Uli Kempendorff was born in Berlin in 1981. His work has been documented on over three dozen CDs and LPs and radio broadcasts, on labels like WhyPlayJazz, ECM, Enja or Four Music. Among those are five of his own productions with his groups "Field" and "Yellow Bird". Aside from his own projects such as "Field" (since 2018 with Christopher Dell, Peter Bruun and Jonas Westergaard), Kempendorff has been active in groups with Julia Hülsmann, Ulrich Gumpert, Benjamin Weidekamp, Felix Henkelhausen, Wanja Slavin, Rudi Mahall, Markus Pesonen, Pablo Held, Tobias Delius, Mike Pride, Lina Allemano and Christian Weber; he has toured, recorded and played with SEEED, Rolf Kühn, Bad Stream, Jimi Tenor and 'Little' Jimmy Scott.
In 2010, he started the concert series "Serious Series" which he curated until 2014. In 2016, he curated the concert series "In Between Festivals" in Wroclaw (PL), as part of the city's European Capital of Culture tenure. This was done in collaboration with Marc Schmolling, Stiftung Zukunft Berlin and MicaMoca. Until 2018 he also co-curated the series "JAB 105" at Berlin's club A-Trane with Gebhard Ullmann.
Concerts and teaching brought him to the Ivory Coast, Canada, the US, South America, Usbekistan, Mexico and to many countries in Europe. Kempendorff has received several grants from the city of Berlin, was a DAAD-scholar from 2006-2007 in NYC and spent a month at the Stadtmühle Willisau in Switzerland as a guest of the Alfred-Köchlin-Foundation. He is also an alumni of the Stiftung Àrvore (CH).
He was a founding member and head of the IG Jazz Berlin, a kind self-organised union working for a better funding of the arts and especially Jazz and Improvised Music in Berlin. In this function, Kempendorff also spent time as a spokesman for music in the Coalition of Berlin's Independent Scene and has done pro bono work in cultural politics on the state and federal level from 2012-2023.
Kempendorff was part of the faculty at the HMTM Hannover for Saxophone from 2021-2024. He studied Saxophone and Improvisation at the "Hanns Eisler" Conservatory in Berlin and at City College, NYC.
Foto: ECM
2024
ERNTE's debut record is out on enja records and has received a lot of good reviews. More concerts in the fall and spring. Check it out: https://ernte.bandcamp.com/album/ernte
Going to the studio for our Opus II with Field with John Formsgaard on Møn in June.
Going to the studio with Julia Hülsmann for our third record at ECM in June.
New Record with BRIGADE FUTUR III "Ein bisschen Zeit haben wir ja noch" on WhyPlayJazz. I love playing with this band and being a part of this project and its message(s). https://brigadefutur3.bandcamp.com/album/ein-bisschen-zeit-haben-wir-ja-noch
New Record with Igor Osypov "Motherland?2K14" on WHIRLWIND Records. Igor spent years on this with great musicians like Petter Eldh and Logan Richardson and a stellar cast from Berlin. https://igorosypov-whirlwind.bandcamp.com/album/motherland-2k14
October 09, 2024 / mit Dejan Tersic, Ronny Graupe / Berlin (DE) @ richten35
October 10, 2024 / JULIA HÜLSMANN QUARTETT / Novi Sad (RS) @ Festival
October 15, 2024 / mit Julius Gawlik, Phil Donkin, Ivars Arutunyan / Berlin (DE) @ Schlot
October 19, 2024 / mit Matthias Spillmann Trio / Berlin (DE) @ Donau 115
November 05, 2024 / John Carter Projekt w/ Edith Steyer, Rieko Okuda, Joe Hertenstein, Gerhard Gschlössl / Berlin (DE) @ Jugendwiderstandsmuseum
November 08, 2024 / John Carter Projekt w/ Edith Steyer, Rieko Okuda, Joe Hertenstein, Gerhard Gschlössl / Darmstadt (DE) @ Jazzinstitut
November 09, 2024 / Nathan Ott Festival / Berlin (DE) @ Dock 11
November 10, 2024 / Nathan Ott Festival / Berlin (DE) @ Dock 11
November 16, 2024 / WITOLD / Dresden (DE) @ Jazz Kollektiv
November 20, 2024 / Lesung Anne Kanis mit Laurids Richter (dr) / Berlin (DE) @ Kulturhaus Karlshorst
November 25, 2024 / JULIA HÜLSMANN QUARTETT / Berlin (DE) @ Schlot
December 03, 2024 / Kaspar von Grünigens BOTTOM ORCHESTRA / Basel (CH) @ Jazzcampus
December 04, 2024 / Kaspar von Grünigens BOTTOM ORCHESTRA / Zürich (CH) @ Mehrspur
December 05, 2024 / Kaspar von Grünigens BOTTOM ORCHESTRA / Basel (CH) @ tba
January 09, 2025 / JULIA HÜLSMANN QUARTETT / Köln (DE) @ Philharmonie
February 21, 2025 / JULIA HÜLSMANN QUARTETT / Saarbrücken (DE) @ Eisenfabrik
March 01, 2025 / JULIA HÜLSMANN QUARTETT / Minden (DE) @ Jazzclub
March 07, 2025 / JULIA HÜLSMANN QUARTETT / München (DE) @ Unterfahrt
March 12, 2025 / JULIA HÜLSMANN QUARTETT / Berlin (DE) @ Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal
April 25, 2025 / ERNTE (DE/CH/GR) / Bern (CH) @ BeJazz
April 27, 2025 / ERNTE (DE/CH/GR) / Absam, Tirol (AT) @ Landesmuseum
CHRISTOPHER DELL - Vibraphone
JONAS WESTERGAARD - Bass
PETER BRUUN - Drums
U. K. - Tenor Sax, Clarinet, Comp
Field's new record "Someone Talked" was released this July on enja records.
https://kempendorff.bandcamp.com/album/someone-talked
FIELD plays compositions written by its leader which draw from of a whole variety of musical influences and inspirations from within and without the Jazz idiom which remains a musical home base for the group. With Christopher Dell on vibraphone, Jonas Westergaard on bass and Peter Bruun on drums, the band brings together some of the most interesting players on the German and Danish scene and has quickly become a tightly knit group since its reforming in 2018.
"The melodies veer at sharp angles, and in the rhythms, turbulence is the standard rule of engagement. Tenor saxophonist Uli Kempendorff, vibraphonist Christopher Dell, double bassist Jonas Westergaard, and drummer Peter Bruun express a curious form of lyricism, and perfect a method for crafting fluid statements from unconventional phrasings." Dave Sumner: The Best Jazz on Bandcamp: July 2021
Videos:
Live: https://berta.berlin/field and Animation: https://youtu.be/KaPOE0ST3wk
Animation by Sophia Martineck: https://youtu.be/KaPOE0ST3wk
Field + Lena Czerniawska: https://youtu.be/yWQwDsiU37k
Foto: Dovile Sermokas
JULIA HÜLSMANN - Piano
MARC MUELLBAUER - Bass
HEINRICH KÖBBERLING - Drums
U. K. - Tenor Saxophone
After many years of different collaborations I joined Julia's trio for their seventh album on ECM records which was released November of 2019, was voted "Album of the Month" in London's "The Guardian" and received the German Jazz Award 2021 for Best Instrumental Album. "The Next Door", our second release on ECM, came out in August 2022 and is even better than the first record.
Foto: Dovile Sermokas
https://www.esteam-music.com/julia-huelsmann-magagement
BENJAMIN WEIDEKAMP - Alto Saxophone, Clarinet
EVI FILIPPOU - Vibraphone
KASPAR VON GRÜNIGEN - Double Bass
DAVID MEIER - Drums
U. K. - Tenor Sax, Clarinet
ERNTE plays work and fight songs from resistance movements around the world.
Video: https://youtu.be/oF1KIEgMFKc?si=0uTE48zoDIUuDGmV
Foto: Dovile Sermokas
https://ernte.bandcamp.com/album/ernte
KALLE KALIMA - Guitar
MORITZ BAUMGÄRTNER - Drums
U. K. - Baritone and Tenor Saxophone
Named after Witold Lutoslawski the basis of this trio is Lutoslawski’s “Melodie Ludowe”. Lutoslawski, one of the greatest European composers of the 20th century, wrote these songs shortly after World War II as “functional music” to support his family. The mixture of naive melodies, crooked folk forms and Lutoslawskis partly wonderful, partly cryptic and dense harmonies, offers exactly the right starting material for improvisation and trio-conversations with an invisible fourth man.
Foto: Cristina Marx/Photomusix
RUDI MAHALL - Baritone Saxophone
U.K. -Baritone Saxophone
JAN RODER - Double Bass
MICHAEL GRIENER - Drums
Mahall, world-reknown for his exploits on the bass clarinet, and Kempendorff, usually at home with the tenor sax, knew they had to play together and needed to get on even footing in order to do so - each stepped out of their comfort zone and went in deep and reached for the Baritone. None better to accompany them than long-time associates Griener and Roder.
Video: https://youtu.be/ajozaEFdlII
Foto: Katja Mahall
Video: https://youtu.be/ajozaEFdlII
Wanja Slavin - Altsaxophone
Valentin Gerhardus - Piano, Synthesizer
Leif Berger - Drums
U. K. - Tenorsaxophone, Clarinets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2wwAksgJ9o
https://felixhenkelhausen.bandcamp.com/album/misanthropic-tendencies
Brigade:Futur III: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q622wThhMG4
http://www.brigadefutur3.org/
Kaspar von Grünigens Bottom Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMiPPmyw3Ug
http://kasparvongruenigen.com/bands/bottom-orchestra/
2024 enja/yellowbird
ERNTE's debut release on enja.
Available as Download and CD here:
https://ernte.bandcamp.com/album/ernte
Benjamin Weidekamp - Alto Saxophone, Clarinet
Evi Filippou - Vibraphone
Kaspar von Grünigen - Bass
David Meier - Drums
U.K. - Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet
2022 ECM
Julia Hülsmann - Piano, comp
Marc Muellbauer - Double Bass, comp
Heinrich Köbberling - Drums, comp
U.K. - Saxophone, comp
2021 enja/yellowbird
Field's new release on enja.
Available as Download, CD or VINYL here:
https://kempendorff.bandcamp.com/album/someone-talked
Uli Kempendorff - Tenor Sax
Christopher Dell - Vibraphone
Jonas Westergaard - Double Bass
Peter Bruun - Drums
2019 ECM
Julia Hülsmann - Piano
Marc Muellbauer - Double Bass
Heinrich Köbberling - Drums
U.K. - Tenor Saxophone
2018 enja/yellowbird
Zweite Platte mit Eigenkompositionen von YELLOW BIRD
Manon Kahle - Vocals, Banjo, Ukulele, Comp
Lucia Cadotsch - Vocals, Comp
Ronny Graupe - Gitarre, Comp
Uli Kempendorff - Bassklarinette, Klarinette
Tim Lorenz, Michael Griener, Max Weissenfeldt - Drums
2017 WhyPlayJazz
Field's second recording.
Ronny Graupe - Guitar
Jonas Westergaard - Double Bass
Oliver Steidle - Drums
U.K. - Tenor Saxophone
2015 enja/yellowbird
Debütalbum von YELLOW BIRD - AmericanaFolkJazzTwoPartHarmonySinging
Lucia Cadotsch - Vocals
Manon Kahle - Vocals, Banjo, Ukulele
Ronny Graupe - Git, Bass
Uli Kempendorff - Bassklarinette, Klarinette
Michael Griener - Drums
2013 Unit Records
"Let Me Go With You" ist der Erstling von FIELD in der Besetzung mit Ronny Graupe - Gitarre, Jonas Westergaard - Bass, Oliver Steidle - Drums und erschien 2013 bei Unit Records.
Erhältlich direkt über mich: uli.kempendorff@gmail.com
EUR 15,00 via PayPal2010 JazzHausMusik
Ronny Graupe - Guitar
Marc Muellbauer - Double Bass
Kay Lübke - Drums
U.K.- Tenor Sax, Clarinet
2010
awaiting release: new records with Field, Julia Hülsmann, Witold, Indra Trio, Mega Mass, Alexander Wienand and Edith Steyer.
ERNTE - Ernte (Enja, 2024)
BRIGADE FUTUR III - Ein bisschen Zeit haben wir ja noch (WhyPlayJazz, 2024)
IGOR OSYPOV - Motherland?2K14 (Whirlwind Records, 2024)
JANNING TRUMANN OKTETT - Fundaments We Share (tanglible music, 2023)
RICHARD KOCH QUARTETT - Fluss (XJAZZ, 2022)
JULIA HÜLSMANN QUARTETT - The Next Door (ECM, 2022)
BARITON - Wer kann es am besten? (gliggmusic 005, 2022)
JÜRGEN FRIEDRICH - Semisong (nWog Records, 2022)
FELIX HENKELHAUSEN QUINTETT - Misanthropic Tendencies (BlackBird, 2021)
DIE ÄRZTE - Hell/Dunkel (2020/2021)
BAD STREAM - Sonic Healing (Antime, 2020)
JULIA HÜLSMANN QUARTET - Not Far From Here (ECM) Herbst 2019
KASPAR VON GRÜNIGEN – Songs Of Work (WhyPlayJazz) 2019
BRIGADE FUTUR III - Alles wird gut gegangen sein werden (WhyPlayJazz) 2017
REINHOLD SCHMÖLZERS ORCHESTRACONTREUR - Aerial Image (Unit Records) 2016
COAL OVEN - All Mountains (Bandcamp Release) 2016
JANIS GÖRLICHS BUMMELZUG EXPLOSION - In der Ferne (Shoebill Records) 2016
TIM DAISY/NOAH PUNKT/ULI KEMPENDORFF– Movements (otherunwise) 2015
GUY ONE - Suro Yama (Philophon Records) 2015
MALTE SCHILLERS RED BALLOON - Not So Happy (Unit Records) 2014
JANIS GÖRLICHS BUMMELZUG EXPLOSION - In die Ferne (Shoebill Records) 2013
BENJAMIN WEIDEKAMP QUARTET - Seriell, Nicht Seriös (WhyPlayJazz) 2013
ULI GUMPERT WORKSHOP BAND - Berlin-New York, The End of Dow Jones (jazzwerkstatt) 2013
REINHOLD SCHMÖLZERS ORCHESTRACONTREUR - Miraculous Loss Of Signal (Unit Records) 2012
STEFAN SCHULTZE LARGE ENSEMBLE - Run (Double Moon Records) 2011
PETER TENNER JAZZORCHESTER - 10117 Berlin (Mons Records) 2008
FOUR IN A ROW & GERLINDE KEMPENDORFF - O hätt ich doch mein Kind verkauft (Phonector) 2007
ULI KEMPENDORFF QUARTET - Out With It (Phonector) 2006
FOUR IN A ROW - Four in a Row (JazzHausMusik) 2004
SEEED - Music Monks (EastWest/Downbeat/Warner) 2003
Fans of pianist Julia Hülsmann’s work will find familiar flavors enhanced by the unique spice of tenor saxophonist Uli Kempendorff being added to her long-running ensemble. He’s most vividly showcased on „Le Mistral“, one of two tunes contributed by bassist Marc Muellbauer. What begins with a quiet stirring develops into a freely interlocking sound - one honed by years of experience and held together by the band’s open-ended circuitry.
The poetry of Kempendorff’s playing is forthcoming, and the same holds true of his writing, even as „Einschub“ is harmonized enigmatically.
Tyran Grillo, DOWNBEAT, January 2020, 4 stars
For understated reinvention of the familiar, cool virtuosity, and the seductive ECM sense of a long gestation preceding and succeeding the recording, German pianist and composer Julia Hülsmann’s Not Far from Here is a standout. Hülsmann, who has been releasing subtle ECM gems with trio partners Marc Muellbauer and Heinrich Köbberling on bass and drums for a decade, has now added traditional-to-freeblasting Berlin tenor saxophonist Uli Kempendorff.
John Fordham, THE GUARDIAN, Album of the Month, Nov 2019German pianist Julia Hülsmann offers a view from the outside, entrusting the raw emotion to tenor saxophonist Uli Kempendorff.
Nate Chinen, NPR, December 2019Kempendorff ist ein zupackend-markanter Solist, von kürzelhaften Splittern über einen sonor-lyrischen Balladenton bis zu hoch-expressiven Passagen.
FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU, Juli 2019, Stefan MichalzikEs war eine packende Bebop-Exkursion als Höhepunkt einer Reihe unterschiedlichster Stücke zwischen Monks Mysterien und Hülsmanns Elegien, angereichert mit klaren Basskonturen von Marc Muellbauer, unaufdringlich auf Zusammenhalt achtenden Schlagmustern von Heinrich Köbberling und einem wundersamen Tenorsaxophon von Uli Kempendorff, das mit seinen schön geschwungenen, hohen Melismen den Anspruch anmeldete, ein Altsaxophon sein zu wollen. Was kein Fehler sein muss. Es gab immer Jazzmusiker, die scheinbar gegen ihr Instrument opponierten und damit Neues hervorgebracht haben. In der Stadt Albert Mangelsdorffs, des Widerstandkämpfers gegen die sperrige Posaune, weiß man so etwas.
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG, Wolfgang Sandner, Juli 2019Für „Not Far From Here“ holt Hülsmann nun den Tenorsaxophonisten Uli Kempendorff zu dem Bassisten Marc Muellbauer und dem Schlagzeuger Heinrich Köbberling ins Team, das damit zu einem der maßgeblichen Quartette des zeitgenössischen Jazz in Deutschland wird. (…) ein in der Gewichtung von Raumwirkung und musikalischer Energie vorbildlich audiophiles und gestalterisch inspiriertes Quartett-Album.
STEREOPLAY 11/2019Mit Kempendorff, einem unakademisch originellen Freigeist, der sich trotzdem stilsicher im Bandkontext zu verankern weiß, gelingt das paradox anmutende Kunststück, das angestammte Trio nicht nur zu erweitern, sondern es genau dadurch in seinem Kern nochmals zu schärfen. Eine meisterhafte Einspielung: klangästhetisch konturiert und doch von gestalterischer Freiheit, meditativ in sich ruhend und doch hell nach außen leuchtend.
DEUTSCHLANDFUNK Tonart 12/2019FIELD:
“Heal The Rich” richtet sich denn auch nur vordergründig an einen kleinen Personenkreis, in Wirklichkeit ist es gedacht für alle Menschen, die da Ohren haben zu hören.”
TAZ, März 2016"The melodies veer at sharp angles, and in the rhythms, turbulence is the standard rule of engagement. Tenor saxophonist Uli Kempendorff, vibraphonist Christopher Dell, double bassist Jonas Westergaard, and drummer Peter Bruun express a curious form of lyricism, and perfect a method for crafting fluid statements from unconventional phrasings." Dave Sumner: The Best Jazz on Bandcamp: July 2021
„Anarchisch, voller rhythmischer Verschiebungen, und doch groovte es mächtig. Die vier Berliner Jazzer sind musikalische Freigeister, verwegene Tüftler und Klangverfremder, die zwischen komplex Arrangiertem und freien, aufgelösten Strukturen Geniales zuwege bringen. Ihr Quartettspiel wahrt bei allen Freiheiten immer den Blick für die Querverbindungen und spannenden Verflechtungen: unabhängig und doch immer mit Bezug zueinander.“ RHEIN NECKAR ZEITUNG, Mai 2018
"(…) wie die vier Musiker plötzlich eine leuchtende Klangkollage in den Raum modellieren, leise, versonnen, mit singenden Becken und hellen Glockentönen, ist in seiner pastellenen Farbigkeit wirklich zauberhaft. Eine Musik wie von einem Windspiel, flüchtig, schwebend.
Julia Hülsmann Quartett und Field, 2015-2020 (February 2020)
Zwischen diesen beiden Polen der Ausdrucksintensität, zwischen Windspiel und Jimi Hendrix, bewegt sich dieses Konzert und bietet damit eine Fülle von atmosphärischen Eindrücken und musikalischen Gestaltungsweisen.”
SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, November 2015