Mika Mylläri (b. 1966) appeared to the Finnish jazz field in the late-1980s in Espoo Big Band and in the Bullworkers jam sessions of Kappelin kellari. Trumpetist studied music first in the Kokkola Conservatory and in the pop/jazz department of the Lappväärt school and continued on the academic level at the jazz department of Sibelius Academy in 1986. Mylläri has always looked for experiences and influences abroad, in the late-1980s for example from New York and Copenhagen.

In the beginning of 1990s Mylläri was one of the most active trumpetist-leaders: his own band was Mika Mylläri Quintet, that had Mylläri on trumpet, Jari Perkiömäki on saxophone, Kirmo Lintinen on piano, Ape Anttila on bass and Marko Timonen on drums. The quintet did a Finnish Jazz Federation's tour every other year and in the middle of a busy period it released also the debut album Heritages (omakustanne 1992) that had the 1950s and 1960s jazz as the common thread. Both the quintet and Mylläri himself were chosen many times in the beginning of the 1990s as the Jazz Artist of the Year and the Band of the Year in the readers' poll of Rytmi-magazine.

Mylläri lived in Paris in 1993-1996 when the music for the next album Les Ponts (omakustanne 1997) was born. The Finnish jazz audience liked again what they heard and the album was chosen as the Jazz Album of the Year. The quintet was now reformed and besides Mika Mylläri and Jari Perkiömäki

In 1996 Mylläri graduated from Sibelius Academy and moved the next year to London. There he met Ed Jones, with whom he had been playing in the famous hiphop-band US 3, on gigs and on the album An Ordinary Day in an Unusual Place (Universal 2001). Antoher link to the British jazz life has been pianist Jonathan Gee. Besides Jonathan Gee Quartet, Mylläri has played in pianist's The Monk Liberation Front whose repertoire consisted of the compositions of Thelonious Monk.

The British collegues of Mylläri have been heard in Finland as well, for example on April Jazz and Pori Jazz Festival. In Finland Mylläri has performed recently with his Mylläri-Nyqvist Band and the Finnish-British Burn out mama -band. Besides the smaller ensembles, Mylläri has in the 21st century also composed for bigger groups, such as for big bands, chamber orchestras and jazz orchestras with strings.