Julien Wilson

One of Australia’s leading saxophonists, Julien has made long-term contributions to The Black Arm Band and The Australian Art Orchestra and is featured on award-winning albums by Barney McAll, Stu Hunter, Jonathan Zwartz, Sam Anning, Andrea Keller and Ben Salter.

He has worked with Charlie Haden, Kurt Elling, The SSO, Paul Bley, Jim Black, Gavin Bryars, Aventa Ensemble, Hermeto Pascoal, Hugh Masekela, James Carter, Vince Jones, Paul Grabowsky, Thirsty Merc, Archie Roach, Paul Kelly, Bernie McGann and Allan Browne.

Julien has released nearly 20 albums as leader or co-leader and has been an integral member of critically acclaimed groups including SNAG, Festa, Assumptions, Ishish, Virus, 12ToneDiamonds and Los Cabrones. The Julien Wilson Trio with Stephen Magnusson and Stephen Grant has been praised as one of the most original groups in Australia and has performed at numerous international jazz festivals.

In 2013 Julien formed his own label, Lionsharecords. The label’s debut release, This is Always, won an unprecedented trifecta of Australian Jazz ‘Bell’ Awards (Best Ensemble, Best Traditional Album and Best Composition) and was the best-selling Australian jazz album at Birdland Records in 2014.

Julien has been awarded the 2015 APRA Art Music Award for Excellence in Jazz, the 2008 ‘Bell’ Award for Jazz Artist of the Year, the 2006 Freedman Fellowship for Jazz and the 1994 National Jazz Award.

In November 2019, the collaborative album This World was released on Lionsharecords and quickly became Birdland Records’ top-selling album for 2019. It was closely followed by the release of STOCK on CD and LP in early 2020, which debuted at #1 on the AIR charts.

He holds a Bachelor of Music Performance from the Victorian College of the Arts and a Graduate Diploma in Jazz from The New England Conservatory in Boston, and is currently a teaching associate at Melbourne and Monash Universities.