8.9.2022
19:00
Tiketti, Lippu.fi, glivelab.fi & G Livelab -app
Standard 33 €
Retirees, students, unemployed, servicemen 25 €

Duration 2 h with intermission. Doors open at 6 pm.

UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra with Nikki Iles & Mike Walker (UK) 

Conductor Nikki Iles

Thu 8 September 2022 at 7 pm // G Livelab, Helsinki

 


8.9.2022
19:00
Tiketti, Lippu.fi, glivelab.fi & G Livelab -app
Standard 33 €
Retirees, students, unemployed, servicemen 25 €

Duration 2 h with intermission. Doors open at 6 pm.

Award winning British pianist, composer and conductor Nikki Iles – fresh from working with the HR and NDR Radio big bands in Germany – brings her music to the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra alongside her long time musical partner, the formidably creative guitarist, Mike Walker.

This music marks a new chapter in Nikki Iles’ long and distinguished career in British Jazz, gathering together her commissions from over the years, new orchestrations and new compositions commissioned by UMO.

Pieces are inspired, for example, by pianist Geri Allen, UK socialist MP Red Ellen (1891–1947) and the huge skies across the landscapes of the Fens in eastern England.

The depth and range of the exhilarating writing and arranging suggest it will be less like a debut, but more like seasoned hand and a distinctive creative voice, with the music bought to vivid life by the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra.

Note! Open rehearsals at Kaapelitehdas Cable Factory on Tuesday 6th >>

“A formidable UK jazz presence” ….“Iles is one of the most refreshing figures to have emerged in the UK scene in recent times, with a liquid sound and supple, obliquely resolved phrasing as animproviser.” The Guardian, John Fordham

“Nikki Iles is a pianist of extraordinary imagination who thrives on fugitive melodies.” The Observer, Dave Gelly

“Mike Walker is one of the most powerful jazz guitarists in Europe, with a surreal intelligence… it’s soaringly confident, idiosyncratic contemporary music and in Walker there is absolutely no doubt that we are in the presence of a musician of the highest international level.” The Guardian, John Fordham

Nikki Iles (b. 1963), BEM, award-winning pianist, composer, bandleader and educator, is a pivotal figure in British jazz. She leads her Nikki Iles Jazz Orchestra and was a founder member of the innovative Creative Jazz Orchestra in the 90’s. She has been working with greats like Mike Gibbs, Vince Mendoza, Kenny Wheeler and more. Although well known as a pianist, composition remains a major part of her musical life with commissions including The London Sinfonietta, The London Philharmonic’s Renga and The National Youth Jazz Orchestra. With a parallel career as a widely respected teacher, she is Professor of Jazz Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and Middlesex University. She was awarded the BEM for services to music in 2022. nikkiiles.co.uk

Mike Walker (b. 1962) is a British jazz guitarist, composer and educator who has played with names like Kenny Wheeler, Mike Gibbs, Pat Metheny, George Russell, Dave Holland and Anthony Braxton to name a few, breaking genre boundaries. He has released several albums under his own name and with his band The Impossible Gentlemen. His collaboration with Nikki Iles has continued for decades. www.mikejswalker.com

Other concerts

Open rehearsal: UMO Helsinki – Focus Tero Saarti
Thu
21st Sep 2023 at 12:30 pm
Info & tickets ->
UMO Helsinki – Focus Tero Saarti
Fri
22nd Sep 2023 at 6 pm
Tue
26th Sep 2023 at 2 pm
Info & tickets ->
Helsinki International Big Band Composing Contest – Final Concert & Live Stream
Thu
5th Oct 2023 at 6 pm
Info & tickets ->
Finnish Big Band Days: UMO Helsinki – New Jazz from Europe
Fri
6th Oct 2023 at 7 pm
Info & tickets ->
UMO Helsinki performs Joseph Bowie’s Big Band Funk feat. Maja Mannila – The Legendary Music of Defunkt
Fri
13th Oct 2023 at 7 pm
Info & tickets ->
Thad Jones 100 – UMO Helsinki & Jukka Eskola
Thu
26th Oct 2023 at 6 pm
Fri
27th Oct 2023 at 7 pm
Info & tickets ->
UMO Helsinki Ensemble – Dixieland
Sat
28th Oct 2023 at 5 pm
Info & tickets ->
UMO Helsinki feat. Joris Roelofs (NL)
Fri
10th Nov 2023 at 7 pm
Info & tickets ->
UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra & Robben Ford (US)
Thu
16th Nov 2023 at 7 pm
Info & tickets ->
Lunchtime concert: UMO Helsinki Ensemble – Tribute to Chet Baker
Tue
21st Nov 2023 at 12 pm
Info & tickets ->
School concert: Oulu Symphony & UMO Helsinki with Nina Mya & Tuomo – Tribute to Burt Bacharach
Thu
30th Nov 2023 at 10 am
Info & tickets ->
Oulu Symphony & UMO Helsinki with Nina Mya & Tuomo – Tribute to Burt Bacharach
Wed
29th Nov 2023 at 6 pm
Thu
30th Nov 2023 at 7 pm
Info & tickets ->
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, UMO Helsinki & Jules Buckley: Quincy!
Fri
1st Mar 2024 at 7 pm
Info & tickets ->