We kicked off our festival visits this year—as we do every year—with Finland’s Pori Jazz Festival.
The 59th International Pori Jazz Festival took place from July 10 to July 18, 2026.
The most exciting of the concerts, which were spread across various venues throughout the city, were reserved for the weekend. Thursday, July 16, featured performances by Seal, Melda May, and Sasha Berliner Arts and Sciences—acts eagerly awaited by young audiences. However, the concerts that particularly captured our interest were, of course, those by the Matteo Mancuso Trio and Kenny Barron (“Songbook”).
Hailing from Palermo, Italy, Matteo Mancuso stands out as one of the most exciting new talents in the guitar world. Having begun his musical journey at the Castelbuono Jazz Festival in Sicily in 2009, he gained global recognition with a remarkable performance at the prestigious Umbria Jazz Festival in 2017. Today, Mancuso is highly acclaimed for his extraordinary artistry and technical mastery. In addition to his two celebrated albums—*The Journey* and *Moonlight*—his performances at major international festivals, and collaborations with icons like Joe Bonamassa, he has also garnered praise from guitar legends such as Steve Vai and Al Di Meola. A true innovator, Matteo Mancuso blends musicality and flawless technique with emotion and style. Together with his band, he effortlessly transitions between jazz, jazz-rock, and progressive rock, captivating audiences around the globe. Mancuso performed with his regular trio at the Lokki Stage (Lokkilava) as part of the Pori Jazz festival. The lineup featured Matteo Mancuso on guitar, Riccardo Oliva on bass and keyboards, and Gianluca Pellerito on drums. As expected, he captivated the audience with his breathtaking solos.
On the same stage, Kenny Barron performed his new project, *Songbook*, as the second act of the night. Kenny Barron (piano), Ekep Nkwelle (vocals), Linda May Han Oh (bass), and Gregory Hutchinson (drums).
This special project showcased the musical legacy Kenny Barron has built alongside jazz legends throughout his 50-year career.
Vocalist Ekep Nkwelle is a rising Cameroonian-American artist based in New York and originally from Washington, D.C. Her voice has captivated legendary jazz artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Barron, Dianne Reeves, the late Russell Malone, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Cyrus Chestnut, earning her opportunities to collaborate with these distinguished figures.
The following day—Friday night—there was only one concert on our list: Cécile McLorin Salvant! Widely regarded as one of today’s most distinguished jazz vocalists, Cécile McLorin Salvant has achieved a feat few artists ever reach: all six of her albums have been nominated for Grammys, with three winning the award for “Best Jazz Vocal Album.” She also consistently ranks among the top names in *DownBeat* magazine’s critics’ and readers’ polls. Her first visit to Finland took place in 2024 as part of the Pori Jazz Festival—an event I attended, watching her perform amidst heavy rain. While early in her career she was compared to the legendary Sarah Vaughan, Salvant has since developed a unique, distinctive artistic identity. Exploring folk music traditions in her recent work and showcasing her talents as a composer and lyricist, she continues to expand the boundaries of jazz with grace and depth.
We heard the artist accompanied by Sullivan Fortner on piano, Yasushi Nakamura on bass, and Kyle Poole on drums. This is the highly acclaimed quartet that toured Europe in 2026, performing jazz standards alongside pieces from Salvant’s current repertoire.
Having performed as a sideman with countless musicians at the Pori Jazz Festival for 31 years, Önder has finally been taking the stage for the past two years with a European band that performs his own compositions. On Saturday, July 18, the “Songbook” project featured Heidi Viljanen (vocals), Mikko ‘Gunu’ Karjalainen (trumpet), Alexander Fartushny (tenor saxophone), Tomy Harrivaara (bass), and Zoltan Karpaty (drums). Jazz lovers from Pori, who showed great interest in Önder’s compositions, surprised us by singing along to the piece titled “Sekiz.”
Our agenda for Sunday included concerts by Victor Wooten & the Wooten Brothers, as well as “First Meeting”—a group comprising Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter, Larry Grenadier, and Eric Harland. However, a relentless, heavy northern rainstorm kept us from even stepping outside. I found a clip from one of the band’s tours last year. We missed out!
Maybe the Istanbul Jazz Festival will bring them next year, too?
