Tero Saarti (b. 1971) studied trumpet almost the whole 1980's at the Conservatory of Kuopio and continued his studies, first, at Helsinki Pop and Jazz Conservatory and, later, at the jazz department of Sibelius Academy where he graduated in 2003. The talent of Saarti was immediately noticed and he joined UMO in the same year as his studies at Sibelius Academy started. In UMO trumpetist Saarti has been for a long time an important solistic actor. 

In the 1990s Saarti played acoustic jazz in e.g. trombonist Mircea Stan's and pianist Jarmo Savolainen's groups. In the late-90s trumpetist formed also a quartet of his own, with pianist Riitta Paakki, bassist Ape Anttila and drummer Teppo Mäkynen. Saarti was also an important part of the jazzfunk band Groove Convention that worked in 1993-2003 and the rock-funk band Eternal Erection that was formed in the mid-90s.

On this millenium Saarti has been playing with even more versatile bands than before. Some of his later merits include taking part, in 2005, in the theatre production “Ain’t Misbehavin” and in the 10th anniversary tour of a popular Finnish singer, Jari Sillanpää. Saarti has played in i.a. the septet of saxophonist Teemu Salminen, Lars Gullin -tributeproject of Paroni Paakkunainen and the Viisikko band of saxophonist Jukka Perko. A bit more modern expression offered the album Karikko (2001) by pianist Kari Ikonen, where Saarti also played. He has also recorded on albums of i.a. Jenny Robson Band, Mikko Hassinen and Jussi Fredriksson and played as a sideman with livebands such as Riku Nimi Orchestra, Antti Rissanen Jukebox Band, Sofia Finnilä and Espoo Big Band. The most important group has however been UMO where he has played for over 20 years. Saarti has also taught trumpet in e.g. the jazz department of Sibelius Academy and the Conservatory of Kuopio.