Pekka Juhani Pöyry (10 December 1939 in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

– 4 August 1980 in Helsinki) was a Finnish jazz and rock saxophonist and flutist. He was part of the Pekka Pöyry Quartet and Quintet.

Early life

Pöyry became interested in jazz music at school and began studying the violin and clarinet. He was, however, more taken with playing the alto saxophone, inspired by

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

. In addition, he played the flute and soprano saxophone.

Career

After graduating with a Master of Laws in 1966, Pöyry decided to become a professional musician. In the same year he represented

YLE Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

, EBU's concert in London. The mid-1960s, he had his own quartet with pianist Eero Ojanen, bassist Teppo Hauta-aho and drummer

Reino Laine Reino is the Portuguese, Galician and Spanish word for ''kingdom'' and may refer to: * Reino, Campania, a town in the province of Benevento, Italy People Surname Reino is a Spanish surname. Notable people with this surname include: * Fernando Góm ...

. They performed at the 1966

Pori Jazz Festival Pori Jazz is a large international jazz festival, held annually during the month of July in the coastal city of Pori (a population of 82,809 in January 2010), Finland. It is one of the oldest and best known jazz festivals in Europe, having bee ...

and were joined by the Norwegian-Finnish singer Pia Skaar to form a quintet. In May 1967, the quintet appeared at the Tallinn Jazz Festival. In a 1969 interview,

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

described the quartet's performance (although couldn't remember the name) at the 1969

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

, where they won as "marvelous" and "highly professional". He increasingly became interested in progressive rock and jazz fusion in the late 1960s and 1970s. With his later groups he attempted international breakthrough, including the Reading Festival in England in 1973. His band,

Tasavallan Presidentti Tasavallan Presidentti (in English '' President of the Republic'') is a Finnish progressive rock band. It was founded in 1969 by guitarist Jukka Tolonen and drummer Vesa Aaltonen. Other founder members were Måns Groundstroem (bass) and Frank ...

, however, broke up in 1974. He also played with Wigwam. In 1975, Pöyry toured northern Europe with the North Jazz Quintet, and later he joined the orchestra of

Heikki Sarmanto Heikki Veli Uolevi Sarmanto (born 22 June 1939) is a Finnish jazz pianist and composer. Sarmanto was born in Helsinki, Finland, and began to play jazz during the 1960s. He studied first at the Sibelius Academy and later at the Berklee College of ...

, later the UMO Jazz Orchestra, playing the

Ljubljana Festival The Ljubljana Summer Festival is a festival held between July and August in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It attracts notable opera stars, ballet and theatre performers and also eminent rock and jazz musicians internationally who perform at ...

in what was then Yugoslavia in 1976. He also performed in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, Britain and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with other bands.

Personal life

A manic depressive, Pöyry committed suicide in 1980. The Pekka Pöyry Award is named in his honor and given to young, talented saxophonists in Finland, awarded since the early-1980s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poyry, Pekka 1939 births 1980 deaths Finnish jazz saxophonists Male saxophonists Finnish jazz musicians Musicians from Helsinki Jazz flautists Jazz alto saxophonists Suicides by hanging in Finland 1980 suicides Finnish flautists 20th-century saxophonists 20th-century male musicians Male jazz musicians 20th-century flautists