The Europe Jazz Network (EJN) is pleased to reveal the winner of the 6th EJN Award for Adventurous Programming. The Award goes for the first time to a Nordic promoter: Tampere Jazz Happening in Finland.
The public celebration of the 2017 Award will be made on the evening of Friday 28 April during the international trade fair jazzahead! in Bremen, Germany, that this year has precisely Finland as partner country, at Magazinkeller, on the basement of Schlachthof cultural space, in the framework of the club night organised by the City of Tampere.
Over the course of the night (free entry for all jazzahead! participants), in addition to the EJN Award public announcement, Finnish musicians such as Kari Ikonen, Olli Rantala, Markku Ounaskari, Verneri Pohjola, Sid Hille and Raoul Björkenheim are expected to join the jam sessions. It will be the perfect occasion to party and celebrate together this great achievement! This will be one of the many events that will involve Finnish musicians and promoters during the days of the fair, including as well the Finnish Night, as part of the official Showcase programme, on Thursday 27 April.
The 2017 EJN Award has been unanimously assigned by an independent jury composed of EJN members and journalists to Tampere Jazz Happening for its continuous bold and innovative programming, its ability to stimulate new and original projects linking local and international musicians and for its commitment to broaden the horizons of jazz, maintaining quality at the highest levels.
The winner will be also celebrated at the European Jazz Conference 2017 at Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, Slovenia, taking place between 21 and 24 September.
About the EJN Award for Adventurous Programming
Each year EJN, the Europe-wide association of promoters, presenters and organisations who specialise in creative music, contemporary jazz and improvised music, awards a European promoter who exemplifies the values of EJN and skilfully succeeds to create visionary and fascinating musical programmes for the audience.
Previous winners of the EJN Award for Adventurous Programming have been: “Manchester Jazz Festival” in the UK (2016), “Moers Festival” in Germany (2015) “Jazz em Agosto” in Portugal (2014), “Bimhuis” in The Netherlands (2013) and “12 Points Festival” in Ireland (2012).
Comment from the Award Jury 2017
“Tampere Jazz Happening for over 35 years now presents a strong programming with a sharp and adventurous profile. Maintaining a familiar approach and strong links with the local community, it established itself as a world-class event and one of the most edgy jazz festivals around. New projects and collaborations are established in every edition, often in the form of inter-generational and inter-gender dialogues. Young Finnish musicians have the opportunity to develop new ideas together with jazz legends and receive wide international exposure. The Festival has broad horizons, framed together in a coherent programme by one of the most characteristic promoters in Europe. All these reasons make Tampere Jazz Happening the perfect choice for the EJN Award for Adventurous Programming 2017!“
EJN Award Jury 2017: Anne Erm (Artistic Director, Jazzkaar Festivals, Tallinn Estonia), Tina Heine (Artistic Director, Jazz & The City Salzburg, Austria), Martyna Markowska (Artistic Director, JazzArt Festival Katowice, Poland), Yahvé M. de la Cavada (music journalist, Spain), Reiner Michalke (Artistic Director, Stadtgarten Koln, Germany – previous EJN Award winner)
Comment from Juhamatti Kauppinen, Artistic Director of Tampere Jazz Happening
“It is absolutely a great honour to receive the EJN Award, the most respected recognition that a jazz festival in Europe can get. I’ve been working as Artistic Director at Tampere Jazz Happening since 2002 and tried to continue and respect the ambitious work that the local jazz association “Jazz Club Break” started about 40 years ago. My aim has always been to spread the word “jazz” and to build bridges to get new audiences while keeping the original audience satisfied. Witnessing the concerts fully packed during the Festival and receiving such feedbacks is the proof that things have gone right. I must thank the city of Tampere as well as our loyal volunteers, office staff and colleagues that make this possible year after year. Music is the main thing!”
About Tampere Jazz Happening
In 1982 Tampere Jazz Happening was organized for the first time and ever since it has been a part of the spectrum of cultural events in Tampere every year. Since 1990 the festival has been produced by Tampere Music Festivals that is a part of the Cultural Affairs of the City of Tampere. The Happening brings together the most interesting artists of modern jazz from Finland and from abroad.
The 2017 edition of Tampere Jazz Happening will take place between 2 and 5 November 2017
Tampere Jazz Happening’s website
About the Europe Jazz Network
The Europe Jazz Network (EJN) was created in 1987 as a Europe-wide association. Currently EJN includes 115 organisations (festivals, clubs and concert venues, independent promoters and national organisations) in 34 countries. EJN’s mission is to encourage, promote and support the development of creative improvised music within the European scene and to create opportunities for artists, organisers and audiences from all different countries to meet and communicate.
