The board of Music Archive Finland has awarded the 39th Finnish Jazz Legend Prize saxophonist Pertti "Pepa" Päivinen and the 40th Prize to saxophonist Jorma Tapio.
Pepa Päivinen's (67) main instrument has been the baritone saxophone, but he has also played other saxophones, bass clarinet and various flutes. Päivinen, who was in Edward Vesala's Sound & Fury band in the 1980s and 1990s, has also played in numerous other ensembles, working for decades in the saxophone section of the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra. In addition, he has had many bands of his own, with whom he has recorded and toured abroad as well.
Like Päivinen, Jorma "Joppe" Tapio (65), who has mastered a wide arsenal of instruments, was also in Sound & Fury in the 1980s and 1990s. He also played e.g. in the bands Krakatau and Rolling Thunder, as well as in various multinational ensembles abroad. Tapio has also had many own groups, the most recent of which are Kaski and Bread For Soul.
The Finnish Jazz Legend Prizes have been awarded since 2001. In 2001–2014, Finnish Big Band Association, Finnish Jazz & Pop Archive and Imatra Big Band Festival awarded a total of 28 Jazz legends. Since 2017, Music Archive Finland has been responsible for distributing the awards.
List of previously awarded Finnish Jazz Legend Prizes:
fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suomen_Jazzlegenda
musiikkiarkisto.fi
Photo: Sakari Puhakka