Tapani Rinne

The music of Finland has been brought up to date by saxophone and clarinet player Tapani Rinne. Inspired by the playing of percussionist Edward Vesala, Rinne formed jazz/techno band RinneRadio in 1988. The group, which remained together until August 1997, became one of Finland's best-loved bands. Their fourth album, Unik, released in March 1994, became a major hit and was named Album of the Week at Radio City in Helsinki. The following year, the group received an Emma award (Finland's equivalent to the Grammy) as Jazz Band of the Year. British music magazine Melody Maker called the group, "a hard-edged techno band led by a cool jazz sax player," explaining, "that might look nightmarish on paper, but the reality is spiraling, mesmerizing, music which induces dancefloor dementia in some and tranced-out tranquility in others." Shortly after the disbanding of RinneRadio in 1997, Rinne joined with RinneRadio bandmate Jari Kokkonen and acoustic string player Matti Wallenius to provide instrumental accompaniment for modern Yoik singer Wimme Saari on his album, Wimme, in 1997. Rinne released his debut solo album, Insider, in 1999. ~ Craig Harris