Jukka Gustavson & Moments at the Pori Jazz Festival 2000


Hotel Jazz, Sat 15.07.00:

1. Master Brings - 2. Blue Groove - 3. Yksi suru Yksi riemu / 4. Yesterday - 5. Nightlife - 6. Meren pauhu, meren laulu - 7. You Will Know - 8. Got My Mojo Working

The gig took place in a bar with a capacity for 400 people, and there was possibly even more people gathered to enjoy themselves and see three bands play.
The bands were John Nugent & Tomo Big Band, Clave de Sol, and Jukka Gustavson Moments (though everywhere in the programs the band was named Jukka Gustavson Treatment...don't know why).
John Nugent & Tomo Big Band performed first, before Moments, so the audience was nicely warmed up when Moments started to play. I sat sideways behind Gustavson, so I had a perfect view to see his fingers fly on his Hammond's keyboard, and I can tell you, they really did! The whole band was in a good mood for playing, especially Gustavson and the drummer Markku Ounaskari who did lots of nice fills and played very strongly (though it was his fourth gig of the day, he also played in Mika Mylläri Quintet). Gustavson's singing was at first a bit uncertain, but it got stronger and stronger, and when they reached the last song you could have heard him sing even without the microphone!
I think the gig was more blues than jazz, sometimes almost rock. The audience got more excited the more they played, and when they had finished somebody in the crowd shouted "You gotta play worse if you wanna stop!". Well, it was comforting to know that you would see them again the next day.

Novo Stage, Sun 16.07.00:

1. Big Nick - 2. A Day In The Life - 3. On The Way - 4. Blue Groove - 5. Nightlife - 6. Meren pauhu, meren laulu - 7. You Will Know - 8. Master Brings

The weather in Pori was very unstable the whole weekend, but luckily, I think the two-hour period when Moments performed was almost the only time when it didn't rain.
The gig was held outdoors, so as the rain stopped and even the sun showed itself for a while there were good conditions for the concert.
Compared with the gig they did the previous night, Sunday's concert was more into jazz, although there were some blues numbers included. Gustavson, again, stood out, and you could see he really enjoys playing with the band, which also played another fine gig. There was an intermission in the middle of the concert.

-- Juho O. Jussila