Esko Heikkinen

Born July 4th, 1953. Esko Heikkinen is a Finnish trumpeter, composer, conductor and arranger.

Esko Heikkinen started his trumpet studies at the department of military music at the Sibelius Academy in 1973 and worked as the voiceleader of the Guards Band the same time as he first appeared to the Finnish jazz scene. The trumpeter played in Espoo Big Band and especially in UMO Jazz Orchestra where Heikkinen started already in 1976. He also played as sideman in the octet of Jukka Linkola and on albums Mau Mau and Lumi by Edward Vesala. In 1980s Heikkinen played also actively as a studiomusician with rockmusicians, like Hector, Tuomari Nurmio and Sielun Veljet. In 1990 Heikkinen formed his own band, Super Brass. The group offered a diverse setting of brass arrangements from jazzstandards to film music. Although Super Brass was a project-based band, it has been performing over 15 years. The main job for Heikkinen in 1990s was however to play the lead trumpet in the trumpet section of UMO Jazz Orchestra. Heikkinen's early love for the wind instrument music stayed strong all the time and he had time, besides his work at UMO, to work as the conductor of the Helsinki Fire Brigade Orchestra. In 2002 Heikkinen left UMO and started to conduct the professionally working Helsinki Police Band full time. In 1998 Heikkinen was chosen as the Jazz Musician of the Year and received the Georgie, Yrjö, Award. He currently conducts the Helsinki Fire Brigade Band and teaches the trumpet at the Sibelius-Academy's jazz department.