Olavi Louhivuori is a Finnish jazz drummer and composer, the leader of his own ensemble Oddarrang, and also performer within several other bands. He is married to the singer Emma Salokoski.
Career
Louhivuori was raised in a musical family. His father is professor at the Department of Music University of Jyväskylä and his mother, a violinist and music educator. Each of the five children in his family was taught to play instruments. Louhivuori started to play violin at four, and changed to cello and piano when eight. When he was nine years of age he changed to drums and founded his first band together with classmate Joona Toivanen. While at Cygnaeus high school, he played with the Joona Toivanen Trio, as well as joining gigs at local jam sessions. In 1998 he attended the jazz program at Finnish Music Conservatory, graduating in 2002, and then moved to Helsinki, and joined the Sibelius Academy to study jazz with Jukkis Uotila. In 2005–06, he studied composition under the guidance of Sonny Heinilä. Louhivuori has also composed two works for the JyväskyläBig Band.
Bands
While a student at the Sibelius Academy, he met pianist Tuomo Prättälä, bassist Antti Lötjönen and trumpeter Verneri Pohjola, with whom he in 2002 founded the band Ilmiliekki Quartet. In 2003 their debut albumMarch of the Alpha Males appeared, followed in 2006 by Take It With Me. Louhivuori founded the Finnish experimental jazz ensemble Oddarrang in 2003. The band includes trombonist Ilmari Pohjola, cellist Osmo Ikonen, guitarist Lasse Sakara, as well as bassist Lasse Lindgren. Oddarrang's debut album Music Illustrated, was awarded the Jazz-Emmy award in 2006. In 2008 he released his first solo album, Inhale Exhale, on Texicalli Records. This is a solo percussion album, where Louhivuori demonstrates his broad abilities. Louhivuori also plays in the bands Ilmiliekki Quartet, Alexi Tuomarila Trio, Joona Toivanen, Olavi Trio and Sun Trio. He has three times been involved in winning the Nordic Jazz Comets competitions in: Joona Toivanen trio in 2000, Ilmiliekki Quartet in 2002, and Sun Trio in 2006. In addition, he has played with, among others, UMO Jazz OrchestraTomasz Stanko, Jon Balke, Marilyn Crispell, Teppo Hauta-aho, Jukka Perko, Sakari Kukko and M. A. Numminen.
