Jazz on the Beach continues along its original lines. This year the main theme is dialogue between contemporary jazz and traditional music. The program also includes an adventure concert on the island of Iso-Kraaseli.

The three intensive festival days will be topped off by the Krakatau & Senegal Drums spectacle on the Ruiskuhuone main stage. The Finnish cult quartet founded by guitarist Raoul Björkenheim and the Senegalese drum quartet are making their comeback and now, after 21 years, they return to Raahe stronger than ever. Raoul Björkenheim also leads the Jazz on the Beach young musicians’ workshop and performs with the workshop band on the summer theatre stage. Senegal Drums also perform on their own in the free of charge concert for everybody on Saturday afternoon.

Maarja Nuut, a star of new Estonian traditional music, is a violinist and a singer whose music is a captivating mixture of minimalism, experimentation, folk song and live looping. The show of the band Ylva combines jazz trumpet with electronic music and joiku, the song tradition of the Sami people in Lapland. The figurehead of the band is Niilas Holmberg from Sami land.

Orchestra Nazionale della Luna descends straight from the moon. It is an exhilarating and multinational phenomenon started by saxophonist-flutist Manuel Hermia and pianist Kari Ikonen. Raahen Laulu mixed choir joins the orchestra as a special guest in their concert in Raahe.

The versatile vigour of Finnish jazz is demonstrated by drummer Olavi Louhivuori’s band Oddarrang, which has crossed many types of musical and national borders, by the shamanistic Jone Takamäki & Markku Ounaskari duo as well as by OK:KO, a collective of young musicians gathered by drummer Okko Saastamoinen from the Haapavesi folk music scene. Raahe City Funk Unit features young musicians whose origins are in Raahe, and they will serve us treasures of Finnish rhythm music from several decades. Raahe City Funk Unit kicks off the Thursday program on the main stage on their own and continues together with the French trio Ikui Doki consisting of harp, bassoon and saxophone. In their own concert Ikui Doki then updates last century’s music into a modern form of expression.

Jone Takamäki and Markku Ounaskari perform in the Iso-Kraaseli island concert on Saturday. The concert on the island was introduced into the festival program last year and the combination of music and the island’s nature enchanted the audience.

The festival program also includes free of charge events, local programs, artist meetings and a surprise-packed jam session hosted by Kari Ikonen’s trio.

Jazz on the Beach festival was reformed last year. It features an early evening concert inside the Raahe theatre or on the theatre’s open air stage and a concert with three bands at cafe Ruiskuhuone by the sea later in the evening.

Program

Festival Information