Ulf Wakenius
Ulf Wakenius (born April 16, 1958 in Halmstad , Sweden ) is a Swedish jazz guitarist and composer.
Live and act
Wakenius was initially enthusiastic about blues and rock guitarists. In an interview, Wakenius attributes his transition to jazz to listening to John McLaughlin in his Mahavishnu Orchestra . In the 1980s he played with Peter Almqvist in Guitars Unlimited and represented Sweden at the 1985 Melody Grand Prix with him . The album Let's Vamos (Sonet) with the Brazilian accordionist Sivuca was created in 1987 from a stay in Rio de Janeiro . Around this time he started working with the Danish bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen , with whom he released several records on Verve ( This is all I ask , 1998, Those who were , 1996). In the early 1990s he recorded with his own Ulf Wakenius Group (including trumpeter Randy Brecker and drummer Jack DeJohnette ). Over time he played with numerous jazz musicians such as Steve Coleman , Gary Thomas , Herbie Hancock , Roy Hargrove , Milt Jackson , Joe Henderson , Art Farmer , Toots Thielemans , Dennis Chambers . At JazzBaltica 2003 he played with Pat Metheny .
From 1997 he was a member of Oscar Peterson's quartet ( Summernight in Munich , Telarc, 1999, Trail of Dreams , Telarc 2000 with Michel Legrand ). With the trio of his former bassist Ray Brown he recorded several albums: Summertime (1998), Seven steps to heaven (1999) and Some of my best friends are guitarplayers (Telarc, 2001, besides Wakenius also Herb Ellis , John Pizzarelli , Russell Malone , Kenny Burrell ; he can also be heard with Brown's Trio on a Duke Ellington tribute record Duke Ellington Swings , Telarc 1999, with Brown's Trio).
In 2005 he received the Swedish Jazz Prize Django d'Or .
Discography (selection)
As a leader:
- Venture (1991) with Jack DeJohnette, Bill Evans , Bob Berg , Randy Brecker, Niels Lan Doky , Chris Minh Doky , Lars Danielsson
- Enchanted Moments ( Dragon Records , 1997) with Lars Jansson , piano, Lars Danielsson, bass, Raymond Karlsson , drums
- Dig In (Sittel, 1997) with Gösta Rundqvist , piano, Yasuhito Mori , bass, Jukkis Uotila , drums
- The Guitar Artistry of Ulf Wakenius (Dragon, 2002)
- Tokyo Blue (Spice of Life, 2003) (with Carsten Dahl piano, Morten Lund drums, Yasuhito Mori bass)
- Forever You (Stunt, 2003) (acoustic guitar, with Carsten Dahl, Morten Lund , Lars Danielsson, the latter also cello)
- Checkin 'In (megaphone, 2004)
- Notes from the Heart - the Music of Keith Jarrett (ACT, 2005) (acoustic guitar, with Morten Lund, Lars Danielsson, the latter also plays piano)
- Vagabond (ACT, 2012) (with Lars Danielsson and Vincent Peirani )
- Momento Magico (ACT, 2014)
Web links
- Website
- Ulf Wakenius at Discogs (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wakenius, Ulf |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swedish jazz guitarist and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 16, 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Halmstad , Sweden |