Pope Puolitaival United

(FIN)

One of Finland’s hottest horn men has hand-picked his dream team from the country’s young jazz lions to play his brand new compositions that draw on the rich rhythmic tapestry of the 1960’s and 1970’s jazz.

Born in 1972, Petri Puolitaival fell in love with the saxophone in high school. Having first studied alto at the Oulu Conservatory, he played in the Oulu Big Band before moving to Helsinki, where he extended his studies with Jari Perkiömäki and Pentti Lahti, and enrolled onto the jazz department of the Sibelius Academy. He started his first own band at the turn of the millennium. Playing also flute on top of tenor and alto, Pope has honed his skills with trumpetist Mikko Pettinen’s Sticks, soul singer Jo Stance and the Sid Hille Film Collective.