Tampere Jazz happening

[ WWW.FINPOP.NET ]

THE FINNISH POP CULTURE PORTAL

Festival : Tampere Jazz Happening
Interview : Juhamatti Kauppinen

When was the festival first established and who's idea / project was it?
The first Tampere Jazz Happeniong saw the daylight 1982. Here in Tampere was an association called Jazzkerho Braek and they got an idea to have own festival, which would be strigthly focused on modern jazz.

How could you present your festival to our readers who don't know it?
Tampere Jazz Happening is a festival of new jazz music, taking place in late October-early November every year since 1982. This event, which concentrates on modern jazz and its related forms, has the reputation of being the best jazz festival in Finland. The reputation has its origins in the unprejudiced and innovative programme selection of top quality.
Year after year top names of modern jazz from clubs and festivals of New York and Europe are seen in the stages of Tampere Jazz Happening. For example Marc Ribot, Peter Brötzmann, Charles Gayle, Evan Parker, John Zorn and Ornette Coleman have performed in Tampere. The influence of new concert music, rock and ethnic music on modern jazz is well presented in the wide programme selection.
The special attraction of this weekend-long festival lies in the intimate atmosphere of small concerts and club evenings, where the main thing is music.

When is it happening?
First weekend in november, next Happening will be held 31.10-2.11.2003

Why this period of the year was choosen?
There's not so much things happening around at that period and you'll need some positive vibes in the middle of kaamos (darkest time of the year, when you can only imagine how the sun looks like). It's a perfect time to have Tampere Jazz Happening.

Are there many changes / ameliorations from one year to another?
The place is allways the same, Tullikamari's big hall and club http://www.tullikamari.net That's maybe one of the best venues in Skandinavia. Sometimes we have off club in culturehouse Telakka www.telakka.sci.fi Next year we are planning to show some jazz films in a little movie theater called Niagara.
Maybe warm up concert in Jumo Jazz Club in Helsinki like last year. Of course the programme is different every year:)

How the programmation of the festival is done?
We got demos and cd's and email - A LOT! We listen them and of course we check the artists in different festivals alive & direct. We have a good reputation among the musicians around the world, so they love to come back again and again and they also spread the word. So we just reap the fruits. One main thing is also our limited budget.

Are there many spectators coming from abroad?
Mostly festival organizers, quests and press, some customers.

Do you advertise your festival abroad?
Flyers etc.in other festivals, we are part of Finland Festivals and sometimes we have some advertisements in magazines like Down Beat and The Wire www.thewire.co.uk

Would you recommend some sites or places that tourists who come to your festival could visit at the same time?
I have mentioned some sites, but check also:
www.tampere.fi
www.tampere.fi/festival/music
www.tamperefilmfestival.fi/index2.html
www.tampere.fi/festival/theatre

Muumilaakso and Rauhaniemen kansankylpylä (public sauna & hole in the ice)are absolutely worth visiting.

Are there many possibilities for accomodation? Would you recommend one particularly?
Lots of hotels very near, like Sokos Hotel Villa, Hotel Ramada, Hotel Victoria and Hotel Tampere.

Do you have a web site? What kind of information / content do you offer?
Check our sites www.tampere.fi/jazz
There's everything you need to know about us.

What is, to your point of view, the difference between a good and a "not so good" festival?
Atmosphere is the main thing. It means that you take good care for musicians, quests, press and of course customers. As little commercialism as possible, reasonable prices, quality artists, things are working..."not so good festival" is quite opposite.

How do you explain the popularity of festivals in Finland?
You mean that why we have so much festivals, especially in summer time? Maybe long and lonely winter makes people missing company and festival is easy way to meet people sharing the same interests.

Do you work in collaboration with other festival abroad?
Tampere Jazz Happening is a member of TECMO (Trans European Creative Music Organizers) and we are in a working group, which meets couple times a year. There is festival organizers from Grenoble Jazz Festival, Bath International Music Festival, Perpignan Jazz Festival, Jazzfestival Munster, Saalfelden Jazz Festival etc. TECMO members are European festivals which share a major interest in promoting contemporary jazz and improvised music created in styles which have a recognisably European approach.

what are your projects for the coming years?
We are planning to find more local jazz to our stages, we have plans to show some jazz movies in the future and we are working for jazzjournalist panel next happening. We also are trying to offer the newest scene in jazz and hope that younger people also find their way to our highly respected festival. Main thing is anyway to keep our festival's quality maximum high

Interview by Vincent Lefrançois - 2003