Markku Ounaskari

Markku Ounaskari, the jazz drummer born in 1967, studied at both the Oulunkylä Pop & Jazz Conservatory and the Sibelius Academy before launching his professional path during the 1980s alongside the storied ensembles Piirpauke and the Pekka Pohjola Group. Throughout the following two decades he contributed to live performances and dozens of recordings with numerous Finnish jazz groups, encompassing every prominent name in the country as well as globally celebrated figures such as Lee Konitz and Kenny Wheeler. His first appearance on ECM came in 2007, when he joined Swedish kantele player Sinikka Langeland for the album Starflowers, an association that later produced several additional releases. The performances so struck label founder Manfred Eicher that he extended an invitation for Ounaskari to lead his own session; the resulting project, Kuára, featured pianist Samuli Mikkonen and trumpeter Per Jørgensen and drew inspiration from Finland’s ancient folk traditions. Issued in 2010, the recording received an Emma Award as the year’s outstanding Finnish jazz album. Subsequent releases on Edition included Aleatoric, recorded with Aki Rissanen and Robin Verheyen, and Years, made with Kari Heinilä, Lena Willemark, and Anders Jormin. In 2018 Ounaskari appeared alongside American guitarist Ben Monder on Estonian pianist Kristjan Randalu’s ECM debut, Absence.