At the Porvoo Jazz Festival’s Vanha 123 concerts, the audience is always served two gigs with one ticket. The gigs will start at the same time on stages 1 and 2 at 8pm and after a short break at 9.15pm the audience will change the stage and hear the other performer of the evening. The two acts of the Friday night will be Riikka Keränen and Kikoski-Mäensivu-Peri.
Singer and composer Riikka Keränen is one of the most impressive rising jazz artists in the Finnish music scene. Dark and warm sound, sophisticated phrasing and scat improvisation are strongly present in her new music. Keränen performs atmospheric, modern jazz on her acclaimed debut album A Vision of a Garden released by Flame Jazz Records in February 2022. Keränen’s phrasing, control and scat technique have strong roots in the jazz tradition and it is accompanied by the flowing heartbeat of the talented musicians.
Riikka Keränen has a master’s degree in jazz music from the Sibelius Academy. She has also studied jazz singing at the Guildhall School of Music in London and the Malmö Academy of Music in Sweden. In addition to her own band, she has performed in the singing group Signe, which won the Emma and Teosto Award nominations.
“Keräse’s vocals are brilliant, it is at times slowly paced but rhythmically suprising at the same time”
Kari Salminen, Turun Sanomat, 5.3.2022