Juhani Aaltonen, who started his musical career in the late 1950s, has been a big idol and role model for about every younger Finnish saxophone player. In the 1960s he played with the modernists of the time, ao. with Edward Vesala, Otto Donner, Heikki Sarmanto and Seppo "Baron" Paakkunainen. In 1968 he received the Georgie Award from The Finnish Jazz Federation. In early 1970s Aaltonen joined Tasavallan Presidentti (The President of the Republic), a legendary (jazz)rock group led by the guitarist Jukka Tolonen.
