Dieter Ulrich

Dieter Ulrich, born in Zürich in 1958, is a Swiss drummer, improviser and art historian who also performs on flugelhorn and bugle. He studied piano with Irma Schaichet and began teaching himself drums in the early 1970s. Active in Swiss jazz and improvised music for several decades, he has developed a flexible percussion language that moves between rhythmic momentum, close ensemble listening and open-ended musical conversation.

Ulrich's work has included groups with Harald Haerter, Omri Ziegele and Urs Blöchlinger, as well as the ensemble Day & Night with saxophonist Christoph Gallio. He performed with his own quintet at the Zürich Jazz Festival in 1988 and was a member of AfroGarage with Christoph Baumann and Jacques Siron. Alongside his musical activity, he studied art history at the University of Zürich and has published research on sculpture and art theory.

His Creative Sources discography includes Breakin’Up (CS308), recorded live in Zürich with saxophonist Christoph Irniger and double bassist Daniel Studer, and Day & Bus (CS720), a trio with Christoph Gallio and Dominique Girod recorded in Bern in 2021. Across these recordings, Ulrich's percussion supports shifting interactions between improvised form, contrasting dynamics and small-group responsiveness.