Juhani Aaltonen
Juhani Aaltonen is a Finnish saxophonist and flautist, born in Kouvola in 1935. He began playing professionally at the end of the 1950s and studied flute at the Sibelius Academy and at Berklee. Based in Helsinki, he moved between session work and fusion bands, and is known for his work with composer Henrik Otto Donner and with American players Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille. Aaltonen played in a duo with drummer Edward Vesala in the 1960s, was an early member of Tasavallan Presidentti and joined the New Music Orchestra in 1975.
Just Us
Two legendary souls, one timeless rhythm—Just Us celebrates the enduring bond between Heikki Sarmanto and Juhani Aaltonen. Born from spontaneous sessions and inspired compositions, these eleven tracks capture their unmatched musical chemistry. A test…
The Sky Is Ruby
Raoul Björkenheim, who is one of the most adventurous guitarists on the contemporary scene, initially progressed from B.B. King to Frank Zappa and from John McLaughlin to John Coltrane in his search of a sound of his own. With his own groups, such as…
Reflections
Reflections features three giants of improvised music in an open dialogue built on both their shared influences and their different backgrounds: Juhani Aaltonen on tenor saxophone and flute, Reggie Workman on bass and Andrew Cyrille on drums. The alb…
Strings Revisited
Strings Revisited revives and revamps the sound of Strings, a now-classic recording of Henrik Otto Donner´s compositions by tenor saxophonist/flautist Juhani Aaltonen together with a jazz group and strings that was originally released in 1976 and has…
Strings
Strings is one of the best known and best loved Finnish jazz albums from the 70s, but annoyingly difficult to find on vinyl. The Svart reissue presents the album mastered for vinyl from the original tapes and comes with new liner notes. From 1970 unt…
Jazz Liisa 17
In January 1973 an impromptu supergroup took over the airwaves on the Jazz Liisa series. Saxophonist Juhani Aaltonen, pianist Esa Helasvuo, join bassist Teppo Hauta-Aho and drummer Edward Vesala in a special one-of-a-kind show of contemporary, revolu…
Etiquette
Black vinyl, edition of 300. Svart Records presents the first vinyl reissue of the first solo album by Juhani Aaltonen, a rarity since its original release in 1974 on Love Records. Saxophonist and flautist Juhani “Junnu” Aaltonen is a living legend …