Jazz Articles about Ursel Schlicht

Ursel Schlicht: Einstein's Dreams & Photosphere

by Florence Wetzel
May 23, 2006

Ursel Schlicht is a unique talent, a pianist whose gifts shine out over many fields. She explores jazz, improvised and new music, and she has composed for dance theatre and improvised for silent films. All this, plus her PhD, her years as a music teacher and her strong interest in intercultural musical exchange, make Schlicht a formidable musician, an intriguing combination of the adventurous and the cerebral.

Two fine new albums present Schlicht playing live in duet settings. Each offers ...

Ursel Schlicht/Bruce Arnold: String Theory

by Ty Cumbie
September 25, 2005

Of the thousands of improvising musicians in New York, there are untold legions of gifted players who have scarcely been recognized. Ursel Schlicht should be counted among them. Her relative obscurity is partly self-imposed, as she seems uninterested in plopping herself comfortingly in a single marketable style, but the “industry and its attendant (or co-dependent?) slothful behavior of mainstream listeners are at least equally culpable.

Never mind: Schlicht displays not a jot of concern for this condition, showing ...

Ursel Schlicht: Piano Colors - Inside and Out

by Miriam Zolin
July 16, 2005

It's impossible to ignore - Ursel Schlicht has a taste for interesting collaborations. She works with musicians from diverse genres and cultures; her musical partners come from Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, East and West Africa, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and of course colleagues from her native Germany and New York where she spends most of her time at the moment.

Rooted primarily in improvised music and jazz, she explores experimental forms of music, composition, improvised scores for silent ...

Ursel Schlicht's Implicate Order: Sound Quest

by Glenn Astarita
April 12, 2002

This multinational cast led by pianist Ursel Schlicht renders some downright invigorating improv on Sound Quest. With the opening piece, “Sound and Fury,” the soloists engage in dynamic interplay where bassist Ken Filiano steers the band into a blistering romp via his swiftly executed walking bass lines. The quintet moves about in climactic fashion as they deliver swirling choruses amid excitable flurries from trombonist Steve Swell and alto saxophonist Martin Speicher. Schlicht frequently provides the budding undercurrents, largely through massive ...