Julien Wilson is the recipient of the 2006 Music Council of Australia / Freedman Fellowship for Jazz. The funds from the Fellowship enabled him to travel to Europe and New York. In November his trio performed 14 shows in Europe, including two sold out performances at the Berlin Jazz Festival. Wilson and Magnusson then spent a month in New York writing and recording an album with Jim Black, Mark Helias & Barney McAll.
In addition to composing for and running his own trio and quartet, Julien co-leads assumptions and Snag , and is a regular member of The Australian Art Orchestra , Ishish , Rumberos, Murphys Law , the Black Arm Band , The Bennetts Lane Big Band , Twelve Tone Diamonds , Nashua Lee's Rabid Hawke, Los Cabrones and the Jex Saarelaht Quartet.
Julien's debut album, while you were sleeping, was a finalist for Best Australian Contemporary Jazz Album in 2007 and was nominated for an ARIA for Best Jazz Album. The CD features a wide variety of Julien's original compositions performed by his trio & quartet, and includes a live DVD featuring his trio. His second album, Julien Wilson Trio - Live was released at the end of 2007. Both CD's are available in ABC shops, JB Hi-Fi stores and Leading Edge retailers through SoundVault Records
BACKGROUND
Born in Australia, Julien attended primary school in New Zealand & Scotland but discovered the saxophone in Australia at high school. In 1994, after graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts, he was awarded the National Jazz Award at Wangaratta Jazz Festival . He has performed at many of Australia's major festivals and toured in Europe, China, Mexico, North America, Japan & New Zealand, including appearances at the Umbria, Pori, Copenhagen, Berlin and Montreux Jazz Festivals.
Julien spent much of the late 90's living and working in Europe with the multi-national Swiss-based band, Snag, who received Swiss Government Arts grants for recording and touring from Pop Kredit and The Swiss Diagonal Organisation. He then completed graduate studies in the USA on scholarships from New England Conservatory, The Australia Council and The Ian Potter Foundation, where he studied extensively with George Russell, Paul Bley, Jerry Bergonzi & George Garzone, as well as performing and touring with the Bob Moses Quartet and the Artie Shaw Orchestra.
Juliens personal sound, and wide emotional, sonic and stylistic range have enabled him to perform and record with both traditional and modern, experimental and popular artists as diverse as Mike Nock, Thirsty Merc, Augie March, The Hoodangers, Hugh Masekala, Archie Roach, Josh Roseman, Andy Milne, Paul Grabowsky, Julie OHara, Daddy Cool, Alan Browne, Gill Askey, Chris Tanners Virus, Chris Cody, Satoko Fujii, George Washingmachine, Odeon Pope, and traditional Wagilak (Yolgnu) musicians from Arnhem Land.
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