Aleksi Ranta, born in 1980, is a Finnish jazz and rock guitarist, composer and sound artist from Oulu, living in Helsinki, Finland. Ranta is known for his versatile compositions for jazz and pop bands, films and theatre. He combines jazz harmony, experimental sounds and contemporary classical music with electronic elements creating memorable melodies and musical storytelling. In audiovisual and stage productions, Ranta focuses on minimalistic melodies and emotive soundscapes. He works actively in Europe and the US and has received several grants for his international collaborations and performances. He has published jazz, film and theatre music and worked as a guitarist on several rock, pop and jazz albums.

Besides his own music production, Aleksi is also the founder and CEO of the film music production company Nordic Audio & Music Productions Ltd. He makes music for audiovisual projects and soundscapes for installations and business environments. Ranta has collaborated with the biggest advertising agencies and directly with corporations creating commercial music, sound branding and audio identities for companies, like Amazon Alexa, Alko and SEK.

Aleksi began his musical journey by playing violin as a child and later changed to guitar. He started playing classical guitar, entered the Oulu Conservatory and then moved on to professional music and composing studies at the Pop & Jazz Conservatory and Oulu University of Applied Sciences, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Culture and Arts. In 2008, Ranta studied at The Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. He has taken guitar and composition lessons in Europe and the US from teachers such as Raoul Björkenheim, Ola Bengtsson, Joakim Milder, Håkan Goohde, Steve Cardenas and Vesa Valkama.

In 1998-2004, Aleksi played in a metal band called The Black League. They released three albums and two EPs. Since 2010, Ranta has been playing in a German jazz band Flickstick and touring in Germany and Sweden at jazz clubs and festivals like Blue Note, Birdland and Elbjazz Festival. Aleksi works as a guitarist and music producer in different projects, and has been part of ensembles like tango opera Maria de Buenos Aires and The Pohja Military Band.

As the first Finnish composer, Ranta was signed to compose original music for the Scandinavian American Theater Company’s play The Baroness - Isak Dinesen´s Final Affair to New York. His music can be heard also in the films Mercy All The Way and The Law of Nature. Ranta´s melancholic and intimate film music is strongly influenced by the Nordic music heritage executed with instruments like the traditional bowed lyre called jouhikko, accordion and guitar together with analog synthesizers and sample instruments. His music has received great reviews for its simplicity, interpretation and touching approach.

His first jazz album by Aleksi Ranta Group, called Long Lost LJ, was released in 2008, which represents more traditional jazz performed with the acoustic quartet. In 2014, Ranta released a jazz album called Where We Belong, and in 2016 an album called Capricorn Hill, where you can already hear more cinematic songs and modern concepts. The group has been performing in Europe and the United States.

Ranta also works on the project called Comics in Concert together with his cartoonist brother Ville Ranta. Since 2009 the Comics in Concert trio has been taking its combination of music and drawing to festivals, concert halls, art fairs and other public and private events across Finland, Sweden, Germany, England, Switzerland and the United States. It has performed for example in the Finnish Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the comics festival MOCCA in New York and the jazz festival Viapori Jazz in Helsinki.

Currently, Aleksi works at The Finnish Museum of Photography as a sound designer and with his own ensembles and sound art projects.