Home » Jazz Musicians » Eero Koivistoinen

Eero Koivistoinen

Eero Koivistoinen (born January 13, 1946), one of the all-time greats in Finnish jazz and saxophone, arrived in the Finnish jazz scene in the mid-60s. Ever since, he has been one of the most distinguished and trusted jazz musicians in Finland. He is known for his versatility and creativeness, his tastes ranging from pithy jazz solos to large-scale orchestral works.

Eero Koivistoinen’s interest in music began at an early age, his first choices being classical and the violin. At sixteen, the violin was put aside in favour of the alto saxophone. Later on he switched to the tenor and soprano saxophones. Barely in his twenties, Koivistoinen was already a familiar face in Helsinki’s burgeoning jazz clubs. At that time he was studying at the Sibelius Academy: saxophone with Eero Linnala and composition with the famous Aulis Sallinen.

Eero Koivistoinen’s first line-up was with Edward Vesala on drums and Pekka Sarmanto on bass. This improvising trio wasthe first to explore the possibilities of avant-garde and free jazz in Finland. In 1967 Koivistoinen's remarkable talents were rewarded as the newly-founded Finnish Jazz Federation decided he should be the first ever recipient of the Georgie Award and he was nominated Jazz Musician of the Year. In 1969 Koivistoinen was to continue on the winning trail as his group won the competition for ensembles in Montreux, Switzerland. This gave him an opportunity to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival in the US. This award was, in fact, the very first time Finnish jazz was recognised on this scale.

In the early 70s Koivistoinen refined his skills in composition with one term at the Sibelius Academy and three terms at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he had such teachers as Herb Pomeroy and Joe Viola. Since then he himself has been teaching at the Sibelius Academy. Towards the end of the decade Koivistoinen made several concert tours and recordings and his quartet attracted a great deal of attention.

In 1981 Koivistoinen won the Arranger’s Prize in the Nordring Competition held by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in Jersey with his own orchestral work Ultima Thule. Six years later, in 1987, the Foundation for the Promotion of Finnish Music organised a competition for big band compositions. Koivistoinen won the first prize with a work entitled Kukonpesä.

The UMO Jazz Orchestra has played an important role in Koivistoinen's career ever since its creation in 1975. In the mid-90s, after gradually shifting his emphasis from saxophone playing to composing and conducting, Koivistoinen was appointed Artistic Director of the renowned group for a period of two years (1996-98). As a conductor, he is held in high esteem not only locally, but also through his appearances in Germany, Norway, Denmark, Hungary, Estonia and Lithuania. Koivistoinen was the producer of the UMO’s first recordings for a label outside Finland (Umo Jazz Orchestra on Naxos Jazz label); he also acted as the conductor and arranger of Electrifying Miles with Tim Hagans as the guest star on A-Records label. The album was given four stars in Down Beat Magazine. In the last few years, among other things, Eero has shown a growing interest in Africa and African based music. As a result, he recorded Eero Koivistoinen and Senegalese Drums (1998) and with the band performed on the Jazz Federation’s tour and in major jazz festivals in Finland as well as at the Stockholm Jazz Festival (2003). Sven Malm of Svenska Dagbladet wrote about the performance, ”…an enjoyable encounter of cultures with the sax veteran Eero Koivistoinen and a group of Senegalese drum virtuosos.Lovely group play, strong with colour, unusual and Eero jamming in Grand Popo, Benin 2002 astonishing " such a thing gives a profile to the festival. ” In 2003 Koivistoinen also produced a record with Galaxy containing mbalax and other Senegalese musical heritage. A few years earlier he had produced records for Naxos World label in Africa: Mozambique Relief, Venancio Mbande Orchestra, Eduardo Durao Timbila Ensemble in Mozambique and Alexandra Youth Choir. Alexandra is a township close to Johannesburg, South Africa.The Jazz Federation’s tour in 2003 attracted the largest audiences ever when Koivistoinen put togethera band called Imbizo, with Gloria Bosman, Concord Nkabinde and Mabeleng Moholo from South Africa being among the performers.

Read more

Tags

279
Live Review

Eero Koivistoinen Combo at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, NYC

Read "Eero Koivistoinen Combo at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, NYC" reviewed by Budd Kopman


The Eero Koivistoinen ComboNorthern Lights Jazz SeriesDizzy's Club Coca-ColaNew York City, New YorkFebruary 18, 2008 Finland is quite proud of their jazz musicians, and the Finnish Consulate sponsors the Northern Lights series of concerts, among others, to bring these musicians into the American jazz consciousness. Past groups have been the Ilmiliekki Quartet and the Five Corners Quintet. On this night, one of the leading lights of Finnish jazz for the past forty ...

207
Album Review

Eero Koivistoinen Music Society: Wahoo!

Read "Wahoo!" reviewed by Matthew Wuethrich


What would we do without those vinyl junkies? You know, those obsessed creatures that scour every record store, flea market, secondhand store and garage sale in hopes of finding some gem that has been lost in the mountain of recordings released over the last seventy years. Without them we would not have the pleasure of revisiting Eero Koivistoinen's fusion monster from Finland, Wahoo!.

For some time Wahoo! has been a jealously guarded secret of DJs and collectors. ...

Read more articles

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Minor Solutions

Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava
2011

buy

3rd Version

Motown
2011

buy

Lennosta kii!!

Unknown label
2007

buy

Boots & Roots

EK-Production Oy
2002

buy

Wahoo!

Warner Bros.
2002

buy

Altered Things

Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava
1992

buy

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.