BRIEFLY IN ENGLISH

Funky Elephant is an annual club festival working as a melting pot for all sub categories of black music such as funk, soul, hip hop, jazz, latin music and reggae. This year the festival takes place for the tenth time, which actually makes it a big 10 Year Anniversary Party.

Funky Elephant will be celebrated in Tavastia and Semifinal clubs in Helsinki (street address: Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6) between the 1st and the 3rd of April, 2004. The party people will be entertained by a soulful blend of deep and funky rhythms, intensive and wild dance floor action as well as imaginative wardrobes worn especially by the most fanatic Finnish funkateers and the rest of the cool people (hopefully including you).

During the past years Funky Elephant has proudly hosted and presented more than 80 live acts, including the true Crème de la Crème of Finnish black rhythm music and some of the legendary international funk superstars such as Roy Ayers and the afro beat celebrity Tony Allen, and more than 50 dj's.

The 10th Funky Elephant (2004)

In 2004, the saga continues, as on Saturday the 3rd of April the festival hosts the latin boogaloo legend, timbalero Henry "Pucho" Brown with his band, The Latin Soul Brothers, which consists of numerous great musicians, such as Edward Pazant (The Pazant Brothers) on saxophone. These famous and exceptionally talented gentlemen will turn the jungle party into a huge celebration of latin soul, funk and jazz music, which will lift the feelings right on up beyond the outer space. It will definitely be a night to remember in Helsinki.

The tenth Funky Elephant festival includes as well numerous Finnish top acts such as internationally acknowledged funk band Calypso King & The Soul Investigators, widely known chill-out master DJ Slow with the national rap comet Paleface, and the sultan of rhythm a.k.a. Zarkus Poussa. The festival also has a tradition of introducing fresh and innovative flavours - this time we bring you acts like De-ja~ish, a hot and new concept of mixing laid back and vivid funk music with skillful and thought-provoking rap lyrics.

On Thursday, the 1st of April, Finnish funk legends Rick Lover & Eternal Erection will be celebrating the tenth birthday of their famous group. Since it happens to take place at the same time as the festival faces another decade, there will also be fair trade coffee and especially baked elephant cake to be served for those who manage to get in early enough! So don't miss.

And to top it all, every night there will be a large number of top class dj's in the house. These include Brighton based Russ Dewbury, who has during the years become one of the most influential and highly respected figures on the international dance music scene, as well as the celebrated and acknowledged Leftside Ensemble Dj's from Helsinki, Finland. There's no doubt that they will provide you the funky and laid back atmosphere since the first moment you enter the jungle. Just hop in and feel the groove! It's time to FUNK!

Programme >> (includes some Finnish texts, sorry!)
Festival showtimes >>