Juhani Aaltonen, a Finnish jazz saxophonist/flautist was born December 12, 1935. He was born in Kouvola (Finland) and began his professional career at the end of 1950s. He was a member of a sextet that Heikki Rosendahl led. He then studied flute performance at Sibelius Academy, as well as at Berklee College of Music in the United States. He returned to Finland and settled in Helsinki, where he began his career as a session musician and fusion musician. He formed a duo later in the 1960s with Edward Vesala and was also a member of the Eero Koivistoinen group for four years. In their early days, he played with Tasavallan Presidentialti, including on their first album. He recorded with Thad and Mel Lewis, as well as with Heikki and Sarmanto, in the late 1960s to early 1970s. His first solo album, Etiquette was released in 1974. He joined the New Music Orchestra in 1975 and later worked with Arild Andersen and Peter Brotzmann. He worked with Jan Garbarek, Charlie Mariano and other UFO Big Band members in the 1980s. In the middle of 1980s, Finland granted him a 15 year state grant. He joined Tasavallan Presidentti in 1983 and has been recording and touring with them ever since. From 1990 to 1992, he led a tour with Olli Ahvenlahti and Reino Laine. Heikki Sarmanto and Aaltonen released Rise in 2001 as a duo. In 2003, Aaltonen’s trio album Mother Tongue won the Jazz-Emma Finland. Aaltonen continues to instruct at the annual Nilsia Music Camp. From Wikipedia
