Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen (born September 23, 1978, 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 ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

) is a Finnish jazz guitarist, pianist, composer, bandleader and producer. He is best known as bandleader and composer of the 20-headed Ricky-Tick Big Band and the award-winning jazz-sextet Dalindèo.

Biography

Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen grew up in Helsinki, Finland. In 2010 Pöyhönen finished his master studies in jazz composition from the jazz department of the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It als ...

in Helsinki. He has also studied at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, the

Codarts Codarts University for the Arts ( nl, Codarts hogeschool voor de kunsten) is a Dutch vocational university in Rotterdam that teaches music, dance and circus. It was established in its present location in 2000. History Codarts can trace its origin ...

and Helsinki's Pop and Jazz Conservatory. Since 2009, Pöyhönen has divided his time between Berlin and Helsinki.

Groups

Dalindèo

In 2003, Pöyhönen founded the jazz-sextet Dalindèo. The group's line-up consists of Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen (guitar, bandleader), Jose Mäenpää (trumpet), Petri "Pope" Puolitaival (saxophone and flute), Rasmus Pailos (percussion), Pekka Lehti (double-bass, from summer 2004 on) and Jaska Lukkarinen (drums). Dalindèo's early music was a fusion between Brazilian jazz, hard bop and exotica. From 2013 onwards, heavy surf guitars and rockabilly-sounds have been prominent in the group's sound. The group's fourth studio album ''Kallio'' became a huge success, and received the prestigious Emma-award as "Jazz Album of the Year" in 2013.

Ricky-Tick Big Band

In 2009, after studying composition for a year in Paris, Pöyhönen founded the Ricky-Tick Big Band. The 16-member big band took its name from the Helsinki-based record label Ricky-Tick Records, and the original line-up included many of the label's artists, including saxophonist Timo Lassy and trumpetist Jukka Eskola. The group released their self-titled debut album ''Ricky-Tick Big Band'' in 2010.

Ricky-Tick Big Band & Julkinen Sana

In 2012, Pöyhönen met with rapper Paleface and drummer Jaska Lukkarinen to contemplate a collaboration of big band jazz and rap. This resulted in the forming of the 20-piece Ricky-Tick Big Band & Julkinen Sana, with rappers Paleface, Tommy Lindgren and

Redrama Lasse Mellberg (born 2 October 1977), better known by his stage name Redrama, is a Finnish rapper. He made a breakthrough in 2003. Redrama, who performs primarily in English, but also in Swedish and Finnish was part of a hip-hop group Alien Allies ...

. The group's debut album ''Burnaa'' was released in 2013 and was a critical success, debuting at number four on the Finnish national album chart and staying in the Top 10 for 11 weeks. Consequently, the group toured all over Finland in jazz and rock festivals. The group's second album ''Korottaa Panoksii'' was released in October 2015, again followed by extensive touring all over Finland.

Other works

In 2014 premiered Pöyhönen's suite ''A Nocturnal Affair'' (''Yön Rakastaja'') for big band and tenor sax soloist, which was commissioned by 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 ...

, featuring Timo Lassy on tenor saxophone. Pöyhönen has also written several string and horn arrangements for rap artist Paleface, including "Palamaan" from the movie soundtrack to ''Pahan Kukat'' and the tracks "Snaijjaa", "Vangin Laulu", and on the album ''Maan Tapa''.

Awards

* 2013: Emma-award for the jazz album of the year, ''Dalindèo: Kallio''

Discography

With Dalindèo: *''Poseidon / Solifer-Lento'' 12” (Ricky-Tick Records, 2004) *''Go Ahead, Float / Voodoo'' 12” (Ricky-Tick Records, 2005) *''Open Scenes'' (Ricky-Tick Records, Suomen Musiikki, 2006) *''Vintage Voyage'' EP (Ricky-Tick Records, 2008) *''New Creation / Another Devil'' 7” (Ricky-Tick Records, 2009) *''Soundtrack for the Sound Eye'' (Ricky-Tick Records, 2010) *''Kallio'' ( Suomen Musiikki,

BBE Records Barely Breaking Even (BBE) is a British record label started by two DJs, Peter Adarkwah and Ben Jolly. The name BBE comes from The Universal Robot Band's 1982 track "Barely Breaking Even". It has two sublabels: Deep Funk, and Urban Theory. B ...

, 2013) *''Slavic Souls'' ( Suomen Musiikki,

, 2016) With Ricky-Tick Big Band & Julkinen Sana: *''Burnaa'' (Rokka,

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

, 2013) *''Korottaa Panoksii'' (Rokka,

, 2015) With Ricky-Tick Big Band: *''Ricky-Tick Big Band'' (Ricky-Tick Records, 2010)

References

External links

*
Ricky-Tick Big Band & Julkinen SanaRicky-Tick Big BandDalindèo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poyhonen, Valtteri Laurell Finnish jazz guitarists Finnish guitarists Finnish jazz composers Finnish composers Finnish male composers 1978 births Living people Finnish bandleaders 21st-century guitarists Male jazz composers 21st-century male musicians