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Christmas Jazz 2017
VÄRTTINÄ (Finland) feat. KADRI VOORAND
“Finland 100”
Wednesday, 6 December 2017 at 19:00
Värttinä is the best known Finnish folk group. The group’s energy is unstoppable and new, and they surprise and thrill audiences with their fresh takes on the traditions of folk music. Värttinä’s music is an energetic, melodic and fascinating combination of old Finnish folk music, Seto songs, Tuvan throat-singing, Irish folk music as well as rock, jazz and exotic sounds.
The band developed from a children’s poetry group in Rääkkylä, Northern Karelia, in 1983. They made their breakthrough in Finland and abroad in 1991 with the album OiDai. They are exotic and traditional with a complex sound, but their music is also accessible and entertaining. The band’s trademark since its establishment has been the special vocal – ‘korkeelta ja kovva’, i.e. ‘high and loud’. The powerful and charismatic songstresses of Värttinä are its founder Mari Kaasinen, Susan Aho and Karoliina Kantelinen.
The group’s albums have regularly topped the world’s charts and they won the WOMEX Award in 2012. Since their fourth album Selinko, Värttinä’s recordings have been released by the international labels Polygram, Warner and BMG. In 2016, the band released the album Viena, which is a tribute to their musical roots and Karelian heritage. The group’s sound is becoming increasingly more acoustic – the improvisational freedom, ancient energy and magical rhythms of folk music are also recognisable in jazz.
At Christmas Jazz, Värttinä will perform with a special guest, one of our most powerful jazz singers Kadri Voorand, whose musical aptitude and reach are extraordinary and who has carried folk music in her heart all her life. The meeting of these two sources of energy promises to produce some of the brightest musical flashes of the dark winter.
We wish to thank: the Embassy of Finland
Performers:
Mari Kaasinen – vocal
Susan Aho – vocal
Karoliina Kantelinen – vocal
Kadri Voorand – vocal
Matti Kallio – accordion, keyboards
