Tommy Denander
Tommy Denander (born March 10, 1968 in Stockholm ) is a Swedish guitarist and songwriter . By 2005 he had already played on more than 500 albums and almost 3,000 concerts. The best-known artists with whom he worked until then were Carlos Santana , Eric Clapton , Deep Purple , Van Halen , Europe , Michael Landau , Yngwie Malmsteen and Richard Marx .
Career
Growing up in a small town near Stockholm , Tommy Denander became aware of his talent at an early age through his parents, who both play several instruments, and learned guitar and keyboard at the age of five. He was mainly influenced by hard rock bands such as Kiss and Whitesnake as well as other artists such as Larry Carlton .
As a twelve year old Denander gave his first small concerts with friends. He released his first album two years later with the Swedish rock band ATC. Once discovered, he quickly rose to become one of Sweden's most famous artists.
In 1987 Denander moved to Los Angeles for three years , where he first met some of the members of Toto . Although he recorded a few songs at that time, he learned a lot from the artists on the west coast. Among other things, he turned down an offer for a solo debut from a Swedish record company in order to initially be able to continue learning. After his return, Denander worked a lot and was involved in many areas to increase his popularity. In 1993 the body could no longer withstand this stress. Denander suffered a breakdown from which he did not fully recover for years. In 1994 he began work on his debut solo album. After a year of work, he had written so many songs that he released two albums, Less is More and Skeleton . Both records were very successful.
In 1996 Denander was in the studio with Fee Waybill , longtime singer of the band The Tubes, for the album Don't be Scared by These Hands . He then started the most successful project of his career - Radioactive . Right from the beginning of their friendship, all Toto members promised to support him one day with a solo project. Even then, the first songs were recorded. The joint album Ceremony of Innocence was only released in 2001. On this record played Toto members Jeff Porcaro , Mike Porcaro , David Paich , Bobby Kimball , Greg Phillinganes , and former members Steve Porcaro , Fergie Frederiksen , Joseph Williams and others David Hungate with.
In addition, Denander has played in a few other projects in recent years, for example with the bands Sayit and Prisoner. With Sayit he brought in 1999 the eponymous album and two years later the following plate Again out. With the band Prisoner, which he founded in 1997 with some colleagues, he brought out the album Blind (2000). He also released the duet album Counterparts (1998) with longtime friend Bruce Gaitsch , which also featured Bill Champlin , keyboardist and singer from Chicago . In 2003 he had another Radioactive album follow. Yeah turned out to be even more successful than its predecessor, even if Denander got less Toto support this time. He received it again two years later when, in addition to the well-known Radioactive guests, he also gathered Journey guitarist Neal Schon , Yngwie Malmsteen and Michael Landau for the new Radioactive album Taken (released November 11, 2005) in the studio. He was also supported by many of the artists already mentioned for the AOR project , with which Denander has released four albums so far. In 2009 he was a guest musician on the album Cartesian Dreams by House of Lords , and in 2010 he was a member of Dan Reed's tour band on his comeback. In 2017 he played a song on the Deep Purple album Infinite .
Discography (excerpt)
- 1982: Cut In Ice (ATC)
- 1995: Less Is More and Skeleton
- 1996: Don't Be Scared By These Hands ( Fee Waybill )
- 1998: Counterparts (together with Bruce Gaitsch )
- 1999: Sayit (Sayit)
- 2000: Blind (Prisoner)
- 2001: Ceremony Of Innocence ( Radioactive ), Again (Sayit), Hold The Line - The Best of Toto ( Toto )
- 2002: LA Reflection (AOR)
- 2003: Yeah (Radioactive), Dreaming Of LA (AOR)
- 2004: Deacon Street Project (Deacon Street Project), Nothing But The Best (AOR)
- 2005: Taken (Radioactive)
- 2006: Ambition (Ambition), Il (Deacon Street Project), LA Attraction (AOR)
- 2015: F4uR (Radioactive)
Web links
- Works by and about Tommy Denander in the catalog of the German National Library
- Web site Tommy Denander (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Denander, Tommy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swedish guitarist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 10, 1968 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Stockholm |