As part of the Jazz in Finland 100 centenary celebrations, the Finnish Jazz Federation invited jazz musicians from across Finland to take part in an A Great Day in Helsinki group photograph. The photograph was taken on Sunday, 6 September, on the steps of the House of the Estates in Helsinki. A total of 155 musicians took part in the photograph.
The project was inspired by the legendary 1958 photograph A Great Day in Harlem. Taken by Art Kane, the photograph features 57 jazz legends, including Sonny Rollins, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. Over the decades, it has become one of the best-known jazz photographs in the world.
In the spirit of the Jazz in Finland 100 centenary, the Finnish Jazz Federation wanted to bring as many jazz professionals as possible together in one photograph and leave it for future generations as a unique document of what Finnish jazz looked like in 2026.
The photograph is the first group portrait to bring together such a large number of professional jazz musicians in Finland.
The photograph was taken by Jouni Harala, a professional photographer with a long career who has also photographed musicians for several decades.
Names listed row by row, from bottom to top.
Row 1: Eero Koivistoinen, Reino (Reiska) Laine, Heikki Sarmanto, Iro Haarla, Kalle Kaartinen, Eero Ojanen, Fred Andersson, Veikko Hakkarainen, Pentti Lahti, Pauli Blomstedt
Row 2: Kaisa Mäensivu, Pauli Lyytinen, Anni Elif Egecioglu, Mikko Haanpää, Jarno Kukkonen, Antti Ahoniemi, Tuomas Ruokonen, Eero Tikkanen, Teemu Salminen, Olli Ahvenlahti, Jari Perkiömäki, Heidi Kyrö, Seija Vesterinen, Aarni Häkkinen, William Tarvainen, Mikko Antila, Severi (Lisko) Tikkinen, Joonatan Henriksson, Pekka Pylkkänen, Keijo Pennanen, Pekka Toivanen, Pertti (Pepa) Päivinen, Ari-Pekka (Ape) Anttila
Row 3: Joe Peri, Casimir Ekman, Eero Särkämö, Tuomas Timonen, Olli Virtanen, Alvar Sievers, Jesse Vilhomaa, Otso Huhtala, Pyry Brandt, Oiva Haapamäki, Sofia Finnilä, Jari-Pekka (Jartsa) Karvonen, Mika Mylläri, Tapani Rinne, Timo Lassy, Alexi Tuomarila, Olli Ojajärvi, Manuel Dunkel, Raoul Björkenheim, Jukka Kääriäinen, Lauri Hirsto, Sergei Sokolov
Row 4: Joakim Berghäll, Mikko Pettinen, Oona Mattsson, Sonja Kaipainen, Jussi Kannaste, Jarmo Saari, Kadi Vija, Mikko Hassinen, Sid Hille, Antti Kujanpää, Elena Mîndru, Jenny Robson, Markus Niittynen, Rasmus Soini, Joonas Widenius, Gonzalo Muruaga, Jukka Haavisto, Elis Krzywacki
Row 5: Emil Dobosiewicz, Otto Porkkala, Matti-Juhani (Masa) Orpana, Kasper Halttunen
Row 6: Teppo Salakka, Thomas Törnroos, Jukka Järvelä, Oliver Karttunen, Tobias Schenk, Bianca Rantala, Aurora Hentunen, Jaakko (Jaska) Lukkarinen, Susanna Lukkarinen, Janne Maarala, Jussi Hovilainen, Tuomo Dahlblom, Jorma Ojanperä, Pekka Luukka, Panu Savolainen, Niklas Winter, Juho Kivivuori, Aleksis Liukko, Adele Sauros, Wilfried Wilde
Row 7: Jouni Järvelä, Tomi Salesvuo, Robert (Robi) de Godzinsky, Rene Willman, Nikita Rafaelov, Markku Ounaskari, Aki Rissanen, Ville Herrala, Mikael Myrskog, Risto Toppola, Rami Eskelinen, Harri Sjöström, Mikko Innanen, Klaus Suonsaari, Eerik Siikasaari, Sami Linna, Jere Haakana, Esa Onttonen, Ulf Krokfors
Row 8: Lauri Ikävalko, Joonas Haavisto, Johannes Salomaa, Antti Lötjönen, Olavi Louhivuori, Tuomo Prättälä, Seppo Kantonen, Pekka Seppänen, Antti Utriainen, Kirmo Lintinen, Kari Setälä, Maja Mannila, Johannes Granroth, Ari Hossi, Sharad Shakya, Mikko Helevä, Riitta Paakki, Martti Vesala, Artturi Rönkä, Teemu Mattsson
Row 9: Heli Hartikainen, Josefiina Vannesluoma, Jori Huhtala, Teppo Mäkynen, Verneri Pohjola, Olavi Stanek, Joshua Levine, Eemeli Kurkela, Esko Heikkinen, Aija Puurtinen, Jimi Ahlroos, Eero Savela, Ilmari Heikinheimo, Janne Tuomi
Row 10: Atro (Wade) Mikkola, Jorma Tapio, Jussi Lehtonen, Mikko (Gunu) Karjalainen, Lauri Kivikataja
The children in the photo: Hilma Li Lyytinen, Aate Ekman, Rafael Heikinheimo