Juhani Aaltonen

Juhani Aaltonen (born December 12, 1935) is a Finnish jazz saxophonist and flautist.

Born in Kouvola, Finland, he studied at Sibelius Academy and Berklee College of Music. He began playing professionally at the end of the 1950s. He played in a sextet led by Heikki Rosendahl during that time, and then studied flute performance at the Sibelius Academy and in the U.S. at the Berklee College of Music. He led a touring quartet from 1990 to 1992 with Olli Ahvenlahti, Heikki Virtanen and Reino Laine. Aaltonen and Heikki Sarmanto released a duo recording, Rise, in 2001; in 2003 Aaltonen's trio album Mother Tongue won a Jazz-Emma in Finland. Aaltonen continues to teach at the annual Nilsiä Music Camp.

Discography Etiquette, 1974 Strings, 1976, with Henrik Otto Donner Springbird, 1979 Prana. Live at Groovy, 1982 Déjà Vu, 2000, with Art Farmer, Heikki Sarmanto, Pekka Sarmanto, Jukka-Pekka Uotila and Tapio Aaltonen Rise, 2001, with Heikki Sarmanto Mother Tongue, 2003, with Ulf Krokfors with Tom Nekljudow Strings Revisited, 2003, with Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille and the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra Suhka, 2003, with Jone Takamäki, Tane Kannisto, Verneri Pohjola, Patrik Latvala, Seppo Kantonen, Jarmo Savolainen, Pekka Nylund, Antti Hytti, Ulf Krokfors, Tom Nekljudow, and Stefan Paavola Reflections, 2004, with Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille Wonders Never Cease, 2005, with Mikko Iivanainen and Klaus Suonsaari Illusion of a Ballad, 2006, with Ulf Krokfors and Tom Nekljudow The Sky is Ruby, 2007, UMO Jazz Orchestra with Raoul Björkenheim and Iro Haarla Conclusions, 2009, with Iro Haarla, Ulf Krokfors, and Reino Laine

As sideman With Arild Andersen Shimri (ECM, 1976) Green Shading into Blue (ECM, 1978) With Graham Collier Hoarded Dreams (Cuneiform, 1983 ) With Edward Vesala Nan Madol (JAPO, 1974) Satu (ECM, 1977)