Germany

Ulrich Drechsler began to learn clarinet, at the age of nine, in the brass band of his hometown in southwest Germany. During his preparation for a classical oriented study of music, he discovered his interest and love for improvised music. Finally, he decided to move to Graz, Austria for studying jazz saxophone and composition at the local art academy between 1992 and 1998.

Since 1998 Ulrich Drechsler lives and works in Vienna and established himself, within a few years on national and international level, as one of the most successful musicians and composers in the field of jazz and popular music in Austria.

His first project, under his own name, the acoustic trio Café Drechsler caused a sensation, achieved several placements in international charts and was signed to the major label Universal Music. In 2005 Ulrich was awarded the Austrian Amadeus Music Award for the best album in the jazz/blues category for the band’s second album.

Since then, he has released about 15 albums under his own name, some of which have also been nominated and awarded: the “Café Drechsler”, his collaborations with outstanding international pianists like the Norwegian Tord Gustavsen or Italian Stefano Battaglia, his unique Ulrich Drechsler Cello Quartet (a quartet consisting of bass clarinet, drums and two cellos), a solo Thelonious Monk program and many more.

In the last 10 years, Ulrich Drechsler has given concerts with his projects at festivals and clubs all over the world. He works closely with many cultural forums of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs worldwide and is often invited as a representative of the Austrian music scene.

In addition to his work as an active musician, he is a successful composer and producer of film soundtracks as well. Also, he creates workshop concepts with the idea of helping musicians to develop their personal artistic identity and authenticity.

In addition to the saxophone, Ulrich is a specialist for the bass clarinet and the rarely played basset horn and is a renowned interpreter of these instruments worldwide. His music is multi-layered and inspired by influences from jazz, neoclassicism, film music and electronics.

The current album “And NOW…Boogie!”, by the band Café Drechsler, was released by Universal Music in 2017.

In 2020/21, after three years of preparation, his most ambitious project to date is released with the musical platform LIMINAL ZONE. In the form of the three individual projects “Caramel”, “Azure” and “Chrome” contained in LIMINAL ZONE, Ulrich Drechsler processes his multi-layered ideas and inspirations, which are gradually released with own concert series, several album releases and presentations.

Ulrich Drechsler is under contract with the major label Universal Music and the renowned German record label Enja Yellowbird.

Ulrich Drechsler is an official Henri Selmer/Paris clarinet artist and exclusively plays Bradford Behn mouthpieces, Abelet ligatures and Gonzalez reeds.