Amsterdam Conservatorium, studying under Harmen Fraanje. Originally based in Helsinki, the trio now tours both in Finland and internationally. Their Jazz-Espa concert will feature material from the trio’s debut album, set to release in autumn 2023.

Ida Alanen – piano and compositions
Jonathan Bäckström – double bass
Benjamin Nylund – drums

Klo 16.00 | Signe
Signe delights us with their strong presence, powerful soloistic interpretations, and highly original compositions. The ensemble’s unique musical style has been pushing the boundaries of jazz, contemporary classical and popular music since 2014. With their new trilogy titled Onomatopoesia, Signe explores the uncharted landscapes of the human voice.

The three-album composition is a study on sensitisation, as well as the need for attachment and settlement in our ever-changing environment. The albums’ lyrical content and vocalisations evolve from the smallest components of language, phonemes, into syllables and words. The second part of the trilogy, Morphemes, was nominated for an EMMA Award in spring 2023. The evolution of the trilogy culminates in the use of composed lyrics in the album Syntax, released in spring 2023.

Josefiina Vannesluoma – vocals
Riikka Keränen – vocals
Selma Savolainen – vocals
Kaisa Mäensivu – double bass and vocals

Klo 17.30 | Valtteri Laurell Nonet feat. Antti Sarpila
Valtteri Laurell Nonet plays contemporary, intimate jazz music, which draws from the early 1960s concepts of cool jazz and Third Stream. Although each member of this all-stars line-up gets to share the spotlight, the focus is firmly on clarinettist Antti Sarpila’s timeless and soulful musical expression.

The composer portrait concert’s theme revolves around the somewhat obscure British-Caribbean authoress Jean Rhys. The melancholy and vivid literary landscape of her short stories and her only published novel Wide Sargasso Sea has provided Valtteri Pöyhönen with abundant inspiration to compose atmospheric and wistful jazz music with occasional glimpses of light.

The Helsinki-based We Jazz Records released the ensemble’s debut album Tigers Are Better Looking in early 2023.

Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen – compositions, electric guitar
Antti Sarpila – clarinet
Jukka Eskola – trumpet, flugelhorn
Petri Puolitaival – alto saxophone, flute
Jussi Kannaste – tenor saxophone
Antti Rissanen – trombone
Ville Vannemaa – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Jori Huhtala – double bass
Jaska Lukkarinen – drums