Sabine Kühlich
© Alexandra Soupourtzi
Sabine Kühlich captivates audiences with her magic and innovation. She is creative and expressive, one of Germany's most outstanding jazz singers, according to Belgian radio. “She sings uninhibitedly, courageously and sexily. And she does so with such naturalness, as if she had absorbed the traditional American form of jazz with her mother's milk.” (3sat) She is credited with “perfect timing” (Barry Harris, NY), as well as an extraordinary feeling for swing and scat singing (Patti Austin). Sabine sings, composes, writes lyrics, accompanies/soloes on the piano and plays passionate “bossa nova saxophone”.
She was infected with the jazz virus in East Germany: before reunification, behind the Wall – the desire for freedom reflected jazz music in her soul. Classical piano lessons from the age of six, saxophone at 15, big band, Ellington Orchestra and her parents' diverse record collection broadened her musical horizons: chanson, jazz, organ, piano music, operetta, swing... She later studied in Amsterdam and New York, winning prizes and scholarships, including the legendary SHURE Montreux JAZZ VOICE Competition in 2008. Since 1998, Sabine has performed in well over 2,000 concerts in small clubs and on the stages of major festivals, from Europe to Asia, America and Brazil. An enthusiastic mother, she lives with her husband and two sons in Aachen in the border triangle of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, and trains the young generation of jazz singers at the Conservatorium van Maastricht – as a musical and geographical border crosser.
Sabine's music is characterised by her own story, marked by the search for identity and authentic expression: she combines elements of jazz, contemporary freedom, and European tradition with improvisation. It is precisely this element that appeals to her – “improvising crazy like a fox” (Arne van Coillie), she takes surprising paths, mixes melody and sound, chooses percussive sounds – sometimes with the flair of South American music, whistled solos, spherical imitation of a trombone and, of course, classic scat singing. The swing of nightclubs, hot bebop or cool jazz – a vocal approach draws on history and takes it on a journey. In this way, she creates highly original, lively music that draws on the musical charm of tradition, reflecting it and reinterpreting it. Her own compositions with her own lyrics/collaborations in German, French, English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Indonesian reveal the European, the citizen of the world. The tribute to Caterina Valente is dedicated to this stylistic and linguistic diversity. In her projects, she works across generations – Sheila Jordan (1928), Greetje Kauffeld, Paul Kuhn and Prof. Ilse Storb from the first generation can meet very young talents such as Peter Willems (1999).
Sabine playfully transports her audience into a world of soul and imagination with a pulsating groove – a heartbeat – she tells stories and takes her listeners on an imaginary journey through her art of improvisation in countless languages.
She was infected with the jazz virus in East Germany: before reunification, behind the Wall – the desire for freedom reflected jazz music in her soul. Classical piano lessons from the age of six, saxophone at 15, big band, Ellington Orchestra and her parents' diverse record collection broadened her musical horizons: chanson, jazz, organ, piano music, operetta, swing... She later studied in Amsterdam and New York, winning prizes and scholarships, including the legendary SHURE Montreux JAZZ VOICE Competition in 2008. Since 1998, Sabine has performed in well over 2,000 concerts in small clubs and on the stages of major festivals, from Europe to Asia, America and Brazil. An enthusiastic mother, she lives with her husband and two sons in Aachen in the border triangle of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, and trains the young generation of jazz singers at the Conservatorium van Maastricht – as a musical and geographical border crosser.
Sabine's music is characterised by her own story, marked by the search for identity and authentic expression: she combines elements of jazz, contemporary freedom, and European tradition with improvisation. It is precisely this element that appeals to her – “improvising crazy like a fox” (Arne van Coillie), she takes surprising paths, mixes melody and sound, chooses percussive sounds – sometimes with the flair of South American music, whistled solos, spherical imitation of a trombone and, of course, classic scat singing. The swing of nightclubs, hot bebop or cool jazz – a vocal approach draws on history and takes it on a journey. In this way, she creates highly original, lively music that draws on the musical charm of tradition, reflecting it and reinterpreting it. Her own compositions with her own lyrics/collaborations in German, French, English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Indonesian reveal the European, the citizen of the world. The tribute to Caterina Valente is dedicated to this stylistic and linguistic diversity. In her projects, she works across generations – Sheila Jordan (1928), Greetje Kauffeld, Paul Kuhn and Prof. Ilse Storb from the first generation can meet very young talents such as Peter Willems (1999).
Sabine playfully transports her audience into a world of soul and imagination with a pulsating groove – a heartbeat – she tells stories and takes her listeners on an imaginary journey through her art of improvisation in countless languages.