During the eighties he studied piano, trombone and composition with teachers like Albert Mangelsdorff, George Gruntz, Harald Neuwirth, Helmut Iberer, Rob Franken, and Peter Herbolzheimer.
Rennert is focusing on synthesizers and live-electronics as expressive musical instruments and he explores the area between composition and improvisation
Uli Rennert recorded with Bob Brookmeyer, Wayne Darling, Bumi Fian, Klaus Gesing, Gregor Hilbe, Peter Herbert, John Hollenbeck, Dieter Ilg, Jazz BigBand Graz, Klaus Johns & Tangavan, Heinrich von Kalnein, Martin Kolber, Peter Kunsek, Thomas Lang, David Liebman, Bob Mintzer, Gerald Preinfalk, Wolfgang Puschnig, Ernst Reijseger, Wolfgang Schalk, Frank Schwinn, Uli Soyka, Gernot Wolfgang, among others.
Press Quotes:
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Rennert blows angular solos over a rhythm section that
runs on rock attitude but listens with jazz ears.
Often, espcially when playing unaccompanied, he distorts his
line with seasick mod effects, but otherwise cultivates an
almost pristine approach, with lots of space and
fireworks only when necessary.
Check him out now!
- Bob Doerschuk, Keyboard Magazine
Joys & Desires
“Jazz Envy” runs the gamut from maelstrom-like
directed themes to a synthesizer solo by Uli Rennert,
over astrong groove by bassist Henning Sieverts and
Hollenbeck, that’s reminiscent of Canterbury progressive
players including National Health’s Dave Stewart
and Soft Machine’s Mike Ratledge.
- John Kelman, allaboutjazz.com
Songlines
Scat and vocalese, definite jazz conventions, are
pushed to a level equal with von Kalnein’s reeds.
This is best illustrated on “Sam” [composition: Uli Rennert]
where Balata and von Kalnein become one in the music.
Kalnein’s introduces a compelling melody that is joined by
Balata, who solos in scat to striking effect. “Sam” is one of the
more compositionally tethered pieces on the disc, which is
more widely populated with air, open spaces filled
with bass, percussion, and keyboards on all sides with von
Kalnein and Balata weaving in and out of the mix. These
effects are well reflected in “Songlines” and the
eerie “Homepage” [composition: Uli Rennert]. The closing
“Coming Home” is an ethereal ballad, softly set to flight by von
Kalnein
and spurned on by keyboardist Uli Rennert,
who uses a variety of effects to cushion the saxophonist’s
emotive
flights. Achim Tang establishes a steady bass heartbeat,
welcoming Balata into the harmonic, melodic mix.
Songlines smacks of originality and uniqueness in a current
deluge of less well conceived projects.
- C. Michael Bailey, allaboutjazz.com
Projekt M
Es ist fein durchdachte Kammermusik, die man hier erlebt.
Pianist Uli Rennert hat sich in die Musik von Thelonious Monk
vertieft und Schlussfolgerungen
gezogen, die raffiniert sanft überzeugen.
- Ljubisa Tosic, Der Standard (A)
Gesing/Rennert/Herbert/
… eine fliessende, in ihrer Klarheit beeindruckende
Bildersequenz von gleichsam kompositorischer Stringenz …
- Andreas Felber, Der Standard (A)
Awards:
International piano/keyboard-competition of Keyboard
Magazine
in cooperation with Berklee College of Music 1984
Diploma ‘summa cum laude’ at the University of
Music and dramatic Arts in Graz 1987
Uli Rennert TimeSquare CD "HomePgae was nominated
for the Hans Koller Prize 1997
Equipment:
Synthesizer & Keyboards
Clavia Nord Lead 2
Clavia Nord Electro 61
Clavia Nord Micro Modular
Live-Electronics
No Name Lap-Steel-Guitar
Megaphone (unknown brand made in Corea)
Moog Music Moogerfooger MF-102 Ring Modulator
Moog Music Moogerfooger MF-104Z Analog Delay
Moog Music Moogerfooger MF-107 FreqBox
Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor
Digitech Talker
Lexicon MX200 Delay/Reverb
Digitech DDX DigiDelay
Digitech HardWire DL-8 Delay/Looper (stereo)
Roland Volume-Pedal
Soundsystem
Rane SM 82S Line Mixer
Brunetti Rockit Tube Power Amp
Kametler 2×10″-Stereo-Cabinet with Jensen C10Q
speakers (handmade)
Recording/Editing/Mixing
Digidesign MBox 2 Pro
Pro Tools 8 LE
KS Digital C-88
Various
Audix D6 (2x for cabinet miking)
Shure SM58 (for vocoder-efx)
Fisher Amps In Ear Amp
AKG IP1 Open In Ear Headphones
Racks & Cases by SKB
