Uli Lenz

German post-bop pianist Uli Lenz combines the audio and golf swing of vintage jazz (forebears like Artwork Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Earl Hines) along with his early classical trained in contrapuntal improvisation. Lenz was created in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1955, to parents who both performed piano and body organ; his father started teaching him traditional music and improvisation at age group four, nonetheless it was his grandmother who launched him to jazz via late-night radio applications. When Lenz went to the Frankfurt Conservatory through the ’70s, he analyzed traditional piano and cello, but on his off-hours he performed jazz wherever he could — from dance classes and piano pubs to strip bones — both single and along with his personal group. Most of Lenz’s extreme woodshedding paid with regards to both technique and musical identification, and upon conclusion of his level, he relocated to Italy to take a new picture and play with different organizations. He came back to Germany in 1980, this time around to Berlin, and produced enough connections to begin with touring European countries with other organizations. He also produced a name for himself like a single performer, producing his 1st unaccompanied appearance at a jazz event in 1985, and touring Eastern European countries as well as the Mediterranean the next season. Also in 1986, Lenz documented his first single piano record, Midnight Chocolate, for Enja. In 1987, Lenz journeyed over the Atlantic for the very first time and produced his NEW YORK debut. Unfortunately, quickly afterwards, Lenz suffered a hand damage that needed a tendon transplant and a complete season of rehab. Despite needing to rework a few of his fingering methods, Lenz emerged in the ordeal along with his abilities intact, and his musicality even more focused than ever before. He documented the 1988 record Live at Special Basil, once again for Enja, in NY with an all-star tempo portion of bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Joe Chambers. He performed the Montreux Jazz Celebration for the very first time in 1989; a Montreux trio established was afterwards released in 1991 as the twin CD Live on the Montreux Music Celebration. Lenz spent the ’90s like a mainstay within the event circuit, playing several gigs all around the globe. He also documented with a number of collaborators: saxophonist Johannes Barthelmes (1992’s Konzert de Verlorenen Söhne and 1993’s Trane’s Tree), vocalist Patricia Nomakosazana Dhlamini (1993’s Problems in Heaven), and bassist Ed Schuller and drummer Victor Jones (1997’s Echoes of Mandela), aswell as single (1995’s Love Route). In 1997, Lenz created a trio offering bassist Pepe Berns and drummer Thomas Alkier, who accompany him through his Western appearances. However despite all his documenting and performing encounter, Lenz still didn’t possess any CDs in world-wide distribution, and — along with his U.S. shows confined to NY — still hadn’t produced a dent in the American awareness. In 1999, Lenz authorized with New York’s Arkadia Jazz label, and started recording an recording with bassist Ira Coleman and drummer Horacio “Un Negro” Hernandez. Featuring visitor places from saxophonist T.K. Blue, Rainmaker’s Desire premiered in 2001 to high compliment in the U.S. jazz community.