Different bands and collaborators...
I, as an indivudual artist, do what I please. I have always liked to do different styles. Don't care about categories. Care about music.
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MY BANDS:
BACKBONE plays rock and roll and rhythm and blues. Visit www2.stadia.fi/~saukan/backbone and www.myspace.com/backbonesounds to see more.
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ROUND 5 plays my originals and jazzstandards. Visit www.jukimusic.com to see more.
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AD LIB QUINTET plays modern crossover jazz.Visit myspace.com/adlibqfinland and www.jukimusic.com to see and hear more.
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VELJET & SISKOT (Brothers & Sisters) plays rootsy country/rock/west coast/r&b influenced stuff. In finnish.
I compose and write lyrics for all these groups.
You'll find the members and other stuff from my website.
MY COLLABORATORS:
JASON CARTER
Guitar player/composer, who mixes dance beats and ambient with classical music anddifferent ethnic styles: flamenco, indian music, arabian... New album to be released in April by Naim Audio. Visit www.jasoncarter.net to hear more.
HEIKKI SARMANTO
He is a pianist, and one of the most wellknown composers in Finland, with a large repertoire of vocal music. Jazz and contemporary.
MAURI ISOAHO DIG BAND
Mauri is a composer/arranger/trumpet player. Mauri Isoaho Dig Band plays jazz. We got horns and stuff, 10 players or something. Like a Big Band but smaller...
BLUESKVARTET Artsi Alho, bass, Tommi Lievemaa, guitar, Tommi Rautiainen, drums. We play blues.
Influences
Lot's of crazy singers, harp players and singer/songwriters in different genres out there that I admire... Like: Mark Murphy, Jimmy Scott, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Johnny Hartman, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Nina Simone, Sainkho Namtchylack, Kim Wilson, Mark Hummel, Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, Earl King, Albert King, Otis Redding, Rory Block, Duke Robillard, Little Feat, Charlie Musselwhite, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Dion DiMucci, Lizzie West, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Bruce Cockburn, T-Bone Burnette, Tom Waits, Roy Orbison, The Band, Allman Brothers.
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).
Dear Juki, here we are, this is the profile of our LHR-project Re-Bop. I hope you like it, and I hope we'll see each other in February, I'll be playing in Helsinki at 5th of February! Did you enjoy Istanbul? Istanbul rocks!!!! :) I send you lots of love!!! Anne (& Re-Bop)
hey! just wanted to say hi and see what was cookin'? Nothin crazy new over here,a little bit under the weather today, but otherwise good. Have a great one :) much love ~adrian edward
HEY JUKI!!! GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU MAN! LIFE IS GREAT! SUMMER IN FULL BLAST, SWIMMING, SINGING, TAKING IT EASY... HOPE YOU ARE ALL WELL... KISSES TO THE LITTLE SCAT BABY!!! LET'S KEEP IN TOUCH! LELA
Hey, just wishing you a great Wednesday night. Things are cool over on this end, just enjoying the night and writing some tunes. much love ~adrian adrianrhen. com
Hi Juki... Such a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for your beautiful comment. I would love to meet you in person and perform with you as I love your sound... :) Jason told me many times about your beautiful collaboration. I hope we'll be in touch. Warmest regards Natassa
I hope this message finds you well and that you've had a great Thanksgiving weekend and that you're week is off to a great start. I'd really love it if you could check out my page and give some of my new music a listen (if you've already listened and enjoyed listening - YAY!!! If you haven't listened to the songs yet, I'm open to your thoughts and feelings!). I do hope that you like my singles "Home" and "My Angel".
Online Now!
