Ulf Wakenius
Encyclopedia
Ulf Wakenius is a Swedish jazz guitarist
. Wakenius was a member of the Oscar Peterson quartet from 1997. He was also a member of the Ray Brown
trio. Ulf Wakenius also plays with his own band, and has recorded many albums.
In the 80s he played with Peter Almqvist
in Guitars Unlimited playing, among other things, during the intermission for 600 million viewers of the Swedish International Finale of the Eurovision Song Contest
in 1986. A stop in Rio de Janeiro
resulted in three records with Sivuca
Let's Vamos, Aquarela Do Brazil and Rendez-Vous in Rio (Sonet 1987).
The cooperation with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen
also started this decade, and they also recorded This Is All I Ask (Verve, 1998) and Those Who Were (Verve, 1996).
His own U.W. Group released Venture (1991) with Jack DeJohnette
on drums, Bill Evans and Bob Berg
on saxes, Randy Brecker
on trumpet, Niels Lan Doky
on piano, Chris Minh Doky
and Lars Danielsson
on bass.
The work with American musicians continued in New York
Meeting with Niels Lan Doky piano, Ira Coleman bass, and Billy Hart
drums.
His Enchanted Moments (Dragon, 1997) was recorded with Lars Jansson
piano, Lars Danielsson, bass and Raymond Karlsson drums.
On Dig In (Sittel, 1997) he plays with Gösta Rundqvist piano, Yasuhito Mori bass and Jukkis Uotila drums.
Live (Dragon), The Guitar Artistry of U.W. (Dragon, 2002).
After that came Tokyo Blue (2003) with Carsten Dahl
piano, Morten Lund
drums and Yasuhito Mori bass; Forever you (Stunt, 2003), with Carsten Dahl, piano, Morten Lund drums and Lars Danielsson bass; and Checkin' In (Megaphon, 2004)
His latest release, Notes from the Heart (ACT, 2005) is a tribute to Keith Jarrett
, with Lund and Johansson.
Wakenius had together with Haakon Graf piano, in the early nineties the group Graffiti with members from the John Scofield
group, Dennis Chambers
drums, Gary Grainger bass.
He appeared on Duke Ellington Swings (Telarc, 1998); with Oscar Peterson he released Summernight in Munich (Telarc, 1999) and Trail of Dreams with Oscar Peterson and Michel Legrand
(Telarc, 2000).
With Ray Brown
he played on Summertime (1998) and Seven Steps to Heaven (1999), as well as Some of My Best Friends Are Guitar Players (Telarc, 2001).
With Pat Metheny
he played Jazz Baltica
2003.
In Norway he has played with Hot Club de Norvège
and Vertavo-quartet (Hot Club Records
, 2005), and also participated on the record Guitaresque on Hot Club Records
with Jon Larsen
, Stian Mevik, Jimmy Rosenberg
and others. Other contributions has been on Lisa Nilsson
s Små rum (2001), Cæcilie Norby
s First Conversations (2002), as well as recordings by Viktoria Tolstoy
and Esbjörn Svensson
.
2006 he toured with his show In the Spirit of Oscar with Kjell Öhman on piano, Hans Backenroth on bass and Jocke Ekberg on drums.
Jazz guitarist
Jazz guitarists are guitar players who play jazz music on the guitar using an approach to playing chords, melodies, and improvised solo lines which is called jazz guitar playing. The guitar has fulfilled the roles of accompanist and soloist in small and large ensembles and also as an unaccompanied...
. Wakenius was a member of the Oscar Peterson quartet from 1997. He was also a member of the Ray Brown
Ray Brown (musician)
Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
trio. Ulf Wakenius also plays with his own band, and has recorded many albums.
In the 80s he played with Peter Almqvist
Peter Almqvist
Peter Almqvist Born in Lund, Sweden 17 July 1957. Peter started to play guitar in his early teens. His father was a jazz guitar fan and encouraged his son to listen to his recordings of Wes Montgomery, Tal Farlow, Jim Hall and Barney Kessel. Whilst in high school Peter decided to make music and the...
in Guitars Unlimited playing, among other things, during the intermission for 600 million viewers of the Swedish International Finale of the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
in 1986. A stop in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
resulted in three records with Sivuca
Sivuca
Severino Dias de Oliveirawas a Brazilian accordionist and guitarist.In addition to in his home state of Paraíba, in Recife, and in Rio de Janeiro,...
Let's Vamos, Aquarela Do Brazil and Rendez-Vous in Rio (Sonet 1987).
The cooperation with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen
- Discography :* My Name Is Albert Ayler 1963 * Kirk in Copenhagen 1963 * Ben Webster in Denmark 1965-1971 Live at Danish Radio studios, Jazzhus Montmartre and Odd Fellow Palæet - Universal Music Denmark*One Flight Up 1964 *Sunday Walk 1969 - Discography :* My Name Is Albert Ayler 1963 (with...
also started this decade, and they also recorded This Is All I Ask (Verve, 1998) and Those Who Were (Verve, 1996).
His own U.W. Group released Venture (1991) with Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
on drums, Bill Evans and Bob Berg
Bob Berg
Bob Berg was a jazz saxophonist originally from Brooklyn, New York City. He started his musical education at the age of six when he began studying classical piano. He began playing the saxophone at the age of thirteen. Bob Berg was a Juilliard graduate influenced heavily by the late 1964–67 period...
on saxes, Randy Brecker
Randy Brecker
Randal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...
on trumpet, Niels Lan Doky
Niels Lan Doky
Niels Lan Doky is a Danish jazz pianist and record producer.-Biography:He was born in Copenhagen of a Danish mother and Vietnamese father. His father worked as a doctor, but was also a classically trained guitarist so guitar was Niels's first instrument...
on piano, Chris Minh Doky
Chris Minh Doky
Chris Minh Doky is a Vietnamese-Danish bassist living in Copenhagen and New York City. Though Doky has worked in many genres, his main area of music is jazz...
and Lars Danielsson
Lars Danielsson
Lars Danielsson is a Swedish jazz bassist, composer and record producer.-Biography:Lars Danielsson was educated at the Music Conservatory in Gothenburg. He plays double bass, electric bass and cello...
on bass.
The work with American musicians continued in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Meeting with Niels Lan Doky piano, Ira Coleman bass, and Billy Hart
Billy Hart
William "Billy" Hart is a jazz drummer and educator who has performed with some of the most important jazz musicians in history.-Biography:Early on Hart performed in Washington, D.C...
drums.
His Enchanted Moments (Dragon, 1997) was recorded with Lars Jansson
Lars Jansson
Lars Jansson was a Finnish author and cartoonist. A native of Helsinki, Jansson was the son of the sculptor, Viktor Jansson, and the illustrator, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson. His siblings included an older sister, writer Tove Jansson, and an older brother, Per Olof Jansson...
piano, Lars Danielsson, bass and Raymond Karlsson drums.
On Dig In (Sittel, 1997) he plays with Gösta Rundqvist piano, Yasuhito Mori bass and Jukkis Uotila drums.
Live (Dragon), The Guitar Artistry of U.W. (Dragon, 2002).
After that came Tokyo Blue (2003) with Carsten Dahl
Carsten Dahl
Carsten Dahl is a Danish Jazz pianist. "Dahl is a truly great pianist" Chris Mosey said, in his All About Jazz review of Dahl's CD In Our Own Sweet Way released in 2009 with Alex Riel and Mads Vinding.-Biography:...
piano, Morten Lund
Morten Lund
Morten Lund, is an entrepreneur from Copenhagen, Denmark. Along with Soren Kenner, Lund is founder and managing partner of LundKenner, a venture capital firm focusing on technology ventures...
drums and Yasuhito Mori bass; Forever you (Stunt, 2003), with Carsten Dahl, piano, Morten Lund drums and Lars Danielsson bass; and Checkin' In (Megaphon, 2004)
His latest release, Notes from the Heart (ACT, 2005) is a tribute to Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
, with Lund and Johansson.
Wakenius had together with Haakon Graf piano, in the early nineties the group Graffiti with members from the John Scofield
John Scofield
John Scofield , often referred to as "Sco," is an American jazz guitarist and composer, who has played and collaborated with Miles Davis, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Joey Defrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Mavis Staples, Phil Lesh, Billy Cobham,...
group, Dennis Chambers
Dennis Chambers
Dennis Chambers is an American drummer who has recorded and performed with John Scofield, George Duke, Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, Greg Howe, and many others. Despite a lack of formal training, Chambers has become well known among...
drums, Gary Grainger bass.
He appeared on Duke Ellington Swings (Telarc, 1998); with Oscar Peterson he released Summernight in Munich (Telarc, 1999) and Trail of Dreams with Oscar Peterson and Michel Legrand
Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
(Telarc, 2000).
With Ray Brown
Ray Brown (musician)
Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
he played on Summertime (1998) and Seven Steps to Heaven (1999), as well as Some of My Best Friends Are Guitar Players (Telarc, 2001).
With Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
he played Jazz Baltica
Jazz Baltica
Jazz Baltica is an intimate jazz festival held each summer in Schloss Salzau close to Kiel, Germany, and the coast of the Baltic Sea. It differs from most other festivals in its intimacy and the access that visitors have to the musicians...
2003.
In Norway he has played with Hot Club de Norvège
Hot Club de Norvège
Hot Club de Norvège is a string Jazz quartet from Norway, established in 1979, by guitar player Jon Larsen with childhood friends Per Frydenlund and Svein Aarbostad...
and Vertavo-quartet (Hot Club Records
Hot Club Records
Hot Club Records is a Record company established 1982, by guitar player Jon Larsen. More than 350 released CDs, DVDs and books, mostly jazz related.Some artists on Hot Club Records: Chet Baker, Philip Catherine, Warne Marsh, and the poet Jan Erik Vold....
, 2005), and also participated on the record Guitaresque on Hot Club Records
Hot Club Records
Hot Club Records is a Record company established 1982, by guitar player Jon Larsen. More than 350 released CDs, DVDs and books, mostly jazz related.Some artists on Hot Club Records: Chet Baker, Philip Catherine, Warne Marsh, and the poet Jan Erik Vold....
with Jon Larsen
Jon Larsen
Jon Larsen is an autodidact guitarist, composer, surrealistic painter, and record producer with heavy influence on the revival of Gypsy jazz worldwide...
, Stian Mevik, Jimmy Rosenberg
Jimmy Rosenberg
Joseph Rosenberg is a Sinto-Romani guitarist from Netherlands, known for his virtuoso playing of Gypsy jazz and other related styles....
and others. Other contributions has been on Lisa Nilsson
Lisa Nilsson
Lisa Nilsson is a Swedish singer. She was discovered by the legendary producer William Butt and she is perhaps best known in Sweden for her 1992 hit, Himlen runt hörnet, witten by Mauro Scocco and Johan Ekelund. It was released in English in 1995, titled Ticket to Heaven...
s Små rum (2001), Cæcilie Norby
Cæcilie Norby
Cæcilie Norby is a Danish jazz and rock singer. She was born in Frederiksberg into a musical family. Her father is composer Erik Norby, and her mother is an opera singer. In 1985 she had her first commercial success as a singer of the jazz / rock band Frontline...
s First Conversations (2002), as well as recordings by Viktoria Tolstoy
Viktoria Tolstoy
Louise Viktoria Tolstoy is a Swedish jazz singer. She is the daughter of Erik Kjellberg, and the great-great-granddaughter of writer Leo Tolstoy.- Discography :...
and Esbjörn Svensson
Esbjörn Svensson
Esbjörn Svensson was a jazz pianist and founder of the jazz group Esbjörn Svensson Trio, commonly known as E.S.T...
.
2006 he toured with his show In the Spirit of Oscar with Kjell Öhman on piano, Hans Backenroth on bass and Jocke Ekberg on drums.
External links
- Ulf Wakenius official webpage
- Ulf Wakenius MySpace
- Swedish ASCAP website
- Guitar lesson by Ulf with presentation
- [ Ulf Wakenius at Allmusic]