Maxxxtet
Biography Maxxxtet
Max Zenger
Saxophonist and woodwinds specialist Max Zenger is known for several ensembles, and has become one of the leading jazz musician of his generation in Finland. At present his most active groups are Maxxxtet and Max Zenger Globus.
Zenger was chosen as Turku Jazz Festival Artist of the year 2018 and last summer he was acknowledged as a rising star of 2017 by Pori Jazz Festival. Notable appearances Zenger has made for example as a soloist for the concert series “UMO feat. Max Zenger: West Coast Jazz”.
Zenger has released several albums of his own, and his music is individual and easily recognizable. Zenger graduated from Sibelius Academy in 2018 and performs actively aiming also to international scene.
Tomi Nikku
studies in Sibelius Academy and plays in many Finnish ensembles, such as Mikko Sarvanne Hip Company and Sound Explosion Band. He hails from Imatra, a small town in the Finnish Carelia and there he was exposed to the wonders of jazz music at the legendary Imatra Big Band Festival. Tomi also likes ice hockey and in the summertime, if he's not playing jazz on stage, you may find him cycling around in the sun.
Eero Tikkanen
(b. 1987) has become a sought-after bass player in the field of Finnish jazz. The versatility of the young bassist stretches from danceable groove to projects of free jazz. He is known as a charismatic and expressive live performer.
Currently, Tikkanen plays in the ranks of such groups as Mopo, The Mystic Revelation of Teppo Repo, Mikko Innanen 10+, Ville Vokkolainen & Kusipäät and Magnetia Orkesteri and in the band of folk artist Joose Keskitalo. In addition to his career as a jazz artist, Tikkanen is the driving force behind Keuruu Music Camp for children and youngsters and the joint festival, Soiton paikka.
Jonatan Sarikoski
(b. 1990) is definitely one of the most promising talents on the field of Finnish jazz and has despite of his young age had time to establish himself among the Finnish musicians. Sarikoski started his music studies in 1997 at the Pop & Jazz Conservatory in Helsinki after playing drums only for a year. In 2004 he started at the junior academy of Sibelius Academy. Sarikoski knows widely different music styles from traditional big band jazz to fusion music. Since 2006 he has worked as freelancer in various projects. In recent years he has been busy with Artturi Rönkä Quartet (later known as AR Quartet), that won the Finnish contest of the Young Nordic Jazz Comets competition in 2012, and with Quartester that won the same contest in 2009. Sarikoski has also featured pianist Iiro Rantala's Lost Heroes -project, and performed with UMO Jazz Orchestra.
