From 1997 to 2007 Swede Ulf Wakenius had the probably most prestigious job in jazz: guitarist in the Oscar Petersen Quartet. But he had an also very inspiring sideline in working for legendary jazz bassist Niels-Hennig Ørsted Pedersen.

Two albums in collaboration with another great bass player - Ray Brown - even topped the American jazz charts. Wakenius successfully continued his career after becoming an exclusive ACT-artist in 2005. He is one of the greatest virtuosos playing the jazz guitar, famous for his reduced and lyrical approach and gentle, sometimes even bitter-sweet sounds.

After all, he is a great interpret of famous melodies: On his ACT debut “Notes From The Heart“ he deals with composition by Keith Jarrett and on the 2008 album “Love is Real“ (2008) he presents re-arranged songs originally composed by pianist Esbjörn Svensson.

His marked preference for melodies makes Wakenius to a perfect accompanist for singers like Viktoria Tolstoy or Youn Sun Nah. Together with the Korean jazz star Nah, Wakenius constantly tours the world and achieves great success especially in France.

Wakenius most recent album “Vagabond“ was released in January 2012. In collaboration with French accordion player Vincent Peirani and bassist Lars Danielsson, it becomes apparent that globetrotter Wakenius is driven by a curiosity for all sorts of music. From the French “Bretagne” to the Nordic tones of “Psalmen”; from archaic Native American tones of “Witchi-Tai-To” to the Far-Eastern influences present in “Song For Japan”, Wakenius sends the listener musical postcards from all over the world. He even says, “Vagabond” was the best album he has ever made.

Ulf Wakenius on ACT:

“Notes from the Hear” (ACT 9435-2)

”Love is Real” (ACT 9459-2)

“Vagabond” (ACT 9523-2)

”Signature Edition 2” (ACT 6005-2)