biographical information

I got my first guitar & amp around 1974 when I was about 14 years old. I liked to play loud. After playing in different bands in stylistic areas as diverse as Rock, Fusion, Blues, Funk, Experimental/Free and one year of classical guitar lessons, around 1980 a friend let me listen to a recording (a 33rpm single) of "A night in Tunisia" with Dizzy and Charles Parker. That was a nice surprise and I collected more "music like that", got a teacher, bought books and went to jam sessions while I kept my Blues and Experimental gigs.
I studied at Berklee College of Music, Boston in 1984, took private lessons from Mike Metheny and met John Scofield. From 85 to 89 I studied at the Amsterdam School of the Arts, Hilversum, The Netherlands with Wim Overgaauw, Viktor Kaihatu and Frans Elsen.

In 1986 I started to work with my own trio (then with Erik Robaard, bass and Jürgen Welge, drums) on a regular basis. From`87 on I did quite a bit of touring with the quartet "Brassless", a CD was released in 1991.
I also played/recorded with a.o. Red Holloway, Houston Person, Maria de Fatima, Sigi Busch, Jerry Granelly, Paquito D´Rivera, Joris Teepe, Rick Hollander, "Grooveyard", Roman Schwaller, Wolfgang Ekholt, Luciano Biondini, Walter Lang, Martin Schrack, Jean-Yves Jung, Henning Sieverts, Falk Willis, Oliver Kent, Martin Classen, Dan Kostelnik, Duck Scott, Josè Cortijo, Thomas Stabenow, Tony Lakatos, Hermann Breuer, Keith Copeland, Jean-Marc Robin, Mathias Ruegg, Jon Sass, Adrian Mears, "Weathertunes", "Lemongrass".
At informal meetings - like sessions, rehearsals etc. - I had a chance to play with Billy James, Bill Elgart, Andy Middleton, Roy Hargrove, Byron Landham, Jiggs Wigham, ...

Festivals: Perugia (Umbria Jazz Festival), Thüringer Festival Gitarre/Weltmusik, Hannover, Burghausen, Leverkusen, Schweinfurt, Jazzmeile Thüringen, Worms, Gronau, Fulda, München ...

Radio/TV: A number of concert appearances were aired by BR (Bavarian Radiostation):
- MICHAEL ARLT TRIO feat. MARIA DE FATIMA
- GROOVEYARD & RED HOLLOWAY
- WE THREE feat. JOSÉ CORTIJO (Live)
- WE THREE feat. JOSÉ CORTIJO (Studio)
- WÜRZBURG JAZZ ORCHESTRA feat. Michael Arlt - Continental Call Suite (`05)
- WÜRZBURG JAZZ ORCHESTRA - The other side of MozArt (`06 )
- MICHAEL ARLT INTERNATIONAL QUARTET (`07)
- WÜRZBURG JAZZ ORCHESTRA feat. Thomas Gansch - Tribute to Don Ellis (`07)
- WÜRZBURG JAZZ ORCHESTRA & special guest Herbert Joos - WJO plays the music of `United Jazz & Rock Ensemble´(`08)
- WE THREE feat. Dan Kostelnik & Scott Neumann (`09)

and by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR):
- WE THREE (`07)

BR tv showed GROOVEYARD w/special guests: Red Holloway - Houston Person from International Jazzweek Burghausen.

CDs have been featured regularly on national and local radiostations including WDR, SDR, BR, Deutschlandfunk, MDR, Radio Jazz Copenhagen, WVOF Fairfield, CT; Radio 2 Skopje - Macedonia and many local stations.
MDR did a 30 minute feature `Michael Arlt & WE THREE´ in june 2002.
Radio Umland, Bremen, produced a 60 minute program about me ( interview/music ) in august 2005 and during our november `09 Tour, a program about WE THREE and the new `Moment To Moment!´ CD was broadcast.

From 1990 - 2001 I taught guitar, harmony and ensemble, all from a jazz perspective, at Hermann-Zilcher Konservatorium, Würzburg. Since 2001 I am teaching at Hochschule für Musik, Würzburg ( www.hfm-wuerzburg.de ).
Also, over the years I did a number of workshops, among them workshops at music colleges and universitys in Bremen, Duisburg or at Berklee College of Music, Boston.

MY CD'S