LISA ULLÉN

Avant-Garde Jazz / Post-Fusion Contemporary / Jazz Related Improv/Composition • Korea
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For Lisa Ullén, Elsa Bergman, Anna Lund trio Space search under "Space".

Many musicians cite specific individuals as key influences, but for Swedish pianist Lisa Ullén, a particular community provided one of the strongest impacts upon her art.

She’s one of Stockholm’s most versatile, probing, and skilled musicians—qualities that have allowed her to thrive in all kinds of settings, whether in free improvisation or working in theater—and she’s said that encountering members of the collective behind the artist-run space Fylkingen in the early ’90s was crucial to her creative development.

“Over the years, I’ve met so many musicians, composers, and artists through Fylkingen who have influenced me on many levels,” said Ullén, 53. “I have listened to the best concert performance in my life there. I also first heard the pianist Sten Sandell, who has been a very important and supportive friend and colleague.”

Indeed, her circuitous path forward has embraced a wide
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LISA ULLÉN Discography

LISA ULLÉN albums / top albums

LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén Quartet ‎: Big Bang Och Kosmos Mer Harmoniska Utveckling album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Lisa Ullén Quartet ‎: Big Bang Och Kosmos Mer Harmoniska Utveckling
Avant-Garde Jazz 2006
LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén Quartet ‎: Revolution Rock album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Lisa Ullén Quartet ‎: Revolution Rock
Avant-Garde Jazz 2009
LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén & Nina de Heney : Carve album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Lisa Ullén & Nina de Heney : Carve
Avant-Garde Jazz 2009
LISA ULLÉN Catachresis album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Catachresis
Avant-Garde Jazz 2011
LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullen, Mariam Wallentin & Nina de Heney : Nuiversum - Ballads Of Now And When album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Lisa Ullen, Mariam Wallentin & Nina de Heney : Nuiversum - Ballads Of Now And When
Post-Fusion Contemporary 2015
LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén Quartet : Borderlands album cover 3.50 | 1 ratings
Lisa Ullén Quartet : Borderlands
Avant-Garde Jazz 2016
LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén-Nina de Heney duo feat Charlotte Hug : Quarrtsiluni album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Lisa Ullén-Nina de Heney duo feat Charlotte Hug : Quarrtsiluni
Avant-Garde Jazz 2016
LISA ULLÉN Piano Works album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Piano Works
Jazz Related Improv/Composition 2018
LISA ULLÉN Ullén-Williamsson-Carlsson : slow dance album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Ullén-Williamsson-Carlsson : slow dance
Avant-Garde Jazz 2020
LISA ULLÉN Heirloom album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Heirloom
Avant-Garde Jazz 2024

LISA ULLÉN EPs & splits

LISA ULLÉN LU/DL album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
LU/DL
Avant-Garde Jazz 2009
LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén-Nina de Heney duo feat. Mariam Wallentin : More album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Lisa Ullén-Nina de Heney duo feat. Mariam Wallentin : More
Post-Fusion Contemporary 2012

LISA ULLÉN live albums

LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén Quartet ‎: Big Bang album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Lisa Ullén Quartet ‎: Big Bang
Avant-Garde Jazz 2006
LISA ULLÉN Ullen - Dora - Mazur Trio : Behind and Beyond album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Ullen - Dora - Mazur Trio : Behind and Beyond
Avant-Garde Jazz 2010
LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén / Nina de Heney / Okkyung Lee : Look Right album cover 3.50 | 1 ratings
Lisa Ullén / Nina de Heney / Okkyung Lee : Look Right
Avant-Garde Jazz 2013
LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén, Torsten Muller : Into The Staring Town album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Lisa Ullén, Torsten Muller : Into The Staring Town
Jazz Related Improv/Composition 2015
LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén & Angharad Davies : 14.10.18 album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Lisa Ullén & Angharad Davies : 14.10.18
Avant-Garde Jazz 2019
LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén & Nina de Heney : Hydrozoa album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Lisa Ullén & Nina de Heney : Hydrozoa
Avant-Garde Jazz 2020

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LISA ULLÉN Reviews

LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén Quartet : Borderlands

Album · 2016 · Avant-Garde Jazz
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
snobb
Korea-born Sweden-residing pianist Lisa Ullen is probably better known outside of Sweden by her collaborations with another Korean ex-patriot, New York resident cellist Okkyung Lee. In Nordic countries Lisa is well-known as highly experimental contemporary classic/improvisational/jazz musician.

Ullen debut album as leader has been released right a decade ago. Even if "Borderlands" is third quartet's album, and the line-up isn't changed a lot during these years(the only different member on new release is bassist Nils Ölmedal,who changed Ulf Åkerhielm participated on debut album), Lisa Ullen Quartet isn't a working band.Just time to time experienced members busy with other works reunite for recording of some new material.Of all three other quartet musicians,trombonist Mats Äleklint is probably most known artist (member of leading Nordic jazz bands Angles, Fire!Orchestra, All Included,Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, etc).Drummer Andreas Axelsson is better known as singer/vocalist in different metal bands(incl. Marduk,Edge Of Sanity,etc).Bassist Ulf Åkerhielm is a member of less known but excellent Brus Trio,the band which recorded with Roscoe Mitchell,John Tchicai and Charles Tyler.

Still, the music on Ullen Quartet third album isn't typical Scandinavian melodic and eclectic mix of jazz,rock and Balkan rhythms as one could probably expect from line-up. One of Lisa's more "jazzy" project, the Quartet plays quirky mix of free jazz, contemporary classical avant-garde and free improvisation. There are lot of rhythms,overlapping structures and distorted trombone sounds, Ullen piano techniques are obviously influenced by Cecil Taylor (or better to say Masahiko Satoh - kind of "Japanese Cecil Taylor" with very percussive playing but differently from Taylor on Far-Eastern manner free of emotional coloring).

There are lot of silence as part of music, not everything works and 53-minutes long album sounds too long at the final part. But at their best moments Quartet demonstrates vital and even playful eclectic modern avant-garde jazz, influenced by everything and influencing many other musical genres.

LISA ULLÉN Lisa Ullén / Nina de Heney / Okkyung Lee : Look Right

Live album · 2013 · Avant-Garde Jazz
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
snobb
The duo of piano player Lisa Ullen and acoustic bassist Nina de Heney is a respected act on the Swedish experimental scene and the Swedish Radio "Artist Of The Year" nomination winner in 2012. Their previously released works demonstrate quite an individual combination of modern classical avant-garde and minimalist improvisations. On "Look Right", the Swedish duo is improved with the addition of Korean cellist Okkyung Lee. After spending years in New York and being an important member of the down town musical community, Lee moved to Europe earlier this year and found a new home in Berlin. Her solo cello album, recorded in Norway earlier this year, was full of raw vibrations, dark noise and Eastern meditation - not a very usual combination, which worked perfectly presented by Lee.

Here, being a guest of the minimalist chamber duo, Lee adds her scratching brutality in very controlled dozes, avoiding destroying the fragile beauty of piano-bass aerial constructions. Music on this album is fully improvised so there is no order, rhythmic structures or tunes, but different from the dominant avant-garde trends, it isn't noisy, distorted or aggressive. It is quite a unique combination of European chamber avant-garde, minimalism, Eastern meditative traditions and modern urban (punk?) street-wise aesthetics. Very free form compositions are acupunctured with staccato strings, keys and instrument body sounds into true musical ikebana with ideal harmony, proportions and ascetic beauty. Seven compositions of different atmosphere and energy are presented as seven different pictures of the same street, all related but never repeating. "Look Right" is a successful and intriguing collaborative work.

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