Spanish ambience:
Carreteros
The repertoire of Carreteros of Kuopio, formed in 2005, includes traditional and modern flamenco music and dance, influenced by music from the rest of world. Band members: Markku ”Maxi” Huttunen guitar, piano; Pirjo Reinikainen dancer, cajon, castanets, palmas; Reijo Kuusela guitar, cajon, palmas; Petteri Soininen bass, vocals; Elina Vetoniemi flute; Esa Kärki percussion; Irja Mauranen vocals, palmas; Mari Leskinen vocals, palmas; Eija Huttunen dancer, cajon, palmas, udu.
www.flamencoartekuopio.net
Mellow Greek rhythms:
Minoan Zorbas
All five members of the Minoan Zorbas band are professional Greek musicians. The diverse repertoire of the band covers the whole range of Greek popular music for dancing, including folk music, Mikis Theodorakis and captivating rhythms from different Greek islands. The instruments they play are the 8-stringed bouzouki,
6-stringed bouzouki, guitar, drums and bass.
Italian legend:
Umberto Marcato
Born in Padua in 1936, Italian legend Umberto Marcato of the golden voice was very popular in Finland in the 1950s and 1960s. He sang in Finnish as well as his Italian mother language, acted in Finnish films and was a star of Finnish music for dancing.
The Italian charmer with chocolate-coloured eyes and a velvet voice sang straight to the hearts of Finnish women. His numerous songs, including Volare, Amore Scusami,
O Sole Mio, Carina, Ciao Ciao, Bella Noche, Bambina and many others, are familiar to most Finns and certainly bring back nostalgic memories.
LUMO OPEN AIR:
Anna-Mari Kähärä & Iiro Rantala,
Ricky-Tick Big Band, Erja Lyytinen Band
Lumo Open Air in the Wine Village is a joint open air event of Kuopio Wine Festival and Audiogravity Oy produced in the spirit of the Lumo 2010 festival. The hottest Finnish names in jazz and blues will entertain festival guests on Tuesday 6 July 2010. Lumo 2010, the second such festival, will be held in Ravintola Wanha Satama
on 10–13 June 2010.
Anna-Mari Kähärä & Iiro Rantala
Anna-Mari Kähärä and Iiro Rantala amaze their audience with their original joint performances that really test the limits of humour. During the evening, Rantala will play blood-curdling solo piano pieces and the duo recent versions of Kähärä’s own compositions. Anything can happen – and certainly will – when the two top musicians in their field meet!
Anna-Mari Kähärä is a composer, pianist and singer.
She is best known as a member of the singing group How Many Sisters and ethno jazz band Zetaboo. In 1982, while at upper high school in Kuopio, Kähärä founded How Many Sisters together with Mervi Hiltunen and Kirsi Rissanen. She has also worked and recorded with Pekka Kuusisto & The Luomu Players and the Anna-Mari Kähärä Orchestra. Kähärä was the first female artist to receive the Yrjö award of the Finnish Jazz Association and in 2002 she was awarded the Finland Prize by the Ministry of Education.
Versatile musician Iiro Rantala is renowned as the pianist and a founder member of Finland’s best-known international jazz band Trio Töykeät. The band has performed over 2000 times in 43 countries on five continents, confirming the great success of the trio.
Very popular are Iiro’s Yle Radio Yksi telephone request programme and his “Iirottelua” music programme on television channel TV1, which have gained great popularity. Rantala is also a distinguished classical musician and has performed Mozart’s piano concerto in
A major with almost all city orchestras. He has also composed musicals, film scores and concertos.
www.annamarikahara.com
www.iirorantala.com
Ricky-Tick Big Band
This young and hungry big band is one of the hottest newcomers in Finnish jazz. The band’s music is full of energy and the brisk swing of the twentieth century big band sound in the spirit of Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Fletcher "Smack" Henderson. The band of young Finnish jazz players led by composer and guitarist Valtteri Pöyhönen includes many internationally respected musicians. This new big band of freelancers includes trumpeter Jukka Eskola, saxophonists Timo Lassy and Antti Hynninen, drummer Jaska Lukkarinen and bass Antti Lötjönen. The band also includes highly appreciated names in Finnish jazz such as accomplished saxophonist and clarinettist Antti Sarpila. The debut record of the band will be out in May 2010.
Erja Lyytinen Band
Born in Kuopio, Erja Lyytinen is a guitarist, singer and songwriter. She took her matriculation exam in Kuopio Upper Secondary Music and Dance School in 1995. Since then she has studied conducting at Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory and music teaching at Sibelius Academy in Finland. She has also studied in Sweden, Denmark and the USA.
Erja Lyytinen and her band are the young torchbearers of modern Finnish blues. With their stunning guitar playing skills and captivating concerts, they have drawn new listeners to new blues. Rami Eskelinen plays drums in Erja’s band. He was previously the drummer in Trio Töykeät.
Erja Lyytinen - vocals, guitar
Davide Floreno - guitar
Rami Eskelinen - drums
Matti Vallius - bass
Harri Taittonen - keyboard