Selma Savolainen
vocalist and composer
About
Selma Savolainen is a vocalist and composer based in Helsinki, who effortlessly combines Finnish folk sounds with jazz and alt singer-songwriter styles. Recently awarded with the Rising Talent Prize at the Pori Jazz Festival, she has been praised by the Helsingin Sanomat as a singer who is taking Finnish vocal jazz to new heights.
Her debut solo record Horror Vacui is being released by the renowned Whirlwind Recordings on May 5, 2023. It features some of the most sought-after musicians on the Finnish jazz scene – Max Zenger on clarinets, Tomi Nikku on trumpet, Toomas Keski-Säntti on piano, Eero Tikkanen on double bass and Okko Saastamoinen on drums.
Horror Vacui is a set of songs composed and arranged specifically for this sextet, exploring the fear of emptiness, renunciation and sudden discoveries. "By creating space for every musician's voice, we hope to find a place where loneliness does not exist," Savolainen says.
Savolainen is an alumnus of the Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead program and the Banff International Workshop for Jazz and Creative Music. She was selected to participate in the Collaborative Creative Residency at the Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund by Composers Now, an organization led by Tania Leon. She has graduated from the Sibelius Academy and studied at the Conservatory of Paris.
Savolainen tours frequently with the bands Selma Juudit Alessandra, Signe, Mikko Sarvanne Garden and Mikko Innasen Uusi Kvintetti. Her virtuosic yet emotive singing has been heard in EFG London Jazz Festival, Apollo Theater, Getxo Jazz Festival and We Jazz Festival i.a. Her compositions for Signe were nominated for the Teosto award in 2020 and she has worked as an artistic producer and arranger on the albums and concerts of the folk music duo Akkajee and Pykäri and Karina, the Finnish indie pop acts.
”There is an astonishing boldness in her lyrics and in the way she performs, a new kind of female perspective, which reminds of Chris Kraus.”
Music
Video
Press Photos
Tour
24/05/2023 Imaginary Ladies @Cité International Des Arts, Paris
29/05/2023 Signe @JaZZanti, Helsinki
16/07/2023 Mikko Sarvanne Garden @Mitäs Mitäs Mitäs, Urjala
28/07/2023 Selma Savolainen Horror Vacui @Raahen Rantajatsit
29/07/2023 Selman ja Bunuelin Luxus-orkesteri @Raahen Rantajatsit
31/07/2023 Signe @Jazz-Espa, Helsinki
03/08/2023 Mikko Innasen uusi kvintetti @Jazz-Espa, Helsinki
29/09/2023 Selma Savolainen Horror Vacui @Porvoo Jazz Festival
p a s t
03/05/2023 in trio with Aki Rissanen &
Steven Kamperman @Cité International Des Arts, Paris
18/04/2023 Crystal sound project @Conservatoire Maurice Ravel, Paris
31/03/2023 Signe feat. Mila Laine @Flame Jazz, Turku
21/02/2023 Moon On Fire @JaZZanti — Oodi-library, Helsinki
18/02/2023 Moon On Fire @Jazz For Kids, Espoo
09/01/2023 Mikko Sarvanne Garden @Ääniwalli, Helsinki
08/01/2023 Mikko Sarvanne Garden @Kalevan Navetta, Seinäjoki
04/12/2022 Selma Savolainen & Jyväskylä Big Band @Siltasali, Jyväskylä
02/12/2022 Mikko Sarvanne Garden @EMMA, Espoo
04/11/2022 Selma Savolainen Horror Vacui @Telakka, Tampere Jazz Happening
27/10/2022 Tölöläb @Kalliosali, Helsinki
06/10/2022 Archipélagos @JAZZMI Milano, Italy
03/09/2022 Mikko Innasen Uusi Kvintetti @Loviisan Sibeliuspäivät, Loviisa
12/08/2022 Signe @Tuusulan taiteiden yö, Tuusula
09/08/2022 Selma Savolainen Horror Vacui @Kesän nuoret taiteilijat, Helsinki
05/08/2022 Selma ja Eero @Kuusiluoto, Helsinki
23/07/2022 Selma Savolainen Horror Vacui @Korpo Sea Jazz
23/07/2022 Portside Jazz @Korpo Sea Jazz
22/07/2022 Selma ja Eero @Korpo Sea Jazz
21/07/2022 Signe @Runosaari, Naantali
20/07/2022 Signe @Kirkkopuiston terassi, Turku
14/07/2022 Selma Savolainen Horror Vacui @Poriljonki, Pori Jazz
01/07/2022 Archipélagos @Bermeo Jazz Festival, Spain
29/06/2022 Archipélagos @Getxo Jazz Festival, Spain
04/06/2022 Selma Juudit Alessandra @Hard Rock House, Helsinki
28/05/2022 Crystal sound project @Sofia Live Club, Bulgaria
26/04/2022 Signe @Kivi, Tampere
21/04/2022 Signe @Vaba Lava, Tallinn
18/02/2022 Signe @Taiteilijakoti Erkkola POSTPONED
07/12/2021 Horror Vacui @Ravintola Laulumiehet, Helsinki
03/12/2021 Selma Juudit Alessandra @WeeGee, Espoo
02/12/2021 Selma Juudit Alessandra @Ravintola Poppari, Jyväskylä
01/12/2021 Selma Juudit Alessandra @Kulttuurikellari, Savonlinna
30/11/2021 Selma Juudit Alessandra @Hygge Bro, Kuopio
29/11/2021 Selma Juudit Alessandra @Kiteesali, Kitee
19/11/2021 Signe (a l b u m r e l e a s e) @Vapaan Taiteen Tila, Helsinki
11/11/2021 Selma Juudit Alessandra @Raahesali, Raahe
10/11/2021 Selma Juudit Alessandra @Voimala 1889, Oulu
09/11/2021 Selma Juudit Alessandra @Kerubin sali, Joensuu
08/11/2021 Selma Juudit Alessandra @Kulttuuritalo Marita, Outokumpu
28/08/2021 Signe @Viapori Jazz, Helsinki CANCELLED
22/08/2021 Signe @Helsingin Juhlaviikot: Wonderfeel CANCELLED
05/08/2021 Signe @Elojazz, Oulu
31/07/2021 Elifantree with friends @Raahen rantajatsit, Raahe
31/07/2021 Eero Tikkanen & Selma Savolainen @Raahen rantajatsit, Raahe
30/07/2021 Signe @Raahen rantajatsit, Raahe
05/02/2021 Mikko Innanen F60.8 + @Musica Nova Helsinki 2021, HiH, livestream
Selma Savolainen&Juha Rautio
30/10/2020 Selma Juudit Alessandra @Telakka, Tampere Jazz Happening, Tampere
21/10/2020 Signe @Louhisali, VocalEspoo, Espoo
13/10/2020 MINE @Malmitalo, Helsinki
09/10/2020 Selma Juudit Alessandra @Bar Ö, Turku
26/09/2020 Signe @Porvoo Jazz Festival, Helsinki
19/09/2020 Sointi Jazz Orchestra 'Kapina' @Kapsäkki, Helsinki
04/02/2020 Signe @Glivelab, Tampere
03/02/2020 Selma Savolainen & Arttu Takalo duo @Koko Jazz Club, Helsinki
30/01/2020 Signe + Selma Juudit Alessandra @Sibafest, Helsinki
28/01/2020 Garden @Sibafest, Helsinki
26/01/2020 Selma Juudit Alessandra @Tenho, Helsinki
17/01/2020 Lesley Mok Quartet @Scholes Street Studio, Brooklyn
Bookings and other inquiries
selmajasavolainen(a)gmail.com
+358-40 160 28 98