Avant-garde guitarist and composer and founder of the avant-jazz-rock band Krakatau.

Born in Los Angeles, raised in Helsinki and a one-time resident of New York, Björkenheim has collaborated with a vast array of musicians including bassist Bill Laswell, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and trumpeter Toshinori Kondo. 

Influenced at first by Jimi Hendrix and FRank Zappa, he quickly progressed to John McLaughlin and John Coltrane, finding great inspiration in the highly charged expression of their music. Jazz guitar lessons in New York City whetted his thirst for more knowledge, leading him to study first at the Helsinki Conservatory, then at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, from which he graduated in 1981.

Moving back to Helsinki, he became part of a very active jazz scene and his musical identity began forming in earnest when he came into contact with Edward Vesala in 1982. The drummer and composer was quick to notice the guitarist's promise and went on to feature him on several albums as part of Vesala's band, Sound & Fury.

In 1985, Vesala, Björkenheim and the trombonist Jari Hongisto formed a trio as a satellite of S&F, with a mission to create a fireworks of improvised energy. This band was called Krakatau. After a few concerts, the original trio disbanded, leaving Björkenheim to assemble a group on his own. Varying between a trio and a sextet, Krakatau featured many of Finland's finest improvisors, including Jone Takamäki, Uffe Krokfors and Affe Forsman, and the Canadian Michel Lambert, all of them responsible for the group's great popularity between 1986 and 1996. Two independently produced records opened the way for a series of concerts which confirmed Björkenheim's reputation as a major innovator. Rumour spread into Europe, and in the early 1990s Krakatau recorded two albums for ECM: Volition and Matinale.

In addition to his bandleading ventures, Björkenheim has written music for a number of jazz and symphony orchestras. In 1995, he was commissioned to write a 'guitar symphony' called Apocalypso, a suite for 30 electric guitarists, 8 bass players and 4 percussionists.
His most recent band projects are the Raoul Björkenheim Triad (with drummer Mikko Hassinen and bassist Hannu Rantanen) and the Scorch Trio (with drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten). The latter tours regularly and has released two albums. He has also performed with musicians such as Henry Kaiser.