City|Valentine’s Day
The first jams will be in Vallila, Helsinki, on Monday.
Outside it is gray and sleet rains horizontally, but inside is warm and happy.
When Paula Susitaival, Johanna Juhola and Suvi Oskala get Gla ‘låten moving, the world is literally spinning in a happy direction.
The easing of restaurant restrictions means that folk music jams can be held in the Pikku-Vallila café after a long break. They have not existed since the beginning of the pandemic, and not very many jams have been held elsewhere.
The three-hour increase in opening hours allows restaurants to keep their doors open until midnight. For jams, this loosening of opening hours is of great importance.
Secret Secret is organized in a small circle in people’s homes or courtyards, but then they are invited guests who are attracted to each other by the host population through health-safe arrangements.
The most essential essence of folk music, ie free access for all, participation in the common path, has been exhausted at that time.
“Everyone is welcome to jams, even if you got the player the day before. Professional musicians and enthusiasts play together. Playing others is worthwhile, ”Juhola describes.
The previous jams of the larger group were held in the summer of the first corona year, at the National Opera Amphitheater outdoors.
“There we crying in the eye were played and danced. There was also room for folk dancers, whose situation has been even worse than for the callers during the pandemic restrictions, ”says Susitaival.
It is important for Suvi Oskala to get to play with other people.
Together playing is something so fundamental to folk music professionals and enthusiasts that the impact of its absence on the mood is enormous.
“We play each other in jams. My soul longs for it, ”says Oskala.
According to Oskala, it is not a question of being allowed to perform, although the crowding of the public certainly has its own electrifying effect.
The main things are bringing people together by the music, and being happy that the music is played together. Everyone is welcome and enthusiasts have the opportunity to learn with professional musicians.
It often happens in jams that an enthusiast remembers the names of the songs and knows their history. A professional musician masters melodies, but not necessarily background information.
“It’s because of this kind of activity that some, like myself, still feel like I’m still in the middle of a pandemic. That’s what’s important, for example, for mental health, ”Juhola thinks.
Jamien there are several organizers, and some signs of recovery are already visible. For example, the Tradition Coffin Association has just signaled that it would prepare jams.
Pikku-Vallila has not been ruined on the farm, but at its best it has accommodated an astonishing number of people in the days of May Day.
Jami night protocol is free. People arrive as they see fit. They sit at one table, then another table and a third are needed.
The program is not discussed in advance, but you can shout on Facebook who is coming. And will Gla ‘låten be heard on Monday as well?
“It’s very possible,” Oskala says.
“We never have a plan. The songs that someone is just starting to play are played, ”Susitaival accompanies.
Paula Susitaival playing in Pikku-Vallila on Sunday.
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