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Jari Perkiömäki
I was born 1961 in Pori, Finland. I studied clarinet at the local music school since 1971 and played the alto saxophone in the Pori Big Band 1977-1983 and in the rockjazz group "Harvest" 1977-1980. I studied classical clarinet at The Helsinki Conservatory and jazz saxophone at the Sibelius-Academy, from where I graduated as the first Master of Music in jazz in Finland 1989. Since then I continued my studies at the Academy in the nineties and got the first Doctor of Music degree in Jazz in Finland at 2002.
The subject of my doctoral research and performance project was freely improvised melody. The project consisted of one CD recording, five concerts and written thesis: “Lennie and Ornetteâ€, Searching for Freedom in Improvisation, Observations on the Music of Lennie Tristano and Ornette Coleman
The thesis can be downloaded at: www.siba.fi/ethesis
I am working currently as the Head Of The Jazz Department at The Sibelius-Academy.
Through the years I have played with the Pori Sinfonietta, Umo Jazz Orchestra and the Mika Mylläri Quintet besides leading my own groups. Some of the international jazz musicians I have had the joy of performing with include Mike Nock, Anders Jormin, Tim Hagans, Randy Brecker, Phil Markowitz, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille, James Moody, Frank Foster, Lew Soloff, Don Preston, Ed Jones, Jonathan Gee, Tim Richards, Åke Johansson, Gustavo Bergalli, Christian Spering and Dag Arnesen.
In 1991 I was selected among the 25 semifinalists at the Thelonius Monk Saxophone Competition in Washington D.C. There I got my ten minutes to play for a jury consisting of Benny Carter, Jimmy Heath, Jackie McLean, Frank Wess and Branford Marsalis! And next competitor after me was Joshua Redman, who won the whole competition.
At the moment I am developing an educational concept for corporations and organizations, called "Improvising Organization". This presentation is done with a jazz band, starting with showing the basics of jazz playing and how to listen and enjoy the communication happening on the bandstand. By playing examples of musical communication and improvisation the presentation shows how a jazz band leader can get a group in a creative process. The presentation invites the audience to discussion how these concepts of improvising and communication could be applied to other fields. This project is presented on my new website jariperkiomaki.com, for the moment, only in Finnish.
I have released two albums under my own name:
Jari Perkiömäki Quartet 1985, and “Shades†1997
I am playing as a sideman on the following records:
Pori Big Band & Ernie Wilkins 1977
Harvest 'Flying High, Running Fast' 1978
Pori Big Band & Monica Aspelund 1980
Live Jammin' At Pori Jazz 1986
Hasse Walli & Asamaan 'African Sky' 1990
Mika Myllari Quintet 'Heritages' 1992
Mika Myllari Quintet 'Les Ponts' 1997
Major performances through the years:
With my own group :
Tours in Finland 1984, 1993 ja 2001
Leverkusen Jazz Days (Germany) 1984
Debrecen Jazz Festival (Hungary) 1985
Messina Jazz Festival (Italy) 1985
Paris, two concerts 1992
London 1997
New York 1998
Copenhagen 2000
Stockholm 2002
Tallinn 2004
Mexico City 2006
Tour in Venezuela 2006
Others:
Pori Big Band: New York 1979 ja 1980 , Nizza Jazz Festival 1980, Varsaw Jazz Jamboree 1983
EBU Jazz Orchestra, Oslo 1981
Tapiola Big Band: Detroit Jazz Festival 1982
Ã…ke Johansson Trio, Umea 1987
Dag Arnesen Trio, Vossa Jazz Festival 1987
Tour in Finland with Reggie Workman–Andrew Cyrille Quartet 1990
Don Preston Quartet, Ultra Music Meeting (Pori Jazz)1990
Freddie Redd Quartet, Ultra Music Meeting 1991
Mike Nock Sextet, concert in Helsinki 1996
Tour in Australia with Mike Nock Quintet 1998
Concerts in London with Mika Myllari, Ed Jones and Jonathan Gee 2000
Sibelius Academy Jazz Ensemble with Randy Brecker, Helsinki 2002
Giorgos Kontrafouris Quintet, Santorini Festival, Greece 2005
With Paris Conservatory Ensemble, Paris 2005
Pori Jazz All Stars Big Band with Kenny Garrett, Pori Jazz 2005
With Dimos Dimitriadis Group, Athens 2006
Touring UK With Tim Richards’ Great Spirit 2006
With Riccardo delFra, Paris 2007
With Sheila Jordan, Corfu 2007
With Jonathan Kreisberg, Helsinki 2007
Teaching experience:
–teacher at various jazz courses and clinics in Finland 1979 –
–part-time jazz improvisation teacher at the Helsinki Conservatory 1982–83
–part-time teacher at the Sibelius Academy Jazz Department 1985-97
–part-time teacher at the Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory 1991-97
–full-time teacher at the Sibelius Academy Jazz Department 1997-2000
–full-time lecturer and the Head of the Sibelius Academy Jazz Department
since 2000
In my work at the Sibelius Academy Jazz Department I have given individual lessons to saxophonists, trumpeters, trombonists and singers. Group subjects have included improvisation, ensemble playing, repertuar workshop, jazz theory and harmony, jazz history, solfege and jazz pedagogy. After getting my doctoral degree in 2002 I have also guided the doctoral students in their writing and developmental research projects.