Panu Savolainen – vibraphonist & composer

Vibraphone player Panu Savolainen ranksamong the top prospects in the Finnishjazz scene. Despite his young age,Savolainen (born 1990 in Lahti, Finland)has already gained attention especiallywith his own combo HERD, which won thefirst prize of the European JazzCompetition presented by Rotterdam’sNorth Sea Jazz Festival in 2011. Anothernoteworthy early accolade for Savolainenwas the ”Artist of the Year” selection byFinland’s premiere jazz fest, Pori Jazz, in2010.

Panu Savolainen has quickly secured asteady foothold in the active Helsinki jazzcircles thanks to his knack at effortlesslyinserting his personal style of playing intothe given setting. Ensembles as varied asthe aforementioned vibes-bass-drums trioHERD, Savolainen’s other three-piecewhich features the unique combination ofvibes, guitar and sax/clarinet, Ohne, andcomposer Kerkko Koskinen’s all star bigband are just a few examples ofSavolainen’s recent work. An additionalhighlight for Savolainen was his concert asa soloist with the prestigous UMO JazzOrchestra, alongside sax man JukkaPerko, one of the legends of Finnish jazz.Savolainen also currently composes andleads the Proprius ensemble, whichrecently debuted at the Viapori JazzFestival in Helsinki.

"HERD Live!!", the debut album of the trio, saw the light of day in September 2011, alsomarking the recording debut of the young vibraphonist. Captured on tape during the band'swinter 2011 tour in Finland, the CD offers a proof of the combo's tight sound as a coherentunit already ranking among the top groups on the scene.

Savolainen’s mentors include David Friedman, Rob Waring, Jukkis Uotila, Tim Hagans andDave Samuels, and collaborations the likes of Bobby Hutcherson, Cedar Walton and PeterErskine. He studies at the Jazz Department of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. What makesSavolainen a unique jazz player is his background in classical percussion. That being said, hisplaying is a fresh combination of no-nonsense swing and technical finesse, always serving themusic at hand.

An up-and-coming artist is often easily buried under a list of awards, mentors andcollaborations, but the main feat of Panu Savolainen is none of these. It is and will be hisability to bring out a wide palette of colors from his instrument in order to paint a sonicpicture remarkable for any artist, let alone for one with most of his memorable playing stillahead.

www.panusavolainen.com