Raoul Melvin Björkenheim (born February 11, 1956) is an American jazz guitarist from Los Angeles. His mother is Finnish-American actress

Taina Elg __NOTOC__ Taina may refer to: People Women * Taina Asili (), Puerto Rican musician, filmmaker and activist * Taïna Barioz (born 1988), French alpine skier * Taina Bien-Aimé, Swiss social activist * Taina Bofferding (born 1982), Luxembourgish po ...

.''Finlands ridderskaps och adels kalender 1992'', pp. 92–93. Esbo 1991. In his teens he moved to Finland. He attended the Helsinki Conservatory and the Berklee School of Music. His professional career began in the 1980s with Finnish jazz drummer

Edward Vesala Edward Vesala (15 February 1945 – 4 December 1999), born Martti Vesala, was a Finnish avant-garde jazz drummer. Career Born in Mäntyharju, he began playing jazz and rock in the 1960s, in such bands as Blues Section and Apollo. In the 1970s ...

. After recording three albums with Vesla, he formed Krakatau. During the 1990s he reduced the band to a trio. He recorded an album with guitarist

Nicky Skopelitis Nicky Skopelitis (born January 19, 1960) is an American guitarist and composer of Greek descent. He also has performed on banjo, oud, lute, keyboards and other instruments. Although Skopelitis has recorded few albums as a bandleader, he has appea ...

that was produced by

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...

. Björkenheim has composed for the

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Finnish: ''Radion sinfoniaorkesteri'', Swedish: ''Radions symfoniorkester'') is a Finnish broadcast orchestra based in Helsinki, and the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle). The orchestra prima ...

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (in Finnish: ; in Swedish: ; literal English translation: Helsinki City Orchestra; commonly abbreviated as HPO) is an orchestra based in Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 1882 by Robert Kajanus, the Philharmonic ...

, and the

UMO Jazz Orchestra 250px, UMO Jazz Orchestra UMO Jazz Orchestra is a Finnish big band. It was founded in 1975 by jazz musicians Heikki Sarmanto and Esko Linnavalli. UMO is an abbreviation of "Uuden Musiikin Orkesteri" (New Musical Orchestra). Since 1984 UMO has bee ...

and worked as a soloist with the

Avanti! Chamber Orchestra The Avanti! Chamber Orchestra is a Finnish ensemble that focuses on contemporary music. The ensemble when it performs varies in size from a solo player to a symphony orchestra. Avanti! Chamber Orchestra won the Gramophone Prize with their first rec ...

and

Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra The Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra ( Finnish:''Tampere Filharmonia'') is a Finnish orchestra based in Tampere. Founded in 1930, and maintained by the municipality of Tampere since 1947, the orchestra is currently based in the Tampere Hall. The ...

. He recorded three albums for

Rune Grammofon Rune Grammofon is a Norwegian record label founded in 1998 by Rune Kristoffersen. Rune Grammofon's reputation for lovingly issued experimental electronic music, jazz, and improvised music by Norwegian artists has grown over the years with its art ...

in the Scorch Trio with

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (born 23 September 1971 in Oppdal, Norway) is a Norwegian bassist active in the jazz and free jazz genres. (in Norwegian) Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian) Career Flaten played electric bass in local funk trio ' ...

(bass) and

Paal Nilssen-Love Paal Nilssen-Love (born 24 December 1974) is a Norwegian drummer and composer in the jazz, free jazz and free improvisation genres. (in Norwegian) Early life Nilssen-Love was born in Molde, Norway. His parents ran a jazz club in Stavanger, and ...

(drums). Other collaborators include

Hamid Drake Hamid Drake (born August 3, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and Afr ...

, William Parker,

Kalle Kalima Kalle Kalima (born 29 December 1973 in Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland) is a Finland, Finnish jazz guitarist and improvisational musician. Biography Kalima got piano lessons as a child for five years before switching to the guitar at age 11. He st ...

, and the band

Kvalda Kvalda is a Finnish jazz quartet. The members of the band are singer Aili Ikonen, pianist Antti Kujanpää, double bass player Jori Huhtala and drummer Hanne Pulli. Kvalda's music has been described as "Nordic", and is influenced by traditional mus ...

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorkenheim, Raoul 1956 births Living people People from Los Angeles 20th-century American guitarists American jazz guitarists American people of Finnish descent Finnish jazz composers Finnish jazz guitarists Rune Grammofon artists Jazz musicians from California