Juhani Aaltonen

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Juhani Aaltonen
Juhaniaaltonen.jpg
Aaltonen in 2011
Born (1935-12-12) December 12, 1935 (age 86)
Education Sibelius Academy, Berklee College of Music
OccupationSaxophonist and flautist

Juhani Aaltonen (born December 12, 1935) [1] is a Finnish jazz saxophonist and flautist. [2]

Contents

Juhani Aaltonen in Aarhus Denmark 2014 Juhani-Aaltonen DSC01396.jpg
Juhani Aaltonen in Aarhus Denmark 2014

Born in Kouvola, Finland, he studied at Sibelius Academy and Berklee College of Music. [3] He began playing professionally at the end of the 1950s. He played in a sextet led by Heikki Rosendahl during that time, and then studied flute performance at the Sibelius Academy and in the U.S. at the Berklee College of Music. [1] Moving back to Finland, he settled in Helsinki and began working both as a session musician and with fusion groups. Later in the 1960s he formed a duo with Edward Vesala, as well as in the group Eero Koivistoinen for four years. He played with Tasavallan Presidentti in their earlier days, including for their first, eponymous, album. He recorded with Thad Jones and Mel Lewis and with Heikki Sarmanto in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and his first album as a soloist, Etiquette, was released in 1974.

In 1975, he became a member of the New Music Orchestra, and worked with the Nordic All Stars, Arild Andersen, and Peter Brötzmann later in the 1970s. [2] The 1980s saw him working with the UFO Big Band, Jan Garbarek, Charlie Mariano, and others. He was granted a 15-year state grant from Finland in the mid-1980s. In 1983 he rejoined Tasavallan Presidentti, and has recorded and toured with them since. He was featured in a profile on composer Graham Collier in the 1985 Channel 4 documentary 'Hoarded Dreams' [4] He led a touring quartet from 1990 to 1992 with Olli Ahvenlahti, Heikki Virtanen and Reino Laine. Aaltonen and Heikki Sarmanto released a duo recording, Rise, in 2001; in 2003 Aaltonen's trio album Mother Tongue won a Jazz-Emma in Finland. Aaltonen continues to teach at the annual Nilsiä Music Camp.

Discography

As sideman

With Arild Andersen

With Graham Collier

With Edward Vesala

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Gronow, Pekka. "Aaltonen, Juhani". New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Oxford Music Online.
  2. 1 2 Cook, Richard (2005). Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia. London: Penguin Books. p. 1. ISBN   0-141-00646-3.
  3. ↑ Feather, Leonard; Gitler, Ira (2007). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 3. ISBN   9780195320008 . Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  4. ↑ https://www.bright-thoughts.co.uk/hoarded-dreams.html Hoarded Dreams documentary website
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