Band: VidŠketa & Riitta Paakki

Friday, June 13, 2025

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Lineup:

Vid Šketa, trumpet

Riitta Paakki, piano

Vid and Riitta started playing together when Vid moved to Finland, in the fall of 2020. Since then they have played and performed together in various bands and settings. They share a strong musical connection, which contributes to their duo's music.

Vid Šketa is a jazz trumpet player born and raised in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Having begun his studies at the Ljubljana Conservatory, he is currently finishing his Master's degree at the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki. Among his teachers are Jukkis Uotila, Manuel Dunkel, Joe Magnarelli, Bryan Davis, Philip Dizack and Igor Matkovic.

Vid has been actively performing around the continent for the past several years with groups including the Dmitry Baevsky Quintet, Shimon Gambourg Quintet, UMO Jazz Orchestra and Paul Morvan Quintet. He has appeared at the April Jazz Festival, Blue Motte Festival, Jazz Festival Ljubljana, Pori Jazz Festival, Poorvo Jazz Festival and other similar events.

As a leader of his own quintet, featuring Dmitry Baevsky and Yves Broqui, he has been regularly appearing at the Duc des Lombards in Paris. Up until the present, Vid has appeared on a number of records, including Shimon Gambourg's 'New Arrival' (Silk&Sound), Nathan Francis's 'The House That Bobby Built' (ajabu!) and Olli Virtanen's 'Yellow Light, Go!' (Bopcat).

Vid's debut record was released in early 2024, featuring Aleksi Heinola and Mikael Jakobsson, entitled 'First Step' (ajabu!). 

Riitta Paakki (b. 1971) began her studies in the Pop & Jazz Conservatory in Helsinki and got her Master’s Degree from the Sibelius Academy in 2002. She mentions Seppo Kantonen and Jukkis Uotila as her most influential teachers. After the Masters, she continued to doctoral studies. In her doctoral diploma work she studied the Blue Note era in the 60s and specifically pianist Herbie Hancock’s playing on saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s Speak No Evil album. In 2016 she became the first Finnish pianist to receive a Doctor’s Degree in jazz.

Paakki played for the first time in UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra soon after starting her studies at the Sibelius Academy. She quickly made her way to become an important member of many bands of her fellow students, and to lead her first own band, Riitta Paakki Trio. Her first album, self-titled Riitta Paakki Trio (Texicalli/Impala 2000) was noticed well both in Finland and Japan. Later she has released four more albums with her ensembles Riitta Paakki Trio and Riitta Paakki Quartet.In addition to making her own music, Paakki teaches jazz piano in Sibelius Academy.

 *Event Seating Information

Our venue has three sections: Room A, Room B, and Room C. Room A offers the best view of the performance, while views in Room B and Room C may be slightly limited.
Seating is first-come, first-served, so we recommend arriving early to choose your preferred spot. We can accommodate up to 45-50 guests.