Raoul Bjorkenheim
Encyclopedia
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
. He was born to Finnish parents. His mother is actress/singer Taina Elg
Taina Elg
Taina Elg is a Finnish-American actress and dancer. She has appeared on stage, film and television.-Biography:She was born in Helsinki, but later raised in Turku by her parents, Helena Dobroumova and Åke Elg, a pianist. In 1957 she won the Golden Globe for the Foreign Newcomer Award - Female...
(half Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
). He lived in the USA until he was 15 years old, when his family returned to Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. He resided in Finland until 2001 when he relocated to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Björkenheim had his breakthrough experience working with one of the most significant figures in Finnish jazz, drummer Edward Vesala
Edward Vesala
Edward Vesala , born Martti Vesala, was a Finnish avant-garde jazz composer, bandleader and drummer....
. In the 1980s he played on three records under Vesala's leadership, including the first by Vesala's group Sound And Fury, Lumi (on ECM Records).
In the late 1980s Björkenheim left Vesala to start his own group, Krakatau. After two recordings issued initially only in Finland, Björkenheim reformed the group with all new personnel (other than himself). In the early 1990s the new Krakatau issued two recordings on ECM, after which it dissolved.
Subsequent projects have included the international group Phantom City, led by Paul Schütze
Paul Schütze
Paul Schütze is an Australian artist resident in London. Over thirty years his work has spanned composition, performance, installation, video, printmaking and photography....
; a collaborative recording with New York guitarist Nicky Skopelitis
Nicky Skopelitis
Nicky Skopelitis is an American guitarist and composer from Greek heritage. He is best known as a guitarist, but also performs on banjo, oud, lute, keyboards and other instruments....
; and arranging and playing the music of Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
's electric period with Finland's UMO Jazz Orchestra.
His recent collaborations include a duo with drummer Lukas Ligeti
Lukas Ligeti
Lukas Ligeti is a composer and percussionist. His work incorporates elements of jazz, contemporary classical, and various world musics.- Background :...
and the Scorch Trio with Norwegians Ingebrigt Håker Flaten
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten is a Norwegian bassist active in the jazz and free jazz genres.-Selected Projects:*Atomic*Element*The Thing*Scorch Trio*Ingebrigt Håker Flaten Quintet-Major Collaborators:*Ken Vandermark*Joe McPhee...
(bass) and Paal Nilssen-Love
Paal Nilssen-Love
Paal Nilssen-Love is a Norwegian drummer active in the jazz and free jazz genres.Nilssen-Love was raised at a jazz club in Stavanger, run by his mother, and his father, who was also a drummer...
(drums). In 2007 he recorded under the title Box with Trevor Dunn (bass), Ståle Storløkken (keyboards, electronics), Morgan Ågren (drums).The project was initiated by film-maker Philip Mullarkey to record and play live as part of the art/film project Box. Since then he has continued collaboration with local Finnish musicians (UMO orchestra, Kalle Kalima and Markus Holkko), as well as maintaining productive contacts with old New York colleagues William Parker
William Parker
-Sportsmen:* Tony Parker, William Anthony Parker II, , Belgian basketball player* Smush Parker , American basketball player* Sir William Parker, 3rd Baronet , British rower and Olympic medalist*Will Parker, rugby union player...
and Hamid Drake
Hamid Drake
Hamid Drake is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. He lives in Chicago, IL but spends much of his time traveling around the world for concerts and studio dates....
.