Heikki Ruokangas & Associates

Based in Oulu, Finland, Heikki Ruokangas is an innovative guitarist, composer and improviser. By combining melody and noise, his music ranges from melodic atmospheres to avant-garde cacophony. Still in his ‘30s, he’s performed throughout Europe and released over 20 solo and collaborative recordings, including four disparate Right Brain Records albums. Click an image to listen.

Intro to Hunting Gods

Braided Contrasts

Äänisauna

3 in Waiting

The first of those is Äänisauna, a duet project with Anne-Mari Kanniainen. She is an award-winning accordionist and composer whose credits include various ensembles, solo performances, theater and a traveling circus. Their collaboration is an combo of Finnish culture folk roots and free jazz improvisation. Their goal was to create musical landscapes on the spot, using traditional themes to frame freeform exploration in an unlikely bridge between centuries. Heikki and Anne-Mari also contributed the song “Tähtisilmä” to the RBR compilation Guitar Improv Summit Vol. 2.

Heikki’s second RBR release is 3 in Waiting, a trippy jazz trio project with Finnish bassist Jouni Isoherranen and North Carolinian drummer/multi-instrumentalist Landon George. This session came out of an open improvisation session in Oulu in the deep darkness of December 2022.

Heikki and Landon later teamed up on a combustible duo album, Intro to Hunting Gods, which melds the energy of punk rock, the finesse of jazz fusion and the spontaneity of free improvisation into nine dynamic tracks.

Most recently, Heikki joined forces with guitarist Killick Hinds and drummer/flautist Simo Laihonen on a dynamic freeform EP called Braided Contrasts. Killick is a long-established producer, engineer, composer, visual artist and performer, while Simo is a rising talent in Finland’s jazz scene. Having met for the first time at the Oulu Bat Night festival the day before, the trio recorded a wide range of acoustic and electric trios, offering a unique window into a process of raw discovery.