D I M E N S I O N A L I T Y
Dimensionality is the quartet of four veterans of jazz and improvised music: pianist Ursel Schlicht, bassist
Ken Filiano, drummer Lou Grassi, and vocalist Andrea Wolper. While each member of the group has
played with the others in any number of configurations over many years, they had never played as a
quartet until Schlicht organized Dimensionality. Created to honor the free-thinking pianist-composer
Connie Crothers (1938-2016), Schlicht named the group for Crothers' frequent statement about life and
music: "It's dimensional!"
Dimensionality made its debut at the Kassel and Göttingen jazz festivals in 2017, and since then has
appeared at numerous venues in New York City. The quartet moves easily from free improvisations to
expansive explorations of composed music, bringing spontaneity, honesty, and the joy of discovery to
their performances.
Filiano, Grassi, and Wolper frequently appear in the New York (and beyond) jazz and creative music
scenes, while Schlicht, living in her native Germany after several years in New York, returns frequently to
perform in the U.S.
About Connie Crothers: A classically trained pianist and composer from California, Crothers changed the course of her life when she moved to New York in the 1960s to study with pianist Lennie Tristano.
Mentored by Tristano, Crothers ultimately "built her own identity as an inventive composer, improviser,
and instructor" (Rusonello, The New York Times). A close association with drummer Max Roach in the
1980s led to the formation of the record label New Artists, and the release of the piano- drums duet
recording, "Swish!" Crothers performed in the U.S. and Europe, leading her own quartet, performing as
a solo artist, and performing and recording in a number of creative collaborations, including the free
improvisation trio, TranceFormation with Filiano and Wolper. She inspired a wide community of
musicians with her generous, open-minded, creative approach to performing and teaching.
More at:
tinyurl.com/RememberingConnie by Ursel Schlicht