Pekka Juhani Pöyry (10 December 1939 in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

– 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 Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

. 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 (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

, 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. They performed at the 1966 Pori Jazz Festival 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 piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...

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 annu ...

, 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 The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading, Berkshire, Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend ...

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 F ...

, however, broke up in 1974. He also played with

Wigwam A wigwam, wikiup, wetu (Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam (Ojibwe, in syllabics: ) is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term ''wikiup'' ...

. 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 o ...

, 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. First organized in 1953 it is the oldest festival in the country. It attracts notable opera stars, ballet and theatre performers and ...

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

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Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

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, the

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Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 Finnish male jazz musicians 20th-century flautists People with bipolar disorder