Jukka Haavisto

Juhani "Jukka" Haavisto (5 June 1930 – 24 November 2023) was a Finnish musician with the honorary title of music councilor. He also worked as a businessman in advertising business from 1959 to the 1990s, when he retired. However, he is perhaps best known for his work as a songwriter and for having played the vibraphone and the accordion in numerous bands.

Biographical details Jukka Haavisto passed the matriculation exams in Kauhava in 1948 and studied to become a teacher, graduating from the Jyväskylä Pedagogical Institute in 1956. He worked in the advertising agency SEK from 1959 to 1968, in the end as the person in charge of liaisons. After that he worked in the advertising agency Artifex as the vice-CEO until 1978. He founded his own advertising agency PRAX in 1975, and worked there in the capacity of CEO and chairman.

Career as a musician Haavisto performed publicly for the first time at the age of 10, when he played a harmonica together with a friend in a broadcast by Yle. He had received the harmonica as a Christmas present from his mother the previous Christmas, on the very same day when his father was killed in the Winter War at Taipaleenjoki. Haavisto’s dearest genre in music became swing, which he played with the accordion and the vibraphone.

Bands Source: Carmen (1945–1949) JH quintet (1950–1951) Martti Nummi sextet (1952) Pihlajamaan Pelimannit (1952–1953) LL quintet (1954–1955) Jorma Weneskoski orchestra (1956–1962) Happy Swing Band (1978–) Jukka Haavisto Band Haavisto Swingers (1990–) Western Swingers (1998–)

Publications