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Cecilia Wennerstrom
Cecilia Wennerström is a saxophone player, composer and arranger, educated at the music academies in Malmoe and Gothenburg. She was born in 1947 and lives in Stockholm, Sweden.
In 2013 she released her fourth solo CD "Lydian Mars" with a rhythm section containing Maria Kvist(p), Filip Augustson(b) and Jonas Holgersson(dr). The band on the recording session then formed Cecilia Wennerström New Quartet with Chris Montgomery replacing Holgersson on drums.
Other groups where Cecilia is a member are Wennerstrom Larsson Explicity (with her husband Sven Larsson) who released their first CD Tussilago in September 2011, and the octet LARS 8 which plays compositions by Lars Gullin and other Swedish jazz icons.
Below is some history:
SALAMANDER
From 1979-91 she was the leader of Salamander, a jazz group that toured a lot in Sweden and Europe on festivals and clubs. Salamander made its debut 1981 at the Women's Jazz Festival in Kansas City, USA, and the concert made the late jazz critic Leonard Feather write an article about the group, something which hadn't happened to a Swedish group since Åke Hasselgård. The same year Salamander played at the North Sea Jazz Festival with such a success that the band was engaged for an extra concert the next day, and later on for the next year as well. Salamander continued playing at major Jazz festivals in Europe for some years, and released 4 LPs, mostly on Dragon.
MARIE SELANDER/SNOW
In 1990 she started working with the talented singer and voice art performer Marie Selander in several creative and exciting projects, like for instance Maries composition “Blåst-Tuuli-Wind” that was performed in Kallio-Kuninkala Festival, Finland, 1996. In june 1999 the project toured to Wales. The cooperation with Marie continued in the jazz/world music group SNOW, which also includes the gifted drummer and composer Lise-Lotte Norelius. SNOW made its Swedish festival debut at the Umeå Folk Music Festival in 1997 and toured in the Faroe Islands in 1998.
BIG BANDS
>For several years (2004-2008) she played baritone saxophone with legendary Gugge Hedrenius Big Blues Band and also in Gugges 18 piece band Gugge Hedrenius Rhytm & Blues Jazz Orchestra which opened the Stockholm Jazz Festival 2005 and played at the Kristianstad Jazz festival 2006.
>The all nordic women big band April Light Orchestra had Wennerström as a member 1994-96 when the band toured in Denmark, Sweden and China, and also in 2000 when touring in Finland.
>For some years, starting with 1994, she played baritone saxophone with the internationally known Swedish tenor saxophone player Nisse Sandström's 10-piece band which played transcriptions of Miles Davis/Gil Evans tuba band music.
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Take Five With Cecilia Wennerstrom
by Cecilia Wennerstrom
Meet Cecilia Wennerstrom:Cecilia Wennerstrom is a Swedish saxophonist who has received several awards by the Swedish Arts Grants Committee. During the '80s, she led the band Salamander and released several albums on Dragon Records. During the '90s, she led her own quartet and released records through Four Leaf Clover. Recently she formed Wela Records/Plugged. Instrument(s):Tenor and baritone saxophones, alto flute and flute.Teachers and/or influences?Ove Johansson, Helge Albin, Nisse Sandstrom, Bernt ...
read moreCecilia Wennestr: Minor Stomp
by Jack Bowers
Minor Stomp, major talent. Women seem to be taking to the baritone sax these days like rice to krispies, and Sweden’s Cecilia Wennerström is well–nigh as impressive as any player one can name, male or female. Wennerström (born 1947) is no young lioness; she spent years paying her dues, first as a singer and pianist before moving to tenor sax and later to baritone. The experience has served her well, and is conspicuous on almost every note or phrase she ...
read moreCecilia Wennerstrom releases CD in her new band Explicity
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Cecilia Wennerstrom
Cecilia Wennerstrom has started the free jazz project Wennerström Larsson Explicity together with her husband Sven Larsson. Sven played with Rolf Ericson in the 60s and 70s, with Sender Freies Berlin Big Band in the 70s and then as a regular member of the Swedish Radio Jazz Group until the mid-80s. He has been the first-call bass trombonist in Sweden for nearly forty years. Both Sven and Cecilia have been recording for Four Leaf Clover but now have their own ...
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”Barytone saxofone player Cecilia Wennerström made an introduction to ”Soul Shoutin’” that literally made the audience loose its breath. Here she really got the opportunity to show her high standard. ...” Kjell Stockhaus, Nerikes Allehanda 05/11/2006
” ... In this 18 piece band, moreover, are a bunch of splendid soloists, like Bosse Broberg, Lars Lindgren, Hector Bingert, Cecilia Wennerström. Johan Hörlén and Dicken Hedrenius.” DIG-Music Gunnar Holmberg 07/21/2005
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Photos
Music
Reflection
From: Lydian MarsBy Cecilia Wennerstrom
Second Opening
From: TussilagoBy Cecilia Wennerstrom