In connection with his nomination for the Nordic Council Music Prize, we’re showcasing Verneri Pohjola by way of some musical titbits and a chat with Kare Eskola. Pohjola will give an intimate performance together with his regular drummer Mika Kallio.
Pia Komsi and Verneri Pohjola are this year’s Finnish nominees for the Nordic Council Music Prize.
Verneri Pohjola is one of the most creative, distinctive and respected European jazz soloists, an expressive trumpet virtuoso, master of the slightest subtlety and effect, composer with a unique sound, improviser and bandleader. For more than a decade, Pohjola has enjoyed a magnificent career full of international tours and releases.
In his recording career we can see a constant progress: from an excellent debut album (Aurora 2009) he has moved towards an increasingly mature and perfected core of jazz. Pohjola’s latest quartet album, The Dead Don’t Dream (2020), can be seen as the high point of his solo career to date.
Kare Eskola is a freelance music journalist and critic, who works mainly for the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE). His weekly radio show Välilevyjä has been broadcast in YLE Radio 1 since 2007. Eskola was one of the scriptwriters for TV series Klassinen Suomi (2016), has lectured about music and media for various audiences and works in different jurys and boards.
