Juki Välipakka

Vocalist Juki Valipakka made his jazz-debut with his own band at 1995 and awoke immediate interest with some critics as a rarity in Finland, a male jazz-singer. Since then he has been nominated the best male singer in Finland at years 1996-99 and 2001-2004 by the magazine Jazzrytmit critics poll.  Juki controls the many areas of jazz vocals in a sovereign way. He is capable of doing scat, mellow moods rich in nuances, falsetto and different kinds of vocal-improvisations. Due to his wide range he is more than just a mere jazz singer: he has sung rhythm & blues (he plays harp and guitar, too) and has composed music for dance-theatre productions. On Ad Lib Quintet's cd Jump there is his joik-influenced composition Karhu, and he has even got he's hands (or vocal cords) on ambient/ethno-vocal improvisation in the company of British guitar-player Jason Carter.   -Juki & Round 5- Round 5, nowadays his main vehicle in the area of jazz-music, has in it's lineup talented Finnish top-players who already have taken their places in the field of Finnish jazz. They are: pianist Riitta Paakki, bassplayer Antti Lotjonen, drummer Joonas Riippa, and guitarist Tuomo Dahlblom. The band continues to perform both jazzstandards with their own arrangements, and Valipakka's original compositions.-Ad Lib Quintet- This far his only recording, "Jump", has been made with Ad Lib Quintet, the band he formed with hungarian-born pianist/composer Laszlo Sule. The repertoire of Ad Lib Quintet consists of both Sule's and Valipakka's compositions. The range of styles in their compositions is very wide, but the music could be described as modern cross-over jazz with influences from latin, classical, funk and be-bop, and, though with roots in tradition, it has it's own flavour. Their first record "Jump",released 10.3.2001, got excellent reviews in the Finnish music-press. -Backbone - Juki's rhythm 'n blues-band "Backbone" has performed regularly since 2003 with Dr. Feelgood -material. Now they are also doing the material of their own. Besides of being a singer in this band Juki also plays harmonica and guitar. The other guys in the band are Jouni "Londe" Siitari (guit.), Antti Saukko (bass) and Jarkko Salonvaara (drs.). A demo is in process.-Other material- Juki has made songs for his own jazzbands, lyrics for Timo Roiko-Jokela's compositions, and both finnish and english pop/rock material of his own.  A new demo of this finnish material has been made spring 2004. He continues to work on these materials with new bands. Some of this new english material was already performed on his gigs in London, May 2004. - Music for theatre has also been composed: "A trace of the sun on your face", 1993, "Burnt", 1997, "Surroundings", 1997, "Surroundings: Landscapes (A pilgrimage into a city)", 2000, were dancetheatre-productions coreographed by Inka Valipakka, video by Anna Alastalo. "The Home of The Sun"(2001) was a musical for children, written by Hannu Lehtinen. Juki composed the songs and collaborated with the author in writing the lyrics. He has also appeared on stage on Helsinki City Theatre’s 2006 production of ”Evita”, a musical by Anthony Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice. Juki has graduated from the Stadia Polytechnic in Helsinki as a vocal teacher in 2001. His jazzteachers there include visitors Mark Murphy, Madeline Eastman, Christine Correa and Michelle Weir. He also spent the spring 1997 studying jazz in Graz, Austria, as Mark Murphys vocal student in the University of Music and Performing Arts. Juki has taught vocals at Helsinki Pop Jazz Concervatory, Stadia Polytechnic in Helsinki, Savonia Polytechnic in Kuopio, and Jarvenpaa Theatre. Nowadays he continues his work as a freelance-musician and composer. He is currently working on new material of which samples are heard on this page (Wild).
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