Every one of us lives with a tonal system in our head. The diatonic-chromatic- enharmonic system that has long dominated Western music was codified at an early stage through the use of notation. Later, around the beginning of the 17th century, major/minor tonality superseded the old church modes and has influ- enced our perceptions of harmony ever since. These perceptions are, however, constantly evolving. When blues, jazz, and other forms of African-American music brought the first “blue notes” to Europe in the early 20th century, they created quite a stir, because neither their pitch nor their harmonic function fit into the conventional tonal system. Our musical sensibilities are nonetheless learned, not innate. Even if we do not understand music theory, we feel the way the dominant resolves to the tonic; we sense whether chords are more conso- nant or dissonant. We find our ability to remember melodies that conform to our tonal system self-evident, but are astonished when people from other cultures do the same with their own music. An example would be the melodies with “notes in between” in Arabic music, where for centuries the octave has been divided into more than our usual 12 half steps, with additional quarter-tone, three-quarter-tone, and five-quarter-tone intervals.
„Gebhard Ullmann is one of the finest improvising artists in the world today“ (Paul Bley)
Born on november 2, 1957 in Bad Godesberg, German saxophonist (tenor and soprano), bass clarinetist, bass flutist and composer Gebhard Ullmann studied medecine and music in Hamburg and moved to Berlin in 1983.
Since then he has recorded 65 CDs as a leader or co-leader for prestigious labels such as Soul Note (Italy), Leo Records (UK), Between The Lines (Germany), CIMP (USA), NotTwo Records (Poland), Clean Feed (Portugal) Intuition Records (Germany), WhyPlayJazz (Germany) and others.
For many years he is considered one of the leading personalities in both the Berlin and international music scenes and has received numerous awards for his work including the Julius Hemphill Composition Award in two categories ('99), the Deutsche Phonoakademie award ('83 together with Andreas Willers), the SWF Jazz Award ('87 again together with Willers) the first Berlin Jazz Award (2017) and the German Jazz Award in the category woodwinds (2022). His CD Tá Lam was nominated best-jazz-CD-of-the-year in 1995 and the CD Silver White Archives best-crossing-borders-CD-of-the-year in 2014 by the German Schallplattenkritik.
His CDs Final Answer (2002) The Bigband Project (2004) New Basement Research (2008) News? No News! (2010) Mingus! (2011) Clarinet Trio 4 (2012) Hat And Shoes (2017) were all listed in Downbeat Magazine among the best CDs of those years. The CD Transatlantic received the prestigious Choc of the French Jazz Magazine in 2012.
Since 2005 Gebhard Ullmann was listed in the Downbeat Critics Poll, 2015 for the first time in three categories.
Since 1993 Ullmann was a recording artist for Soul Note and has been living in New York City and Berlin. He has toured with his music throughout Europe as well as Africa, the Middle East, Canada, New Zealand, the USA, South East Asia, Mexico and China and performed on most of the world's most prestigious jazz festivals.
During the 80's Gebhard Ullmann was a leading force in the musicians' organisation JazzFront Berlin. Since the mid 90's he had a teaching assignment for saxofone and ensemble at the University of Music Hanns Eisler in Berlin for 10 years. He also holds master classes at universities worldwide.
From 2014 - 2018 he was the head of the German Jazz Musicians' Union.
Ullmann's working bands are the transatlantic projects'The Chicago Plan' and 'Conference Call', the Berlin based 'Clarinet Trio', the electro acoustic trio 'Das Kondensat', the worldwide first quarter-tone-piano-quartet 'mikroPULS', the electro/acoustic sextet 'GULFH of Berlin' and the new multi-genre and multi-generational 'The Hemisphere Project'.
He is a member of the 'Hannes Zerbe Jazz Orchestra', the projects of guitarist 'Scott DuBois' and the 'Satoko Fujii Berlin Orchestra'.
He also currently works on a new Solo Project.
As a composer Gebhard Ullmann wrote for different chamber music ensembles including two string quartets, several solo pieces for woodwind instruments and violin and a 61-minute series for piano solo entitled 'Impromptus und Interationen', that was recorded in 2023 by Vitalii Kyianytsia and will be released in 2024.
He also composed several larger works for classical orchestra and a new score for the movie 'Berliner Stilleben' from 1929 by László Moholy-Nagy for the BuJazzO plus Choir as part of the project 'Klingende Utopien - 100 Jahre Bauhaus'.
2020 he published the Orchestersuite No.1, 2021 his first symphony entitled 'Symphonische Verwebungen for Orchestra, Voice, Piano and Percussion' and 2022 the 21-minute work 'Tá Lam For Large Orchestra'.
His compositions are distributed by the Universal Edition, Vienna.
Ullmann recorded or performed with Paul Bley, Andy Emler, Steve Swell, Han Bennink, Satoko Fujii, William Parker, Barry Altschul, Herb Robertson, Marvin Smitty Smith, Laurent Cugny, Ellery Eskelin, Bob Moses, Keith Tippett, Frank Gratkowski, Michael Zerang, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Sergeij Starostin, Tiger Okoshi, Bobby Previte, Ernst Ludwig Petrowsky, Glen Moore, Trilok Gurtu, Ab Baars, Andreas Willers, Lauren Newton, Andrew Cyrille, Sylvie Courvoisier, Frank Möbus, Lee Konitz, Alexander v. Schlippenbach, Benoit Achiary, Willem Breuker, Carlos Bica, Enrico Rava, Rita Marcotulli, Bob Stewart, Dieter Glawischnig, Tony Malaby, Günther Lenz, Drew Gress, Michael Rabinowitz, Matt Wilson, Ivo Papasov, the Ensemble Percussion de Guinee, Tyshawn Sorey, Karl Berger, Mark Helias, Gerry Hemingway, Joe Fonda, Michael Stevens, George Schuller, the European Radioorchestra, spoken word artist Sadiq Bey, the actor Otto Sander and many musicians from the Berlin scene as well as many others.
Hans Lüdemann, born 1961 in Hamburg, 1978/79 in Los Angeles/California, since 1982 in Köln, 2009/10 and 2015/16 in Philadelphia/USA. Private studies with Joachim Kühn, Studies of Classical piano at the Hamburg conservatory and Jazz piano at the Musikhochschule Köln and the Banff Centre/Canada. In Köln he obtained the first Jazz masters degree in Germany. Hans Lüdemann`s international career started in 1985 in the group of Eberhard Weber/Jan Garbarek with a tour of Asia. He worked with a number of world class musicians, among them Muhal Richard Abrams, Paul Bley (Duo CD), Hayden Chisholm, Chiwoniso, Toumani Diabate, Tata Dindin, Marc Ducret, Mark Feldman, Sol Gabetta, Dobet Gnahoré, Roger Hanschel, Lee Konitz, Joachim Kühn, Albert Mangelsdorff, Phil Minton, Angelika Niescier, Yves Robert, Heinz Sauer, Gebhard Ullmann, Bobby Zankel and Eda Zari.
Hans Lüdemann is a „wanderer between the worlds“ who has created first rate European ensembles with the trio ROOMS and the octet TransEuropeExpress (T.E.E.) and who makes transcultural connections between Africa, Europe and Jazz together with balaphon player Aly Keita in the Trio Ivoire. As a solo pianist he improvised an „hommage a Köln concert“ in the Köln opera, he expands the acoustic piano sound with his „virtual piano“ into a microtonal instrument and he developed new playing techniques for the historic clavichord. In the concert series „die kunst des trios“, started in 2007, Lüdemann has created a wide range of piano trio conceptions, working together with an international cast of musical partners.
As a solo pianist and with his ensembles, Lüdemann has performed worldwide and is at home on festivals, concert stages and in clubs between Berlin, Bamako, Capetown, Delhi, Havana, Hongkong, New York and Paris. Performances include portrait concerts at the Musiktriennale Köln, appearances at EXPO 2000 Hannover, Jazzfest Berlin, Bachfest Leipzig, Offbeat Festival Basel, HIFA - Festival Harare, Copenhagen Jazzfestival, Elbjazz Hamburg and the opening of the „Budapest Music Centre“. Solo tours have led through Europe, Africa and North America. Lüdemann’s music is documented on over 40 CDs for renowned record labels and radio and tv productions. His biggest project so far, „die kunst des trios“, was released as a 5-CD-box and received the „ECHO Jazz award 2013“.
From the beginning, the creation and realization of original music was the motivation and focus of his work and his projects. In 1988 he introduced his first orchestral work, „Geschichte 2“, in 1994 the song cycle „Verloren ins weite Blau“ (Lost into the wide blue) for voices and chamber ensembles. Hans Lüdemann received composition commissions of the WDR, SWR, hR, the Ensemble Indigo, the NDR bigband, the duo Slaato/Reinecke, from Steinway & Sons and the „Kunststiftung NRW“. In 2014/15 he received the federal composition grant of the „Konrad Adenauer-Stiftung“. His works range from solo music and songs to chamber music and music for bigband, choir and orchestra. A number of his musical scores have been published by Schott, including the „Rhythmic Etudes“ for piano in 2015.
In 2002, Lüdemann was invited on a journey to Africa with German President Johannes Rau. He was appointed member of the Federal German composition jury for the Villa Massimo in Rome from 2003 - 2007. He taught Jazz piano and ensemble at the Musikhochschule Köln from 1993 - 2008, directed the „Creative Jazz Workshop“ at the European Academy Montepulciano/Italy 2001 - 2007, the „JeuneJazzJam Paris-Köln“ of the Musikhochschule Köln and CSNDP Paris in 2008 and taught as „Cornell Visiting Professor“ at Swarthmore College/USA in 2009/2010 and again in 2015/16. Hans Lüdemann lives as a musician and composer in Hoffnungsthal near Köln, Germany.
„Gebhard Ullmann is one of the finest improvising artists in the world today“ (Paul Bley)
Born on november 2, 1957 in Bad Godesberg, German saxophonist (tenor and soprano), bass clarinetist, bass flutist and composer Gebhard Ullmann studied medecine and music in Hamburg and moved to Berlin in 1983.
Since then he has recorded 65 CDs as a leader or co-leader for prestigious labels such as Soul Note (Italy), Leo Records (UK), Between The Lines (Germany), CIMP (USA), NotTwo Records (Poland), Clean Feed (Portugal) Intuition Records (Germany), WhyPlayJazz (Germany) and others.
For many years he is considered one of the leading personalities in both the Berlin and international music scenes and has received numerous awards for his work including the Julius Hemphill Composition Award in two categories ('99), the Deutsche Phonoakademie award ('83 together with Andreas Willers), the SWF Jazz Award ('87 again together with Willers) the first Berlin Jazz Award (2017) and the German Jazz Award in the category woodwinds (2022). His CD Tá Lam was nominated best-jazz-CD-of-the-year in 1995 and the CD Silver White Archives best-crossing-borders-CD-of-the-year in 2014 by the German Schallplattenkritik.
His CDs Final Answer (2002) The Bigband Project (2004) New Basement Research (2008) News? No News! (2010) Mingus! (2011) Clarinet Trio 4 (2012) Hat And Shoes (2017) were all listed in Downbeat Magazine among the best CDs of those years. The CD Transatlantic received the prestigious Choc of the French Jazz Magazine in 2012.
Since 2005 Gebhard Ullmann was listed in the Downbeat Critics Poll, 2015 for the first time in three categories.
Since 1993 Ullmann was a recording artist for Soul Note and has been living in New York City and Berlin. He has toured with his music throughout Europe as well as Africa, the Middle East, Canada, New Zealand, the USA, South East Asia, Mexico and China and performed on most of the world's most prestigious jazz festivals.
During the 80's Gebhard Ullmann was a leading force in the musicians' organisation JazzFront Berlin. Since the mid 90's he had a teaching assignment for saxofone and ensemble at the University of Music Hanns Eisler in Berlin for 10 years. He also holds master classes at universities worldwide.
From 2014 - 2018 he was the head of the German Jazz Musicians' Union.
Ullmann's working bands are the transatlantic projects'The Chicago Plan' and 'Conference Call', the Berlin based 'Clarinet Trio', the electro acoustic trio 'Das Kondensat', the worldwide first quarter-tone-piano-quartet 'mikroPULS', the electro/acoustic sextet 'GULFH of Berlin' and the new multi-genre and multi-generational 'The Hemisphere Project'.
He is a member of the 'Hannes Zerbe Jazz Orchestra', the projects of guitarist 'Scott DuBois' and the 'Satoko Fujii Berlin Orchestra'.
He also currently works on a new Solo Project.
As a composer Gebhard Ullmann wrote for different chamber music ensembles including two string quartets, several solo pieces for woodwind instruments and violin and a 61-minute series for piano solo entitled 'Impromptus und Interationen', that was recorded in 2023 by Vitalii Kyianytsia and will be released in 2024.
He also composed several larger works for classical orchestra and a new score for the movie 'Berliner Stilleben' from 1929 by László Moholy-Nagy for the BuJazzO plus Choir as part of the project 'Klingende Utopien - 100 Jahre Bauhaus'.
2020 he published the Orchestersuite No.1, 2021 his first symphony entitled 'Symphonische Verwebungen for Orchestra, Voice, Piano and Percussion' and 2022 the 21-minute work 'Tá Lam For Large Orchestra'.
His compositions are distributed by the Universal Edition, Vienna.
Ullmann recorded or performed with Paul Bley, Andy Emler, Steve Swell, Han Bennink, Satoko Fujii, William Parker, Barry Altschul, Herb Robertson, Marvin Smitty Smith, Laurent Cugny, Ellery Eskelin, Bob Moses, Keith Tippett, Frank Gratkowski, Michael Zerang, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Sergeij Starostin, Tiger Okoshi, Bobby Previte, Ernst Ludwig Petrowsky, Glen Moore, Trilok Gurtu, Ab Baars, Andreas Willers, Lauren Newton, Andrew Cyrille, Sylvie Courvoisier, Frank Möbus, Lee Konitz, Alexander v. Schlippenbach, Benoit Achiary, Willem Breuker, Carlos Bica, Enrico Rava, Rita Marcotulli, Bob Stewart, Dieter Glawischnig, Tony Malaby, Günther Lenz, Drew Gress, Michael Rabinowitz, Matt Wilson, Ivo Papasov, the Ensemble Percussion de Guinee, Tyshawn Sorey, Karl Berger, Mark Helias, Gerry Hemingway, Joe Fonda, Michael Stevens, George Schuller, the European Radioorchestra, spoken word artist Sadiq Bey, the actor Otto Sander and many musicians from the Berlin scene as well as many others.
Hans Lüdemann, born 1961 in Hamburg, 1978/79 in Los Angeles/California, since 1982 in Köln, 2009/10 and 2015/16 in Philadelphia/USA. Private studies with Joachim Kühn, Studies of Classical piano at the Hamburg conservatory and Jazz piano at the Musikhochschule Köln and the Banff Centre/Canada. In Köln he obtained the first Jazz masters degree in Germany. Hans Lüdemann`s international career started in 1985 in the group of Eberhard Weber/Jan Garbarek with a tour of Asia. He worked with a number of world class musicians, among them Muhal Richard Abrams, Paul Bley (Duo CD), Hayden Chisholm, Chiwoniso, Toumani Diabate, Tata Dindin, Marc Ducret, Mark Feldman, Sol Gabetta, Dobet Gnahoré, Roger Hanschel, Lee Konitz, Joachim Kühn, Albert Mangelsdorff, Phil Minton, Angelika Niescier, Yves Robert, Heinz Sauer, Gebhard Ullmann, Bobby Zankel and Eda Zari.
Hans Lüdemann is a „wanderer between the worlds“ who has created first rate European ensembles with the trio ROOMS and the octet TransEuropeExpress (T.E.E.) and who makes transcultural connections between Africa, Europe and Jazz together with balaphon player Aly Keita in the Trio Ivoire. As a solo pianist he improvised an „hommage a Köln concert“ in the Köln opera, he expands the acoustic piano sound with his „virtual piano“ into a microtonal instrument and he developed new playing techniques for the historic clavichord. In the concert series „die kunst des trios“, started in 2007, Lüdemann has created a wide range of piano trio conceptions, working together with an international cast of musical partners.
As a solo pianist and with his ensembles, Lüdemann has performed worldwide and is at home on festivals, concert stages and in clubs between Berlin, Bamako, Capetown, Delhi, Havana, Hongkong, New York and Paris. Performances include portrait concerts at the Musiktriennale Köln, appearances at EXPO 2000 Hannover, Jazzfest Berlin, Bachfest Leipzig, Offbeat Festival Basel, HIFA - Festival Harare, Copenhagen Jazzfestival, Elbjazz Hamburg and the opening of the „Budapest Music Centre“. Solo tours have led through Europe, Africa and North America. Lüdemann’s music is documented on over 40 CDs for renowned record labels and radio and tv productions. His biggest project so far, „die kunst des trios“, was released as a 5-CD-box and received the „ECHO Jazz award 2013“.
From the beginning, the creation and realization of original music was the motivation and focus of his work and his projects. In 1988 he introduced his first orchestral work, „Geschichte 2“, in 1994 the song cycle „Verloren ins weite Blau“ (Lost into the wide blue) for voices and chamber ensembles. Hans Lüdemann received composition commissions of the WDR, SWR, hR, the Ensemble Indigo, the NDR bigband, the duo Slaato/Reinecke, from Steinway & Sons and the „Kunststiftung NRW“. In 2014/15 he received the federal composition grant of the „Konrad Adenauer-Stiftung“. His works range from solo music and songs to chamber music and music for bigband, choir and orchestra. A number of his musical scores have been published by Schott, including the „Rhythmic Etudes“ for piano in 2015.
In 2002, Lüdemann was invited on a journey to Africa with German President Johannes Rau. He was appointed member of the Federal German composition jury for the Villa Massimo in Rome from 2003 - 2007. He taught Jazz piano and ensemble at the Musikhochschule Köln from 1993 - 2008, directed the „Creative Jazz Workshop“ at the European Academy Montepulciano/Italy 2001 - 2007, the „JeuneJazzJam Paris-Köln“ of the Musikhochschule Köln and CSNDP Paris in 2008 and taught as „Cornell Visiting Professor“ at Swarthmore College/USA in 2009/2010 and again in 2015/16. Hans Lüdemann lives as a musician and composer in Hoffnungsthal near Köln, Germany.
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