A treat for guitarists and guitar-minded alike! The blues and rock virtuoso Robben Ford – one of the most important electric guitarists of our time – joins the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra as a soloist during the best pre-Christmas party season in the middle on November. Ford has regularly visited Finland, but this is his first appearance here together with a big band.

UMO’s artistic director Ed Partyka has arranged Ford’s works before for the hr-Big band in Frankfurt as well as for the Zurich Jazz Orchestra. For this concert, Partyka will make a couple of new arrangements of Ford’s music. The concert promises a tasty crossover serving of blues and jazz, as Ford describes himself as having “two souls; blues and jazz”. The concert programme is mainly from Ford’s albums A Day in Nashville and Bringing It Back Home, with the new arrangements coming from the albums Pure and Purple House.

The guitarist and singer Robben Ford (b. 1951, USA) is known for his versatile style, with influences from blues, jazz as well as rock. During his monumental career, Ford has produced more than ten solo albums and been nominated for Grammy Awards several times. He has played together with many famous musicians, among others Miles Davis, George Harrison, Joni Mitchell and Kiss. He was one of the founding members of the band Yellowjackets. www.robbenford.com