Welcome to celebrate nine decades of the Finnish modern jazz legend, wind instrument player Juhani “Junnu” Aaltonen (b. 12 December 1935) and his nearly 70-year-long and still ongoing career as a musician, composer and bandleader.

The two-hour anniversary concert offers a cross-section of Juhani Aaltonen’s entire career. Aaltonen will be joined by his long-time collaborators Heikki Sarmanto, Reino Laine, Iro Haarla, Ulf Krokfors and the PLOP band.

Aaltonen’s musical career began in the 1950s in Sweden after seeing jazz concerts at the local folkpark. He bought a tenor saxophone from a junk shop and learned to play it from the little booklet that came with the case.

Aaltonen’s professional career began when he returned to Finland to play with Heikki Rosenthal’s prestigious band at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s. He soon moved to Helsinki after applying to the Sibelius Academy with Esa Pethman’s encouragement, with the flute as his main instrument, but his academic career was cut short and he quickly moved on to become a gig musician.

Soon, word of the talented multi-instrumentalist spread in the music circles of Helsinki and Aaltonen began a career as a popular studio musician that continued into the 1980s.

Alongside his studio work, Aaltonen quickly established himself as one of the key players in the creation of modern Finnish jazz in the early 1960s. He recorded with Esa Pethman, Heikki Sarmanto, Edward Vesala, Otto Donner and Eero Koivistoinen and was featured on numerous classic albums. Aaltonen was also a founding member of the bands Soulset and Tasavallan presidentti. His own recordings, such as Etiquette, Springbird and Prana, are major works of their time.

Aaltonen was also one of the founding members of the New Musical Orchestra (UMO) (1975) and participated in the orchestra’s activities for more than a decade. His collaborative efforts in the Nordic scene included bands such as the Arild Andersen Quartet and the Scandinavian Jazzensemble.

In the 1980s, Aaltonen had a religious awakening and increasingly focused on spiritual music, although his collaboration with Heikki Sarmanto and Henrik Otto Donner continued.

In the 2000s, Aaltonen again rose to fame inspired by young musicians, first in the Suhkan Uhka ensemble and then in a trio with Ulf Krokfors and Tom Nekljudow. The trio released a live album, Mother Tongue, which was awarded the Jazz Emma prize on the year of its release. Later on, Reino Laine took over as the trio’s drummer, and pianist Iro Haarla joined the ensemble when the trio expanded into a quartet.

The handbill distributed at the concert offers more details about Juhani Aaltonen’s long and distinguished career and the anniversary concert.

Concert duration approx. 2 h, including intermission

The stalls form a designated alcohol serving area for adults age 18 and older. The balcony is for people of all ages, no alcohol serving.