Raoul Melvin Björkenheim (born February 11, 1956) is a Finnish-American jazz guitarist, who has lived in Helsinki,
New York,
and Los Angeles.
His mother is Finnish-American actress
Taina Elg.
[''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.
After recording three albums with Vesala, he formed Krakatau.
During the 1990s he reduced the band to a trio. He recorded an album with guitarist
Nicky Skopelitis 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, wo ...
.
Björkenheim has composed for the
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Finnish: ''Radion sinfoniaorkesteri'', Swedish: ''Radions symfoniorkester''; abbreviated as RSO) is a Finnish Radio orchestra, broadcast orchestra based in Helsinki, and the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasti ...
,
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and the
UMO Jazz Orchestra and worked as a soloist with the
Avanti! Chamber Orchestra and
Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra.
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 a ...
in the Scorch Trio with
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (born 23 September 1971 in Oppdal Municipality, Norway) is a Norwegian double bass, bassist active in the jazz and free jazz genres. (in Norwegian) Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian)
Career
Flaten played electric ba ...
(bass) and
Paal Nilssen-Love (drums).
Other collaborators include
Hamid Drake,
William Parker,
Kalle Kalima,
and the band
Kvalda.
References
External links
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorkenheim, Raoul
1956 births
Living people
Guitarists 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