biography
Pekka Sarmanto (b. 1945) is definitely one of the most important bass player in the history of Finnish jazz music. Not many bass players can say that they have substituted Charles Mingus in Belgrad or that they have jammed with Gil Evans, Dizzy Gillepie and Sonny Rollins. Sarmanto's career has taken him to the biggest jazzarenas in London, Paris and Montreal. In Finland he has been chosen by several medias as the best jazz bassist already 28 years in a row. Pekka Sarmanto is also one of the founding members of the UMO Jazz Orchestra that was formed in 1975. During his long career in UMO he has got the chance to play with all the foreign top jazzmusicians that have performed in Finland. Sarmanto retired from UMO in 2007 but he still keeps performing actively with different groups, for example with his own trio.