AALTO III: World of Pat Metheny feat. Manuel Dunkel

Jyväskylä, Paviljonki, Ravintola 3

The Air Force Big Band will bring together two lyrical melody masters in its third AALTO Concert.

The evening will be devoted to guitarist legend Pat Metheny whose melodies are known to the jazz music audiences across the whole world.  One of Finland’s most appreciated tenor saxophonists, Manuel Dunkel, will perform as the evening’s soloist. His melodious solos rich in nuances will complete this all-embracing musical entity.

Pat Metheny (born in 1954) is said to love melodies, sounds and structures.  Metheny’s career started in 1974. He quickly emerged as an appreciated musician, one of the most successful guitarists of all times. His compositions and recordings have won as many as 20 Grammy awards in total.

The music played in this concert has been arranged by Bob Curnow.  Curnow, who has originally arranged music  for the L.A. Big Band, has skilfully raised the original spirit and ambiance of Metheny’s works to a new level with these  big band arrangements appreciated by the whole world.

Manuel Dunkel (born in 1971) is one of Finland’s most esteemed tenor saxophonists. The characteristics of the musicianship of Dunkel, who played in the ranks of UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra as 2nd tenor saxophonist from 1994 include, for example, a saxophone sound rich in nuances and a sophisticated sense of melody.

He has performed, for example, with Paul Jackson, Rick Margitza and Kenny Wheeler and played in several Finnish bands including Jukka Perko’s Hurmio and the Espoo Big Band. With his Manuel Dunkel Quartet he has held concerts for example in Belgium and France and perfomed as a soloist  in Japan, Sweden and Türkiye, among others.

Dunkel, who has released five records of his own, won the Finnish Jazz Federation’s Yrjö Award in 2011.