UMO and the virtuoso bass player Lauri Porra hit the stages at two concerts in Helsinki.

Songs from Lauri Porra’s three albums embody various styles from rock jazz to more cinematic tones and at times calm dawn to more minimalistic contemplative moods. UMO and Lauri Porra’s music lead us to a place where genre is no more an obstruction in between the music and the listener. Mikko Hassinen, Jussi Lampela, Artturi Rönkä and Sampo Kasurinen have orchestrated the music for the big band.

Lauri Porra (b. 1977) has performed in over sixty countries and is known especially from bands Stratovarius and Lauri Porra Flyover Ensemble. He is the bandleader of the latter one. He has composed music for big screen, television, theatre and symphony orchestra and is also a conductor himself. He has been awarded Nordisk popularauktors (NPU) prize and Voitto-prize for the best music for and advertisement and has been a member of the artistic panel of Helsinki Festival. The versatile musician has collaborated with the likes of Juice Leskinen, Emma Salokoski, Apocalyptica, Ben Granfelt, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Lahti Symphony Orchestra.