Benjamin Herman Trio ft. Tomoaki Baba (NL/JP)

How many Finnish jazz musicians do you think a Dutch enthusiast could identify or name? Probably as many as a Finn could identify in the Netherlands, which is not very many – if any.

Perhaps some Dutch people remember from the annals of jazz drummer Edward Vesala and pianist Jarmo Savolainen, both of whom recorded with a Dutch musician twice, the former with pianist Jasper van ‘t Hof and the latter with trumpeter Eric Vloeimans. Or maybe someone recalls saxophonist Mikko Innanen who, on a live album recorded in 2003, meets the legendary Flying Dutchman, drummer Han Bennink, who has also visited the Tampere Jazz Happening four times.

This year there will be enough Dutch musicians or musicians living in the Netherlands for every day, from start to finish and in six ensembles. The main day will be Thursday, on which three up-and-coming bands will perform at the themed evening with free entry that has become a tradition of the Jazz Happening. You should not fall for generalisations based on their nationality, however, as these ensembles are led by a Danish guitarist, South Korean keyboard player and Bolivian singer-songwriter.

But if you ask Dutch people, there is no doubt about the star of Dutch jazz at the Jazz Happening. He is saxophonist and composer Benjamin Herman (b. 1968), who was born in England and whose best-known band, New Cool Collective, focuses on ‘jazz music for dancing’. This national all-time favourite has released more than twenty albums. In its early years, it was a similar phenomenon as Nuspirit Helsinki, which started playing in Finland around the same time and combined soul, funk, jazz, afro and bossa nova.

Benjamin Herman Tokyo Sessions, which will appear in Pakkahuone, comes from further afield but basically has an equally long history. Herman played in Japan for the first time as early as 1989 and has since performed there several times, both with his own band and with Japanese musicians – and even with Han Bennink.

On his passionate and neon-lit new album released last year, The Tokyo Sessions, Herman takes the collaboration to a new level. The album features five Japanese musicians playing in various groupings. The ensemble visiting Tampere will include the youngest of them, tenor saxophonist Tomoaki Baba (b. 1992. As on the album, bass player Thomas Pol (b. 1987) and drummer Jimmi Jo Hueting (b. 1991) are Dutch. The latter is also co-composer of the Tokyo sessions and the producer of the album.