ULF WAKENIUS - T. MATCH - L. CORRADI : TRIBUTE TO WES MONTGOMERY

ULF WAKENIUS

Born: April 16t, 1958 in Halmstad, Sweden. Ulf Wakenius. 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.                 

 

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 Nilssons Små rum (2001), Cæcilie Norbys 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 Joakim Ekberg on drums.

 

LEONARDO CORRADI

 "A Jimmy Smith under Steroids" dixit Fred Wesley! Corradi has already shared the stage with Antonio Sanchez, Dave Liebman, Kurt Rosenwinckel,Rick Margitza, Jessie Davis, Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis just to name a few…voted "Best Hammond Player" in 2010 by JAZZIT magazine (Italia) At 20-years old he recorded his first album with Peter Bernstein! Leonardo is already the Futur of the Hammond Organ

 

TONY MATCH

is not just a French drummer; he is also MD & Music Producer. For over 15 years he worked with the cream of world-class jazz musicians, both as a music producer or musician and musical director. From Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, Paul Jackson the Headhunter, Richard Galliano to Rick Margitza, Tony is involved in many projects involving jazz, soul and funk icons such as Kurt Elling, Charlie Haden, Ernie Watts and Gonzalo Rubalcaba,Flavio Boltro. He performed with Randy Brecker, Lionel Loueke, composed with Flora Purim just to name a few...Tony Match has composed produced and mixed more than two hundred tracks on major & leading independent labels, including album for Deutsche Grammophon, Universal.