We have lift off!

4.11.2020

Yes, in the text located just beneath I write that the year 2019 was different compared to any earlier years as the chairman of the registered association for Korpo Jazz. Lo and behold, every year feels normal compared to the year 2020. The only positive thing was that the summer felt longer without the festival – sometimes even too long!

Earth has rotated some extra times around itself and now we ask for permission to land, Mr. COVID-19!

Regards, Bosse

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2019 was different than all of the earlier years as chairman of Korpo Sea Jazz. 2020, also, is not reminiscent of any earlier years. I think I can relate to how Neil Armstrong felt, taking the first steps down to the surface of the Moon from Apollo 11. Behind the scenes, we’ve been working on an enormous upgrade of the Korpo Sea Jazz routines and visual profile. This will be the first year when concert tickets can be bought online. Revolutionary! Our volunteers are world champions at handling cash, but already in 2019, tickets could be paid for using debit and credit cards. This was the case, even if 70% of concertgoers arrived at the box offices with cash in hand. Over the years, our audience has learned that cash is king at Korpo Sea Jazz. While we still accept cash, we also hope that our audiences join us on the surface of the Moon, and buy their tickets online. Just got to www.korposeajazz.fi  and start shopping!

A different year 

In August of 2019, we made a splash with the release of our new collaboration on the Sea Jazz festival circuit in the archipelago. We’ve created a shared profile for Korpo Sea Jazz, Baltic Jazz, and the new festivals Turku Sea Jazz and Åland Sea Jazz. We’ve come to realize that 1+1+1+1 does not equal 4. It would seem that their sum is at least 19! We can now market ourselves more professionally, and also at a reduced cost, as our expenses are split between four festivals. During Archipelago Sea Jazz, we only have to come up with 25% of the budget. An added benefit is that our “volunteer organization” has been granted a budget for marketing and to create a profile, which aids us in this initial stage of our collaboration. When Archipelago Sea Jazz is, we are included. Click on the link in the top right corner of this page, or visit www.archipelagoseajazz.fi directly to get up-to-date news, or to navigate on to our associate festivals. Feel free to buy tickets to the other festivals as well! 

Korpo Sea Jazz is Korpo Sea Jazz

Korpo Sea Jazz will remain as independent as before throughout the festival collaboration. Our artistic profile and simple image, with the main focus point being jazz music itself, will remain intact. This is something which our audience has always appreciated. However, we are overjoyed with the Archipelago Sea Jazz collaboration. To be honest, our board at Korpo Sea Jazz hasn’t known much about Baltic Jazz, even if it’s just a few nautical miles from us. Today, through an exchange of thoughts and ideas, we have already come to realize that we aren’t competitors, but that instead, we complete one other. We’re also looking forward to brainstorming with our new siblings, Turku Sea Jazz and Åland Sea Jazz. Four jazz festivals by the ocean, during six summer weeks. Pure luxury! 

Normally, we start the planning of the festival already in August, almost 12 months before the start of the festival. Since we feature a different artistic director every year, these directors are also excited to get started with the planning of the festival. An exchange of ideas was fervently underway during the last festival night, last summer, with Kadi Vija, the artistic director of 2020. On Sunday, we continued our “meeting”. It seemed clear that Kadi is very organized, which adds to her artistry. She immediately identified our logistical challenges. I have experienced the opposite of her kind of planning as well with other directors. This has also been fun, albeit a bit more labor-intensive. It has been very rewarding to work with Kadi, with her showering me with one great idea after the other. The whole time, she’s seen the big picture, including the economic realities which can’t be overlooked. Thank you, Kadi, for your enormous efforts which will benefit both Korpo Sea Jazz and the state of jazz in Finland. You said that filling the shoes of the previous artistic director, guitarist Teemu Viinikainen will be difficult, but you’ve done a tremendous job. I certainly never doubted your abilities!

Everyone in the Apollo pod, stand by for landing. We’re already here, waiting.

Bosse Mellberg
Korpo Jazz
Chairman