Blog | Such is the new Umo – Artistic Director Ed Partyka finally introduced himself to the Finnish audience

Long the man leaps in front of the orchestra, turns his back on the audience, raises his hand in the air – and then leaves!

He swings with his long hands, hits the air. And then just swinging and letting the music roll. But as he tramples on his foot, the floor shakes up in the stands.

The new master has joined the Finnish jazz scene!

Umo Artistic director of the Helsinki Jazz Orchestra Ed Partyka presented to the public for the first time at a concert held last Friday at the April Jazz Festival in Espoo’s Sellosal.

It became clear that a new era has begun in Finland: Big band boost.

It can be noted in the history books that the rise of big bands began in this year’s April Jazz, which features as many as eight big band performances. The most special of them seems to be the Norwegian Trondheim Jazz Orchestra at Tapiola Church on Sunday, where the main instrument was an organ.

Stateside Born and having a career in Europe, Partyka started as Umo’s artistic director in early 2020. Because of the corona pandemic, we only saw him in front of the orchestra now.

Since I mostly saw his back, I can’t say if he’s as scary as he is JK Simmonsin played by a sadistic orchestra conductor seven years ago Whiplashin the movie. He’s at least as tall.

There was a new kind of vibration on stage even before Partyka came. For the first time I saw a woman in the ranks of Umo: she was a saxophonist Katharina Brien, another of the orchestra ‘s German visitors. The other was a German saxophonist Florian Trübsbach.

Rarely do you see such big fans on stage as on Friday. Saxophonist Max Zengerin next to it stood a row of long long horns, like gutters.

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“There is a nuance in classical music.”

They had a use. Conducted by the entire Party, Umo seemed to have a new sound: the velvety and romantic sound of a classical jazz orchestra, updated with today’s rhythm.

Partyka told the audience that she wanted to bring her back to big band music. ”Gil Evansin The spirit of the 1950s ”- Evanshan is known, for example, for his non-non-trumpet playing Miles Davis and a saxophonist Gerry Mulligan.

In addition to the fact that everyone could conclude that he fell in love with the full-bodied sound of the big fans, he also talked about his means quite openly. He said he uses a lot of clarinet and grand piano, for example, in his arrangements. “This makes the sound more orchestral and has a nuance of classical music,” Partyka said.

Specially i liked his way of often using only one or only a few soloists in songs. That’s when the soloist seemed to take over the whole song. And Umo’s great callers did it in style.

The audience got to hear premieres from Umo Fresh The Last Dance from the album. Some were Partyka’s compositions, some were loan songs. One is reportedly coming to the next record: a saxophonist Manuel Dunkelin a wonderful ballad composed and interpreted by him as a soloist.

Memorable were also Kasperi Sarikoski a gentle trumpet in Ed Partykan’s wistful GG’s Last Dance in paragraph Mikko Mäkinen a clarinet singing like a blackbird Eliane Elias composing Para Nadassa mixed Mikko Pettinen longing trumpet in the opening piece.

April Jazzin big band boost was not limited to Sellosalos. It wants to extend to the future of Finnish big band music.

The new generation also appeared in this concert when Umo’s warm-up band was performed by the Pop Jazz Conservatory’s big band with blues guitarist and singer Pepe Ahlqvist.

Last weekend, April Jazz organized a music camp for four youth big bands with teachers from Umo and Espoo Big Band.

At the end of Friday’s concert, Partyka wished the audience a fun evening, but still seriously reminded them that the wish does not apply to big band campers. According to Partyka, they should be sharp in the lesson the next morning.

On Sunday I heard something completely different when the Norwegian Trondheim Jazz Orchestra performed Alf Hulbækmon composition Barnlige gleder. I guess the name could be translated as “childish joys”.

Norwegian jazz has been said to be completely unique. There has been talk of fjord jazz, which is characterized by the ethereal and meditative nature associated with northern nature.

Barnlige gleder support reinforced this view. When the composer in his thirties had still chosen church organ as his instrument, the performance was something I had never experienced before at jazz festivals.

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“It’s fragile and vanishing, like the sunlight reflected on the concrete wall of a church.”

Hulbækmo created a completely unique sound. It was fragile and vanishing, like the sunlight reflected on the concrete wall of the church.

There are usually – at least for myself – church musical associations with the organ, but there was no information about them in this performance. Rather, it was about childish play, curious experimentation, and joy.

The same attitude radiated from the entire orchestra, from the strings to the winds.

The contribution of three singers was especially great: Siri Gjære, Harald Relling Nielsen and Rohey Taalah interpreted special melodies and harmonies effortlessly and sensitively. Sometimes the vocal parts were part of an orchestra, but sometimes great ones were heard a cappella episodes and the awesome power of the gospel.

I wish I still understood the words.

Handbill would have been helpful anyway, as the structure of the work could not be predicted in any way.

Towards the end, I was surprised a few times that this is still going on.

The work would have had many great endings: it was the strong Gospel finale or drummer of the singers. Hans Hulbækmon an explosive drum solo — so explosive that a part of the drums detached in a large arc to the second row of benches in the church. Luckily someone would probably get a booth out of it if I did it right.

Eventually, the work faded away like a sunburn from the wall or a childhood memory view.

April Jazz continues 30.4. until.

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