Ulf Wakenius

An adept Swedish guitarist with a lithe, supple style, Ulf Wakenius can play a broad range of music, but is best known for his straight-ahead and post-bop jazz work. Born in April 1958 in Halmstad, Sweden and raised in Gothenburg, Wakenius played guitar from early childhood. At first self-taught, he later studied at the Gothenburg Conservatoire. Initially interested in contemporary blues, he later moved into jazz. By his late teens he was already known as a session musician, and in the mid- to late '70s he was a member of the Swedish bands Sundance and <a href="spotify:artist:2ZXsyERInE352Vgr9RgWys">Mwendo Dawa</a>. He later toured Europe, and in the early '80s he and fellow guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2fAf7kEtZQCe5EI6I0Xx7H">Peter Almqvist</a> formed Guitars Unlimited, recording Introducing Guitars Unlimited Duo (1983) and Acoustic Shokk (1985). Wakenius also recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:52by2zEnqIhLTfdC3x7GMp">Svend Asmussen</a> and visited South America, playing concerts and recording.

In these years, he also began working with bass player <a href="spotify:artist:673nUEedXxOIdNlPvxXLiM">Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen</a>, establishing a strong working relationship that lasted until <a href="spotify:artist:673nUEedXxOIdNlPvxXLiM">Ørsted Pedersen</a>'s death in 2005. In the early '90s, Wakenius was a member of <a href="spotify:artist:3jfDWMrHkdkAQpOCjpChLr">Grafitti</a> with drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5tdGXBxRVers4lWxUqRMzn">Dennis Chambers</a>, bass player <a href="spotify:artist:36g0eIDHcoDONDSEXHxWTv">Gary Grainger</a>, and keyboard player <a href="spotify:artist:0l9blzILUfmomUSuHqrMOb">Haakon Graf</a>, recording 1992's Good Groove. Among many other jazz musicians with whom Wakenius has worked and sometimes recorded are <a href="spotify:artist:4L9xEztn5PKQIO5WnI5W3u">Art Farmer</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ZvrvbQNrHKwjT7qfGFFUW">Herbie Hancock</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3BG0nwVh3Gc7cuT4XdsLtt">Joe Henderson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:62xdwGEOLoGQxKUqoJusyU">Clark Terry</a>, to name a few.

Wakenius has also led his own bands, notably a strong group featuring <a href="spotify:artist:5WebagAP4zctj6dWhmRsLL">Chris Minh Doky</a> and his brother <a href="spotify:artist:4aRjcECzLWpoxbzYFaevhV">Niels Lan Doky</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3Rsba5XTDhxUyjK4sn1wBj">Randy Brecker</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7c9O0hfRy2u32JVcWhoope">Lars Danielsson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1gqL9JWgVW2O87KbYWPNbC">Bob Berg</a>, saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:2PyoC81N6Uz8xs5Lzaquje">Bill Evans</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7rDjbKTLlpNYJRWMm7QVxU">Jack DeJohnette</a> that released the album Venture on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22L%2BR+Records%22">L+R Records</a> in 1992. He also led the Stellar Quintet, which included <a href="spotify:artist:5IkynsVZoak9UR2Xt8qsMj">Michael Brecker</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0SvD7DL5CQTbcrMtns1US8">Ray Brown</a>, and began working with <a href="spotify:artist:0SvD7DL5CQTbcrMtns1US8">Brown</a> on recordings such as Seven Steps to Heaven (1995) and Summertime (1997).

In 1997, Wakenius joined <a href="spotify:artist:6zkX5fhrSD4tdVOmimR9wB">Oscar Peterson</a>'s quartet, touring internationally with the pianist and appearing on the following year's A Summer Night in Munich. This particular edition of the pianist's group also included <a href="spotify:artist:673nUEedXxOIdNlPvxXLiM">Ørsted Pedersen</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:4ZwlnCVxfSbJ7NmDnyXAXN">Martin Drew</a>. That same year, he also delivered his own Dig In, featuring pianist <a href="spotify:artist:6GNtC9yclahZUAPQk1e1jW">Gösta Rundqvist</a>, bassist Yasuhito Mori, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:0RVIjBy5V2f953YUmsSJ1X">Jukkis Uotila</a>.

Following the turn of the millennium, Wakenius has stayed active delivering a number of efforts for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ACT%22">ACT</a> label, including the 2005 <a href="spotify:artist:0F3Aew9DSd6fb6192K1K0Y">Keith Jarrett</a> tribute Notes from the Heart, 2008's Love Is Real, and 2010's Signature Edition 2. He then paired with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:7c9O0hfRy2u32JVcWhoope">Lars Danielsson</a> and accordionist <a href="spotify:artist:2aMYfhweGlfp6qj9r6OGUO">Vincent Peirani</a> for 2012's Vagabond, followed two years later by Momento Magico. In 2017, he joined his son, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:4oX2CX4THaVokQSpz8V9Yg">Eric Wakenius</a>, for the duo album Father & Son. ~ TiVo Staff, Rovi