Kasperi Sarikoski | Trombone
Kasperi Sarikoski was born in Helsinki, Finland in 1988 and began playing the valve trombone at age eight under the teaching of Romanian trombonist Mircea Stan at the Pop & Jazz Conservatory. He soon switched to the slide trombone and played in big band and small group settings under the guidance of Veli-Matti Halkosalmi and Junnu Kataja. In 2000 Kasperi and his younger brother Jonatan, who plays drums, were selected for the Finnish All Star Junior Big Band lead by trombonist Antti Rissanen. As a member of the big band Kasperi took part in several Imatra Big Band Festival summer jazz camps as well as the Lieksa Brass Week big band course. Teachers at the camps included Antti Rissanen, Markku Veijonsuo, Ingrid Jensen, Charles Tolliver, Bill Watrous, Dick Oatts and Rich Shemaria. Kasperi also took part in a series of trombone workshops led by Antti Rissanen and by the time he was in his teens began composing music.
In 2003 Kasperi joined the Sibelius Academy Jazz Department’s Junior Academy, where he studied under Markus Ketola, Jukka Perko and Manuel Dunkel. Three years later Kasperi began his graduate studies at the academy and received his Bachelor of Music degree in 2009. During 2010 and 2011 he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris as an exchange student. Teachers at the conservatory included Glenn Ferris, Hervé Sellin, François Théberge and Dré Pallemaerts. Kasperi returned to Helsinki in 2012 and completed his Master of Music degree in 2013. During his entire time at the Sibelius Academy Kasperi studied with numerous teachers, including Jukkis Uotila, Kari “Sonny” Heinilä, Jarmo Savolainen, Teppo Alestalo, Jouni Järvelä, Mikael Jakobsson, Miikka Huttunen, Mikko Innanen and Mikko Hassinen. Kasperi also took up singing for a few years and took lessons from Mirja Mäkelä, Ritva-Liisa Matilainen and Susanna Lukkarinen.
While studying music Kasperi gained a reputation as a fine trombonist and became increasingly employed in the Helsinki music scene. By the time he had finished his Master’s degree he was well established in the Finnish jazz scene, having performed and recorded with numerous leading domestic musicians. He had also played with saxophonists Jerry Bergonzi and Dave Liebman as well as drummer Peter Erskine in concerts organised by the Sibelius Academy. In 2009 the Finnish composer Valtteri Pöyhönen put together the Ricky-Tick Big Band and asked Kasperi to be the lead trombonist. The band soon became hugely popular and since then has performed at numerous prestigious festivals all over Finland as well as released three albums.
Kasperi played with the UMO Jazz Orchestra for the first time in 2004 and ten years later took up the post of lead trombone. He spent three years with the band during which he accompanied many eminent artists, such as Joshua Redman, Gregory Porter, Michel Legrand, Hermeto Pascoal and Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto.
Kasperi formed his own group Nuance in 2013. The quintet has played at many of Finland's major jazz venues, including the prestigious Tampere Jazz Happening, the Pori Jazz Festival and the Turku Jazz Festival. In 2015 the group released its debut album Essence which was approved by the public and critics alike. The following year the group set out on a tour which encompassed eight music venues all over Finland.
In August 2017 Kasperi moved to New York City to further his studies at The Juilliard School, where his teachers included bassist Ben Wolfe and trombonists Elliot Mason, Steve Turre and Joseph Alessi. During his time in New York Kasperi performed with various groups and artists, including the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. In 2019 he received his Artist Diploma in Jazz Studies and moved back to Helsinki to rejoin the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra as lead trombonist.
In February of 2020 Kasperi performed his music and premiered composer Kari Heinilä’s work Abyssinian Gold in collaboration with UMO. His newest album 3 + 1 will be released in October 2020 by Outside in Music.
