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 wonthe first 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 concertas a soloist with the prestigous UMO JazzOrchestra, alongside sax man Jukka Perko, one of the legends of Finnish jazz. Savolainenalso currently composes and leads the Proprius ensemble, which recently debuted at theViapori Jazz Festival in Helsinki.

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.

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