JULIEN WILSON TRIO (Australia)

JULIEN WILSON TRIO (Australia)

Line-up:
Julien Wilson – tenor saxophone
Stephen Magnusson – nylon string guitar
Stephen Grant – piano accordion

www.julienwilson.com

‘Australian Jazz Artist of the Year’ (2008 National Bell Jazz Awards) saxophonist Julien Wilson, has been a distinctive voice on the Australian jazz scene for over a decade and has performed in Europe, Japan, China, Mexico and the USA. He has been awarded two of Australia’s most prestigious jazz prizes, Australian Jazz Artist of Year for the 2008 Australian Jazz Awards (‘The Bells’), and the 2006 Freedman Fellowship for Jazz. With their contemporary yet timeless music, the Julien Wilson Trio creates a special, intimate magic with the melancholic sounds of piano accordion, tenor-sax and guitar. Their gentle yet passionate, tango-inflected pieces have a broad emotional scope and are full of haunting nostalgia. Since its formation in 2004 the Julien Wilson Trio has performed many high profile concerts, including three performances at the Sydney Opera House.

Featuring three of Australia’s most accomplished and versatile musicians, they have enchanted and mesmerised audiences wherever they have played. Their unique instrumentation and original compositions draw on many inspirations and influences, incorporating tango, bossa, folk, classical and jazz elements to create an unusual, instantly recognisable sound.

One of the highlights of the Nov'07 Wangaratta Festival of Jazz, Australia's premier jazz event, this is what the critics said:

Review of the 2007 Wangaratta Jazz Festival - Des Cowley, RHYTHMS
“In fact, it was Wilson who provided what may have been the highlight of the Festival when he performed with his Trio in the Holy Trinity Cathedral. The sheer majestic quality of this band’s music is astounding, and, in the vast surroundings of the Cathedral, Wilson’s soaring tenor took on a spiritual quality, reaching all the way back to Coltrane. With an unlikely instrumentation of guitar, accordion and saxophone, the Trio gently added subtle textures to the mix, creating a music that seemed to be full of air and light. Stephen Grant’s accordion floated dreamlike through the space, while Stephen Magnusson’s guitar pierced the veil, intelligent and thoughtful. Solos were few and far between, but when Wilson did set off, his tenor soared to the upper reaches of the Cathedral, filling the church to overflowing. It was a remarkable performance, full of such intimacy and telepathic communion”