Juli Wood

Juli Wood (saxophonist and vocalist) was born on June 26, 1959, in Muskego, near Milwaukee. Her four grandparents immigrated from Finland in the early 1900s, and her parents instilled this heritage in her. While in grade school, Juli became enamored by the saxophone. "I remember watching Soul Train as a kid on TV in the '70s and seeing Maceo Parker playing alto sax with James Brown. I thought that was the coolest-looking and -sounding instrument in the world! So, the love affair with the saxophone started in the sixth grade and has been going strong ever since."

In high school, she played in the marching band and jazz band. After graduating in 1977, she visited Finland. She briefly attended the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM) but dropped out to focus on performing in Milwaukee's music scene. She soon joined the R&B Cadets with singer Robin Pluer. In 1983, she returned to UWM, majoring in classical saxophone. Around this time, she gigged with jazz groups throughout Milwaukee. In 1987, she joined Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans, performing locally and in Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

In 1993, she turned her focus back to jazz and formed the Juli Wood Quartet, performing on tenor sax and singing. In 1996, she moved to Chicago, where she has resided ever since. Juli established herself as one of the top jazz artists in Chicago. She recorded her first album as a leader in 1998, which featured organist Melvin Rhyne, which led to performances at the Green Mill in Chicago. She travels yearly to Finland to perform, and in 2015, she recorded Synkkä Metsä (Dark Forest), an album of Finnish folk songs arranged in a jazz style. Juli frequently returns to Milwaukee for performances with her own group and collaborations with the duo Mrs. Fun and Robin Pluer.

Listen to Juli perform “Two Buck Chuck,” released in 2012.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOzat3e-jic

More information can be found at: https://www.juliwoodsax.com/