My husband and I just returned from Finland where we spent several days at the fabulous Pori Jazz Festival. Much to our surprise, one of the Artists performing there was Jazz-L member Mike Longo. We heard him and his trio at the Jazz Cafe on Tuesday night. He gave a power house performance and the audience gave him a standing ovation and demanded an encore. Afterwards we introduced ourselves to him and told him we subscribed to the list. He was as nice as a person as he is great as a player. A couple of nights later, he performed in the Kansas Club with the Frank Foster Quartet and it was sold out. We saw him when he was going in to the gig and told him we couldn't get seats so he took us in with him as his guests and arranged for us to have two chairs backstage and hang out with the musicians.
It was a great festival with great artists. One evening presented Phil Collins with a big band over on an island adjacent to the main drag and it was attended by over 20,000 people. We also caught Chick Chorea and his group as well as Jon Fades and
the Ella Fitzgerald tribute. It is just a fabulous time and happens every year in July. I would recommend this event to everyone.