Michael Wollny | ||
| Allmusic Biography : b. 1978, Schweinfurt, Germany. A gifted pianist, Wollny has attracted considerable attention in his homeland during his still relatively short career. Influenced by darkly brooding concepts not only from music but also from literature, film and painting, his composing and playing have benefited from deep and careful study of the work of musicians, writers, filmmakers and painters. These have included musicians Richie Beirach, Björk, Jarvis Cocker, Peter Fulda, Keith Jarrett, Joachim Kühn, Chris Morris, Walter Quintus, Steve Reich and John Taylor, filmmakers Dario Argento, Luis Buñuel, David Cronenberg, Werner Herzog, David Lynch, Chris Marker and Alain Resnais and painter Charlotte McGowan-Griffin. For example, Wollny chose on his 2007 recording Hexentanz to build musical analogies to gothic novels. Seeking and finding dark undertones to the themes he develops, his brooding music is not always immediately understood but requires unrestricted thought and emotional openness from his audiences. Wollny brings into his compositions and performances an acute awareness of classical music past and present, as well as the full range of jazz piano. Wollny performs solo and also as leader of a trio with Eva Kruse (bass) and Eric Schaefer (drums). This trio, named [em], has attracted considerable attention in Germany and has also led to critical praise in Italy, Scandinavia, the UK and Eire. Among compositions played by [em] are ‘Another Mr Lizard’, ‘Bells’ and ‘Takashi’ by Wollny, ‘Schneefall’ and ‘Brizzle’ by Kruse, and ‘Phlegma Phighter’, ‘Gorilla Biscuits’ and ‘Funebre’ by Schaefer. Wollny has also played in groups led by trombonist Bob Brookmeyer and has recorded in duo with veteran German free jazz saxophonist Heinz Sauer, with whom, in addition to original works, he plays music by composers as diverse as Björk, Billy Strayhorn, Thelonious Monk and Gil Evans. In 2007, Wollny won the Jazzpreis der Nürnberger Nachrichten and [em] was named as Most Promising International Newcomer Of The Year at the Ronnie Scott Jazz Awards. The trio was recorded live at the Vortex, London, in May 2007. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 14 Title: Melancholia Released: 2005-04-01 Tracks: 18 Duration: 50:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 ABC (02:31) 2 Space Cake (01:49) 3 Dry Icarus (01:45) 4 Crows on the Roof (02:41) 5 Welcome to What You Think You Hear (03:15) 6 Blue Print (02:07) 7 Deep River (03:21) 8 Sculptor (01:41) 9 Out of Diversity (04:46) 10 Trouble With Mutation (02:42) 11 Dreaming Field (02:37) 12 Round Midnight (05:30) 13 Melancholia (01:08) 14 Deep Sea (02:03) 15 Seven Sharp (02:49) 16 Ursa Minor (02:18) 17 Welcome To What You Hear (02:00) 18 Dont Explain (05:05) |
 | Album: 2 of 14 Title: Certain Beauty Released: 2006-02-24 Tracks: 15 Duration: 49:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Stay on "C" (02:43) 2 Where Is the Line (03:06) 3 I Loves You Porgy (04:31) 4 Evidence (02:36) 5 Kiesers Exchange (03:13) 6 Nothing Compares 2 U (02:45) 7 Ruby My Dear (04:11) 8 Blues for Pablo (04:23) 9 Certain Beauty (03:16) 10 Laughing at Dinosaurs (01:41) 11 Lover Man (03:59) 12 Believe Beleft Below (03:29) 13 Chelsea Bridge (03:05) 14 Tangent A (02:13) 15 Lush Life (04:14) |
 | Album: 3 of 14 Title: Hexentanz - Piano Works VII Released: 2007-02-23 Tracks: 17 Duration: 52:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Initiation (04:27) 2 Schubertiade: Der Doppelgänger (02:37) 3 Schubertiade: Das Irrlicht (02:39) 4 Schubertiade: Der Schatten (02:00) 5 Schubertiade: Der Wanderer (02:28) 6 Anchor Song (02:30) 7 Hexentanz: Teil 1 (02:56) 8 Hexentanz: Teil 2 (03:40) 9 Hexentanz: Teil 3 (02:12) 10 Hexentanz: Teil 4 (02:01) 11 Hexentanz: Teil 5 (03:01) 12 Spell / Enchantment (04:47) 13 Augmented Time (04:13) 14 Where Is The Line (03:23) 15 Spuk (02:38) 16 Die lebenden Puppen (03:08) 17 Joga (03:37) |
 | Album: 4 of 14 Title: Piano Works IX: Joachim Kühn & Michael Wollny live at Schloss Elmau Released: 2009 Tracks: 6 Duration: 53:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 The Colours of the Wind (03:07) 2 Hexentanz (14:16) 3 Elmau (07:46) 4 Chaconne (13:14) 5 Seawalk (09:25) 6 Encore (05:27) |
 | Album: 5 of 14 Title: Wunderkammer Released: 2009 Tracks: 12 Duration: 51:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Stundenglas (04:51) 2 Kabinett II (05:14) 3 Chur (04:20) 4 Kabinett III (03:44) 5 Kabinett IV (03:56) 6 Mesmer (04:16) 7 Palimpsest (03:24) 8 Kabinett VI (05:58) 9 Sagée (06:02) 10 Kabinett V (03:31) 11 Amethyst (02:54) 12 Kabinett I (03:15) |
 | Album: 6 of 14 Title: If (Blue) Then (Blue) Released: 2010-01-08 Tracks: 16 Duration: 53:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 All Blues (03:33) 2 Tantricity (03:11) 3 Sophisticated Lady (03:58) 4 Actors (03:04) 5 Lost Silhouettes (03:55) 6 Blue in Green (02:44) 7 Tutatis (02:55) 8 La Belle Rancune (02:15) 9 Blue and Other Notes (03:28) 10 Flamenco Sketches (03:35) 11 Egodeology (03:07) 12 Lover Man (03:15) 13 There Again (03:31) 14 In a Sentimental Mood (04:41) 15 Go From Here (03:05) 16 Still Around Redford (03:09) |
 | Album: 7 of 14 Title: The ACT Jubilee Concert Released: 2012 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:43:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Pasodoble (04:56) 2 Sleep Safe and Warm (05:52) 3 Svantetic (06:03) 4 The Tears of Billie Blue - Clair de Lune (06:37) 5 Stars in Your Eyes (06:45) 6 Hymn (07:00) 7 The One Goes in Four (11:23) 1 Little Wing (07:49) 2 Lonely Dancer (04:58) 3 ZigZag Blues (05:47) 4 Silent Way (06:14) 5 Dodge the Dodo (08:50) 6 Love Is Real (05:42) 7 Purple Haze (15:26) |
 | Album: 8 of 14 Title: Dont Explain - Live in Concert Released: 2012 Tracks: 10 Duration: 51:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 All Blues (06:40) 2 Nothing Compares 2 U (05:09) 3 Dont Explain (09:26) 4 Wenn Der Pastor Im Grünen Hemd… (02:58) 5 Open Fields (03:08) 6 There Again (05:43) 7 Make You Feel My Love (06:00) 8 Believe Beleft Below (04:21) 9 Space Cake (04:12) 10 Kind of Blues (03:21) |
 | Album: 9 of 14 Title: Jazz At Berlin Philharmonic I Released: 2013-03-22 Tracks: 8 Duration: 56:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Aria And Goldberg Variation (07:12) 2 Tears For Esbjörn (06:53) 3 Hexentanz (10:22) 4 No Message (05:28) 5 Incognitor (05:33) 6 Svantetic (06:34) 7 Suffering (08:08) 8 Armando’s Rumba (06:16) |
 | Album: 10 of 14 Title: Wunderkammer XXL Released: 2013-08-30 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:49:01 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Stundenglas (04:51) 2 Kabinett II (05:14) 3 Chur (04:20) 4 Kabinett III (03:44) 5 Mesmer (03:56) 6 Kabinett IV (04:16) 7 Palimpsest (03:24) 8 Kabinett VI (05:58) 9 Sagée (06:02) 10 Kabinett V (03:31) 11 Amethyst (02:54) 12 Kabinett I (03:15) 1 Kabinett II (06:58) 2 Kabinett IV (07:55) 3 Kabinett V (05:55) 4 Monsters: Symmetriads (06:52) 5 Kabinett VI (07:14) 6 Sagée (07:57) 7 Hexentanz I - III (09:06) 8 Hexentanz IV - V (05:39) |
 | Album: 11 of 14 Title: Weltentraum Concert Edition: Live at the Unterfahrt Released: 2014 Tracks: 8 Duration: 51:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Engel (05:43) 2 When the Sleeper Wakes (06:18) 3 Redux (04:47) 4 Whale (10:06) 5 Gravité (02:58) 6 Ihr Bild (06:52) 7 When Im Laid in Earth (08:13) 8 Gorilla Buiscuits (06:28) |
 | Album: 12 of 14 Title: Tandem Released: 2016-09-23 Tracks: 10 Duration: 45:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Song Yet Untitled (04:16) 2 Adagio for Strings (05:45) 3 Hunter (03:55) 4 Bells (03:13) 5 Did You Say Rotenberg? (05:02) 6 Sirènes (04:03) 7 Uniskate (04:03) 8 Vignette (04:02) 9 Fourth of July (04:33) 10 Travesuras (06:19) |
 | Album: 13 of 14 Title: Out of Land Released: 2017 Tracks: 5 Duration: 47:39 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Air Song (04:35) 2 B&H (09:55) 3 Kabinett V (09:12) 4 Rezeusler (10:19) 5 Ukuhamba (13:38) |
 | Album: 14 of 14 Title: 4 Wheel Drive Released: 2019-03-15 Tracks: 12 Duration: 50:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Polygon (03:42) 2 Another Day in Paradise (04:33) 3 Lady Madonna (04:14) 4 Shadows in the Rain (03:53) 5 Lobito (03:34) 6 Maybe Im Amazed (03:46) 7 Shes Always a Woman (05:42) 8 Le chat sur toit (05:28) 9 Just the Way You Are (04:00) 10 If You Love Somebody Set Them Free (03:53) 11 Thats All (04:25) 12 4WD (03:26) |