Finland Stories # 7: Helsinki 1,2,3
“Were you at the 2002 IASJ Jazz Meeting in Helsinki as well?”
This question might be asked many times this summer. If ‘yes’ you will hear great stories about the 2002 meeting, meticulously organized, bathing 24/24 in the warm midsummer sunlight.
However, the 2022 was not the first but the second time the IASJ flocked to the capital of Finland. A small cargo boat that had been made-over into a ‘cruise ship’ called Kristina Regina, docked for one night in the harbour of Helsinki in June 1996. Six days earlier, about 60 IASJ participants left Denmark, visited Kaliningrad, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to play concerts for the local jazz communities. The Iron Curtain had just dropped four years earlier, but it felt as it was still there. Hardly anyone spoke English, the food was simple to put it politely, the vodka abundant. On the boat, to climb into your hut, you had to be an acrobat.
Before arriving in Helsinki, it rained, it was misty, it was cold. Once in Helsinki, the sun came out, the cappuccino was delicious, the people were well-fed and dressed, and the sound system finally worked. Becoming aware of the contrast between the former occupied Baltic States and free Finland, the free West, was a culture shock, and a lesson in modesty for me, for all participants.
The front cover of the 1996 program booklet shows a caricature of a jazz band going wild on the deck of the boat. Before Finland, the participants were quiet and intimidated. Sailing back from Finland to Denmark, the caricature became pretty realistic. Interested in seeing this caricature? Send me a mail.
Wouter Turkenburg
info@iasj.com
