Ylläs, or Yllästunturi in Finnish, is a 718-metre high fell in the municipality of Kolari in Lapland Province of Finland.

There are two villages near Ylläs: Äkäslompolo on the north side and Ylläsjärvi in the south.

YLLÄS JAZZ BLUES

They are connected by an 11 km road, around the side of the fell.

Both villages derive much of their income from tourism.

Gondola lift in Ylläs. Ylläs is a popular cross country and downhill skiing centre.

The area’s marketing slogan is “Ylläs on ykkönen!” (Finnish for “Ylläs is number one!”).

Ylläs is the second largest ski resort in Lapland, after Levi.

Many companies in the vicinity of Ylläs have taken the fell’s name as part of their own, such as the Ylläksen Nousu sports club in Äkäslompolo.

Ylläs

Over the years Ylläs has become renowned for its yearly cultural events, with the Ylläs Jazz and Blues festival being one of them.

Ylläs is also a popular tourist destination during the summer months with activities such as hiking, biking, fishing and canoeing all available for visitors to enjoy.

The gondola is open during the summer season making it easy to reach the top of the fell and enjoy the panoramic views.

Jazz came to Finland in connection with the visit of American immigrants in 1926. One of the very fist Finnish jazz bands was Dallapé which is still active to this day.

Klaus Salmi, Eugen Malmstén, Erik Lindström, Toivo Kärki, Ossi Aalto and Kauko Viitamäki are some of the first professional Finnish jazz musicians.

Jazz bands were mainly doing dance gigs so the music had to be suitable for dancing. Popular genres were accordion jazz, ragtime, swing, jazz schlager and waltz.

The first decades of Finnish jazz music were strongly based on imitating foreign role models until the 1960´s when a new generation of jazz musicians started to create more original music by combining American tradition and Finnish folk music influences.

This group of talented and well trained musicians included Esa Pethman, Heikki Sarmanto, Eero Koivistoinen and Henrik Otto Donner.

Edward Vesala´s and Paroni Paakkunainen´s Soulset band managed to succeed in international contests and festivals. The first Finnish jazz festival, Pori Jazz, was organized for the first time in 1966.