Bjorn Wennas

Praise

"His beautiful tone, which lends itself to his beautiful melodies, as well as his talent, warm personality and skills as a guitarist and composer are wonderful assets to be shared with the world." - JOHN DAMIAN, JAZZ GUITARIST ...his dark-toned, electric lines surge forward with capacious voicings and probing chord progressions. ...Wennas conveys a mature vision during the preponderance of these craftily arranged works, awash with subtle surprises and the soloists hearty sojourns. - GLENN ASTARITA, JAZZREVIEW.COM Bjorn Wennas has the chops you’d expect of someone who emigrated from Sweden to study at Berklee with guitar gurus Mick Goodrick and Jon Damian

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Praise

"His beautiful tone, which lends itself to his beautiful melodies, as well as his talent, warm personality and skills as a guitarist and composer are wonderful assets to be shared with the world." - JOHN DAMIAN, JAZZ GUITARIST ...his dark-toned, electric lines surge forward with capacious voicings and probing chord progressions. ...Wennas conveys a mature vision during the preponderance of these craftily arranged works, awash with subtle surprises and the soloists hearty sojourns. - GLENN ASTARITA, JAZZREVIEW.COM Bjorn Wennas has the chops you’d expect of someone who emigrated from Sweden to study at Berklee with guitar gurus Mick Goodrick and Jon Damian. But the emphasis on his second CD is composition and ensemble interplay. The lead-off track, "Song 2," begins with bassist Bruno Raberg belting out a phlegmy ostinato with his bow; he’s soon joined by drummer Ziv Ravitz’s funky backbeat and a zig-zagging boppish unison line voiced by Wennas, trumpeter Phil Grenadier, and singer Carmen Marsico. On the title track, a wandering melody unwinds over a ballad tempo, with Wennas and Grenadier trading background and foreground lines, giving way for a Raberg solo, and then fading on Wennas’s soft-voiced chords. Wennas can also play a slow solo and sustain it, as he does on "L’uomo e la montagna," a sextet number with Michael Reis on piano. Marsico’s vocals don’t even enter until a good six minutes into the eight-and-a-half-minute piece... Wennas’s arrangements are never predictable, and that includes the familiar "Ruby My Dear" (a duo for voice and guitar) and "Lonnie’s Lament." The trio "Nardis" even gets a good walking-four groove going with some dirty rock-guitar tone. - JON GARELICK, BOSTON PHOENIX

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Primary Instrument

Guitar

Location

Boston

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

Teaching Statement Having taught the guitar for many years I have come to realize what works in the teacher/student relationship and what approaches to employ and how to individualize them. I want to make my students excited about the guitar and about music in general. I want them to discover the beauty of the sound of the the guitar and the range of tones and expression you are able to achieve and do so while also focusing on technique and reading

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Primary Instrument

Guitar

Location

Boston

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

Teaching Statement Having taught the guitar for many years I have come to realize what works in the teacher/student relationship and what approaches to employ and how to individualize them. I want to make my students excited about the guitar and about music in general. I want them to discover the beauty of the sound of the the guitar and the range of tones and expression you are able to achieve and do so while also focusing on technique and reading. The instrument is tremendously versatile but also challenging and it requires practice and perhaps different approaches before a student gets to know it. While I have been teaching students of all ages and backgrounds, one thing has alway rung true and that is to find the music and style that resonates with that particular student to reach their goal. I offer lesson at Concord Conservatory in Concord MA, at Brookline Music School in Brookline MA, at Sharon Music Academy in Sharon MA and at my home studio in Jamaica Plain, MA. Please contact me for more information regarding rates and availability.

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