Born: April 16t, 1958 in Halmstad, Sweden. Ulf Wakenius. A jazz guitarist extraordinaire acclaimed and celebrated all over the world. Between 1997 and 2007 Ulf held what may have been the most prestigious spot in jazz for a guitarist: a chair in the Oscar Peterson Quartet.This was the coronation of a career which included many record-breaking moments.Wakenius guitar duo Guitars Unlimited rocked Scandinavia in the early 80s, culminating in the 1985 Melody Grand Prix, which was seen by 600 million viewers, probably the largest audience a jazz guitar duo ever had. Shortly after that Wakenius started a extremely successful and long-lasting collaboration with the legendary bass player Niels-Henning Örsted Pedersen.( NHOP), and both of his duo albums with bass icon Ray Brown, topped the US Jazz Charts.The last few years he's been touriing the world with the amazing Korean singer Youn Sun Nah.
Oscar Peterson has publicly described Ulf as one of the greatest guitarists alive in the world today and many of today’s most acclaimed jazz guitarists are among Ulf’s fans, including Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin, John Scofield and Mike Stern. Great Rhythmic feel combines with a extraordinary lyrical touch- his emphasis is always on melodies and groove. He has been filmed by Clint Eastwood. His next release on ACT will be Ulf Wakenius-Solo "Momento Magico"
Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Mike Brecker, Jack DeJohnette, Joe Henderson, Ray Brown, Michel Legrand, Jim Hall, Max Roach, Milt Jackson,NHOP, Randy Brecker Phil Woods, Kenny Kirkland, Bill Evans, Johnny Griffin, Benny Golson, Toots Thielemans, Monica Zetterlund, Steve Swallow, Art Farmer, Clark Terry, Jimmy Cobb, Joey DeFrancesco, Bobby Hutcherson, James Moody, Bob Berg, Niels Lan Doky, Christian Mcbride, Dennis Chambers, Alvin Queen, Curtis Stigers, Larry Coryell, Philip Catherine, Dave Liebman, Chris Potter, Steve Coleman,Albert Mangelsdorff, Peter Erskine, Terri Lyn Carrington, Gary Thomas, Billy Hart, Jon Christensen, Svend Asmussen, Kirk Lightsey, Mullgrew Miller, Geoffrey Keezer, Jeff"Tain"Watts,Trilok Gurtu, Jon Faddis, Ed Thigpen, Paolo Fresu, Palle Danielsson, ,Sheila E, Adam Nussbaum, Martin Taylor, Babik Reinhardt, Angelo Debarre, Nguyen Le, Alex Acuna, John Pisano, Christian Escoude, Stefano De Battista, Sivuca, Airto Moireria, Flora Purim, Nils Landgren,Alex Riel.Minh Doky Lars Danielsson, Till Brönner, Buster Williams, Danny Richmond, Billy Hart, Joey Calderazzo, Magnus Öström, Dan Berglund, Tommy Smith, Steve Rodby, Paul Vertico, Danny Gottlieb, Gregory Hutchinson, Wolfgang Haffner, Radio String Quartet Vienna, Tommy Smith,Danny Richmond, Joe Labarbera Arild Andersen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Haakon Graf -Grafitti, Rick Margitza, Red Mitchell, Lars Jansson, Caecilie Nörby, Ed Shaugnessy, Kenny Drew, Georg "Jojje" Wadenius, Rune Gustafsson, Lisa Nilsson, Sinne Eeg, Jan Lundgren,Jeff Hamilton, John Clayton, Viktoria Tolstoy, Zbignew Namyslowski, Ira Coleman, Dave Young, Eric Alexander, Claire Martin, Jeff Healey, Blues Brothers Band Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michel Legrand.
Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall, National Theater of Korea, Theatre Chatelet De Paris,
Weiner Musikverein, Teatro Colon-Buenos Aires.G20-meeting in Seoul with Barack Obama Tokyo Forum Hall, Palais Des Congres
Some of the greatest Jazzfestivals in the world such as:
Montreaux International Jazzfestival,
Montreal International Jazzfestival,
Northsea Jazzfestival, Jazz a Vienne,
Marciac Jazzfestival, Monterey-California, New York Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazzfestival, Cinq Continents Festival-Marseille, Berlin Jazzfestival, San Sebastian Jazzfestival, Umbria Jazzfestival, London Jazz festival, Paris Jazz Festival, Jarasum Jazzfestival-Korea
Festival-Django Reinhardt-Samois,
Pori Jazzfestival
Blue Note-New York, Blue Note-Tokyo, Blue Note-Osaka Blue Note-Nagoya, Birdland-New York, Yoshis-San Francisco Yoshis-Oakland, Baked Potato-Los Angeles, Ronnie Scotts-London, New Morning-Paris.
Clint Eastwood, Dustin Hoffman, President Barack Obama, President Bill Clinton, Queen Elisabeth of England, President Nicolas Sarkozy Of France, Danish Queen-Margrethe II of Denmark, Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, Alicia Keyes, Tony Bennet, Wayne Gretsky, Keith Jarrett a.o.
"Swedish Guitar Genius"-Downbeat
"Superb European artist"
-Los Angeles Times
" With the Signature Edition 2(ACT), Wakenius is positioned as one of contemporary jazz`s most imaginative
intepreters"
-All About Jazz
"Wakenius gives the melodies a clarity sometimes obscured in the original versions.Lovely!"
-BBC
"Ulf Wakenius played gorgeus liquid solos at Carnegie Hall"
-New York Times
"He plays the guitar like he was born with it already in his hands"
-John McLaughlin
..."Just great!"
-Pat Metheny
"So you are the badboy everybodys talking about"
-Larry Carlton
"Spectacular! Unbelieveable!
-Allan Holdsworth
"I heard you with Ray Brown, you sounded great!"
-John Scofield
"Humongous chops"
-Pat Martino
Pat Metheny Ulf Wakenius Bright Size Life
Pat Metheny & Ulf Wakenius - Angel Eyes
Ulf Wakenius Project ft Michael Brecker & Ray Brown
Oscar Peterson Quartet-A Night In Vienna
Mike Brecker-Ulf Wakenius-Christian Mcbride-Benny Green -Alvin Queen
with Joey DeFrancesco & Bobby Hutcherson
With Youn Sun Nah
With Youn Sun Nah
with Toots Thielemans-Milt Jackson-Benny Golson-Art farmer-Kenny Kirkland-NHOP and Jonas Johansen.
With NHOP