Musical frissons: Pori Jazz 2017.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for...

Arvatkaas pojat ja tytöt mitä? Se on kuulkaas ny sillä tavalla, että kun mulla luonnistuu jostain ihmeen syystä nää musiikkihommat englanniksi, niin...

Boy oh boy, aren't you anglophiles in for a treat! (and grammar/error nazis, be warned, I haven't done this in a while so prepare yourselves) Because I'm gonna write in English for a change!

Pori Jazz was UH-mazing. I mean, DAYMN. So many marvelous artists and fantastic musicians that I just can't even. First we were supposed to go there on Friday only, but as we were browsing Saturday's set list we simply could not stand the thought of missing all the great performances set for that day! I mean hey c'mon, how we would've been able to miss The Phenomenal Erykah Badu, The Awesome Cory Henry or The Amazing Chaka Khan?

What in the world is going on with my hair!? #itsthehumidityy

I managed to film all the performances we saw, except for Ms. Badu. The security personnel were quite strict during her show and told all the people who tried to take photos or videos to stop immediately. Don't know why, but I didn't really mind. Got to enjoy the performance more and didn't need to focus on filming. Her show was awesome and bad ass even, I might say. Erykah is the true boss lady of soul! And despite of the security personnel, I got a few photos of her just for me. I'll upload one of them here, of course.

We had nothing but sheer luck this weekend: this was the only rainy day. The rest of the time it was over 20 degrees celsius (the nights were cold as heck though).

FRIDAY

Kandace Springs
Samm Henshaw & The Sound Experiment
Rhye
Yussef Dayes presents Black Focus
Herbie Hancock
Jamiroquai

The festivities kickstarted with Kandace Springs, a young and sweet piano playing afro-headed talent. I loved her songs and stage persona. She had a very talented group of jazz players with her. Smooth tunes and mellow atmosphere. What a perfect start to our weekend of jazz!

Up next was the first artist we actually were waiting for - Samm Henshaw. Like he said many many MANY times after performing and hearing our reactions, AMAZING. Before Pori Jazz we listened to a few artists beforehand and Mr. Henshaw was one of them. It was love at first listening when I listened to These Hands, both the original and Oliver Nelson remix. He also had an awesome band with him, The Sound Experiment. And according to his own words, Samm said it was his first time in a long time that he was performing live. It sure went well enough for us not to notice that! Absolutely loved them all, without a doubt!

Rhye. What can I say? When I listened to their music before Pori Jazz, I was 100% sure the singer is a 30-40 year old black woman with dreadlocks and a genuine stage persona oozing soul. Boy was I totally wrong. Rhye's lead singer is a white male, about 40 years old and looks like a family man. Still, they sounded so amazing. I just stood there in awe while listening to them. Mesmerizing. I still listen to their songs every once in a while when I'm in the mood for some eerie love songs.

Then the whole festival area exploded, when the great Yussef Dayes and his bass player and key boardist took over Lokki Stage! I still get chills even thinking about their set. They were so good, I almost want to say PERFECT. You could see that Yussef was the heart and soul of the trio. He led the whole thing and everything was perfected by the minute, nay, by the second. Wow. I don't even know what to say anymore. Just watch it from the video and enjoy. LOVED THEM FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. Much respect and love.

Herbie Hancock is legen - wait for it - DARY! Legendary! His show was very experimental and he had a truly talented band with him. Of course I had to film the part where they play Cantaloop! An absolute classic!

Last but not least... Jared? Juicebox? Jellyfish? JAMIROQUAI!

You got yourselves a hardcore fan! Let me tell you a story: I didn't like Jamiroquai at all when I was little. I thought it was boring, too artsy and "music for adults". How childish I was (well duh, I was a child). All those years wasted on shitty music (ok no, a huge part of it were a big deal in my life at some point). I even remember stating after singing Cosmic Girl on Singstar that I hate the song and I never want to sing it again. Well guess who sang it at Pori Jazz from the bottom of her lungs?! I love Automaton more than anything and the older classics... Wow. If I had lived my mid-twenties back in the 90s, I probably would've been totally in love with Jay Kay.

Awesome ending to an awesome day. To be continued...

SATURDAY

Michael Kiwanuka

(Erykah Badu)

Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles

Chaka Khan

Saturday started with the chill, African tunes of Michael Kiwanuka. Sun was shining from a cloudless blue sky, people were chilling on the grass. I almost fell asleep on the ground. A perfect way to start the next and last day of Pori Jazz.

Then it was time for Erykah Badu, the originator of Baduizm. Even though I didn't get to film her show at all, I want to dedicate a few words to her and her brilliant live band. Her drummer was extremely skillful and because the soul diva was running a bit late (not surprising), he put on a little showcase of his mad drumming skillz. Man he was GOOD! When finally the Queen of Soul walked to the stage, we felt ourselves a bit weird first. No offense, but she seemed like a stoned drug addict. But soon we realized it was a part of her on-stage persona. She had a ginormous white stetson hat and heavy boots and I loved her red Native American-styled dress. She performed songs like Appletree, Rim Shot and See You Next Lifetime, and man, I fell in love with her mellow and extremely feminine soul music. Whenever I feel chill and empowered, I love to listen to the sweet tunes of Erykah and especially Baduizm.

I have never danced as much as I danced when Cory Henry was playing with the Funk Apostles! The Funk Apostles played mostly funky cover versions of old classics such as Staying Alive by Bee Gees. He had an extremely talented band with him and two future Whitney Houstons and Tina Turners! Can't remember their names for the life of me, but boy oh boy did they have SOUL written all over them! Safe to say that I had the time of my life during their show. Absolutely amazing!

Last but not all the least: Chaka Khan. The Kween of Funk had it all. The style, the hair, the background choir AND THE SURPRISE FEATURE ARTIST.

Yes. She brought ERYKAH BADU BACK ON THE STAGE WITH HER AND OMG I DIED. I just wanted to cry looking at Erykah fangirling over Chaka and messing up with the song lyrics they were singing together. You and me both, Erykah. You and me both. It was the perfect ending to a perfect festival.

THANK YOU. And hope to see ya again, Pori.