Pekka Pohjola

by Gary Hill
Finnish born Pekka Pohjola got his first true acclaim as the bassist for the band Wigwam. Born in 1952, Pohjola had actually started his rock career in a band called the Boys, after having eschewed an education in classical violin and piano from the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki. The year he joined Wigwam was 1970 and he remained with them until 1974. He also worked with the Jukka Tolonen Band before forming his own band, the Group, in 1977. He has released a number of solo albums over the years, in addition to work with the Group. To add to the confusion, the Group eventually dropped that moniker, just using &Pekka Pohjola& as their name, making it sometimes difficult to differentiate between band offerings and solo albums.