Magni Wentzel

Magni Wentzel
Magni and Åse Wentzel 1959.
Background information
Born	(1945-06-28) 28 June 1945 (age 71) Oslo, Norway
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Website	www.magniwentzel.no

Magni Wentzel (born 28 June 1945 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (vocals and guitar), the daughter of musicians Odd Wentzel-Larsen and Åse Wentzel, and known for a number of jazz recordings.

Wentzel started in "Totenlaget Barneteater" (1951). She was trained by opera singers Erna Skaug, Almar Heggen and professor Paul Lohmann in Wiesbaden, took guitar lessons from 1956, and released her debut jazz album That Old Feeling in 1959. Instead of attending the first year of the newly established "Statens operahøgskole" in Oslo, she chose to go on learning classical guitar in Spain (1963), Switzerland and England, and taught jazz song under Tete Montoliu. She played on the Club 7 in Oslo within Geir Wentzel Band, and at the same time she was strongly influenced by Aretha Franklin.

She collaborated extensively with a series of Oslo-based musicians, like within the quartets and quintets including Einar Iversen and Egil Kapstad. Peter Gullin dedicated the album Far, Far Away Where Longing Live to her. Later she worked for Opera Mobile, then as the "mother" in The Tales of Hoffmann by Offenbach.