Tapani Rinne

Tapani Rinne has modernized Finland’s musical landscape through his work on saxophone and clarinet. Percussionist Edward Vesala’s style prompted him to launch the jazz/techno ensemble RinneRadio in 1988. The unit stayed active until August 1997 and ranked among the country’s most popular acts. Its fourth release, Unik, arrived in March 1994, scored a major commercial success, and earned Album of the Week honors from Radio City in Helsinki. One year later the group collected an Emma award—Finland’s counterpart to the Grammy—as Jazz Band of the Year. Melody Maker characterized RinneRadio as “a hard-edged techno band led by a cool jazz sax player,” adding that “that might look nightmarish on paper, but the reality is spiraling, mesmerizing, music which induces dancefloor dementia in some and tranced-out tranquility in others.” Following the ensemble’s 1997 dissolution, Rinne teamed with former RinneRadio colleague Jari Kokkonen and acoustic string player Matti Wallenius to back modern Yoik singer Wimme Saari on the 1997 album Wimme. His first solo project, Insider, appeared in 1999.