Raoul Björkenheim

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Raoul Bjorkenheim at the Moers Festival 2006

Raoul Melvin Björkenheim (* 19th March 1956 in Los Angeles ) is a Finnish -American Jazz - and fusion - guitarist .

Live and act

Raoul Björkenheim, the son of actress Taina Elg and Carl Björkenheim, grew up in the United States. After trying his hand at the violin and trumpet, he discovered the guitar at the age of 13. From 1971 he went to school in Helsinki and began studying classical guitar and composition at the local conservatory in 1977 ; more interested in improvisation , he moved to Boston in 1978 , where he graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1981. In the early 1980s he founded the group Roommushklahn with Jone Takamäki , Antti Hytti , Jarmo Savolainen and Tom Nekljudow . He has been one of the most important figures in Finnish jazz since his work in Edward Vesala's Sound & Fury Band, on whose ECM album Lumi (1986) he participated. In the late 1980s Björkenheim left the Vesala band to found their own jazz rock formation, Krakatau . After two albums, which were initially only released in Finland, he exchanged all band members and then started recording in the early 1990s a. a. with Ulf Krokfors , Jone Takamaki and Alf Forsman and Ippe Kätka on two further albums for ECM ; then he disbanded the group.

This was followed by solo projects such as Apokalypso (2001) or the international group Phantom City , which was directed by Paul Schütze , and a recording session with guitarist Nicky Skopelitis . He was now regarded as “a pioneer for a new, avant-garde understanding of jazz rock .” He also worked as a soloist and arranger for the Finnish UMO Jazz Orchestra , with whom he interpreted the music of Miles Davis from his electrical period ( Electrifying Miles , 1997). He has lived in New York City since 2001 . Since 2003 he has appeared in the Scorch Trio with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Paal Nilssen-Love ; on their second CD he also plays the electrically amplified viola da gamba . A 2006 appearance with William Parker and Hamid Drake was released as an album. In 2008 he toured Europe as a duo with drummer Lukas Ligeti .

Björkenheim's guitar playing is, according to the critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton, influenced by Jimi Hendrix , Cream , Frank Zappa and Miles Davis ' album Agartha and shaped by feedback effects and distortions; he also processes influences from the music of John Coltrane , Eric Dolphy , Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler .

Prizes and awards

Björkenheim was awarded the Yrjö Prize of the Finnish Jazz Society as "Jazz Musician of the Year 1984". He received the 1986 Young Finland Prize in 1986 and the Emma Prize for "Best Finnish Jazz Recording 1992".

Discographic notes

  • Edward Vesala: Lumi (ECM, 1986)
  • Krakatau: Ritual ( Cuneiform , 1988–90; republished in 1996 with additional material)
  • Krakatau: Volition (ECM, 1991)
  • Krakatau: Matinale (ECM, 1993)
  • Scorch Trio: * Brolt! (2008)
  • Lucas Ligeti: Shadowglow ( TUM , 2003)
  • Raoul Björkenheim, Bill Laswell, Morgan Agren: Blixt (2011)
  • Raoul Björkenheim Triad: Beyond (Eclipse Music, 2017)
  • Björkenheim / Sopko / James / Laswell / Yamaki: Inaugural Sound Clash (For the 2 Americas) (2017)
  • Raoul Björkenheim / eCsTaSy: Doors of Perception (2017)

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolf Kampmann Reclams Jazzlexikon , p. 296
personal data
SURNAME Björkenheim, Raoul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Björkenheim, Raoul Melvin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Finnish jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH los Angeles