Michael Schiefel
German
德國
http://www.michaelschiefel.com
http://www.myspace.com/michaelschiefel
Inspired by a desire to join the emerging post-Wall jazz scene, Michael Schiefel moved to Berlin in the early 1990s to study at the city’s renowned University of the Arts. Since then, he has dazzled his fans at home and abroad with an array of solo and band projects that have yielded a dozen albums over the past decade.
To date, Michael has released three solo albums. His first work, Invisible Loop (1997), was hailed as one of the most promising debut albums of the decade; while his second release—a more introspective album entitled I Don't Belong (2001)—met with equally critical acclaim. Michael's latest solo album, Don't Touch My Animals, comes out in September 2006. The album features songs about love and life in the big city and between the continents.
In all of his solo projects, Michael experiments with his distinctive virtuoso voice by combining it with loop machines and other electronic devices. In conjunction with his original compositions and lyrics, this dynamic mixture of vocals and electronics produces strikingly unique ways of expressing passion, joy, and alienation.
In addition to his solo performances, Michael collaborates with many other musicians on a wide range of projects. But no matter what genre he sings—be it funk and pop with JazzIndeed, classical-inspired big band with Thaerichen's Tentett, modern jazz with David Friedman, or Balkan beats with the German-Bulgarian quintet Batoru—Michael's multifaceted voice receives consistently high praise from audiences and critics alike.
圍牆倒下後的柏林爵士樂圈子有著無限感染力，吸引著Michael Schiefel於1990年間前赴當地著名藝術大學修業。由此，在家鄉和海外的樂迷得以欣賞到Michael十年間十數張在個人及與樂隊合作的專輯。
現時Michael已出版了三張個人專輯，而第一張個人專輯<Invisible Loop> (1997)被譽為十年間其中一張最有前途的首張個人專輯，第二張較具反思性的個人專輯<I Don’t Belong> (2001)，亦得到相當評價。Michael最新一張個人專輯<Don’t Touch My Animals>於2006年9月面世，其中歌曲內容圍繞大城市以及各個大陸間的愛與生命。
在他的個人專輯內，Michael實驗性地將其獨特而具藝術性的聲音，以混音器及其他電子合成器融合，加上他的原創樂曲與歌詞，這種會合歌聲與電子的多元化合成，創製出獨一無二的表達方式，傳遞著歌曲當中的熱情、喜樂以及疏離。
除了個人演出外，Michael亦與很多不同的音樂人合作，不論是JazzIndeed的funk與pop、Thaerichen Tentett的傳統大樂隊、David Friedman的現代爵士樂、德國與比利時帶有巴爾幹特色五人組合Batoru等，Michael都能結合其中，聽眾和樂評人都對他多材多藝的聲音有著高度評價。
在2001年，Michael加入位於威瑪的Franz Liszt Conservatory擔任聲樂教授，成為德國最年輕的教授。除了在無數的歐洲音樂節演出以及任教大師班以外，他亦獲邀成為美國、非州以至亞州的歌德學院的演出嘉賓。