Torben Ulrich obit

Torben Ulrich, Beloved Father of Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, Dead at 95

The tennis pro was best known for a Some Kind of Monster scene where he tells son to “delete” a St. Anger song 

He was not on the list.

Torben Ulrich, Danish tennis pro, jazz writer and father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, has died at the age of 95.

Lars shared news of his father’s death in a social media post Wednesday. “Torben Ulrich: 1928-2023 95 years of adventures, unique experiences, curiosity, pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, tennis, music, art, writing….and quite a bit of Danish contrarian attitude,” he wrote. “Thank you endlessly! I love you dad.” The caption was accompanied by a series of photos of his father including a black and white portrait, a magazine cover naming him “The Ageless Guru of Tennis,” and photos of Lars as a child with Torben.

Torben, who gained a reputation as Metallica’s toughest critic, is best known among metal fans for his scene in 2004’s Some Kind Of Monster documentary. When asked for his opinion on a new song during the writing sessions for what would become 2003’s St. Anger record, his father pointedly replied, “I would say, delete that.”

When speaking to Rolling Stone in 1995, Lars reflected on growing up around his father’s love of jazz and fellow musicians. “My dad was always around music. He was hanging out with Sonny Rollins, Don Cherry, Dexter Gordon. Dexter Gordon was my godfather. I used to play with Neneh Cherry when we were little kids. Her stepfather, Don Cherry, lived like six houses from where we lived in Copenhagen,” said Lars. “Those types of people were always around. Even though tennis was his main source of income, my dad was also writing about jazz in the papers in Copenhagen. Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman were always playing in the stereo around the house. Later it was the Doors and Jimi Hendrix.”

In 2021, Torben released his own jazz album at the age of 92. Titled Oakland Moments: Cello, Voice, Reuniting (Rejoicing), project featured him playing alongside cellist and composer Lori Goldston.

Ulrich was born on 4 October 1928 in Copenhagen, the son of Ulla (née Meyer) and tennis player Einer Ulrich. Torben played on the international tennis tour from the late 1940s into the 1970s, and on the international Tennis Grand Masters tour in the 1970s and 1980s. Torben won the Antwerp International singles title on red clay in 1951 and again in 1956 when he defeated Jacques Brichant in the final. He won the Stuttgart Open tournament in 1953 on red clay. He became a professional tennis player when he signed a contract with the World Championship Tennis promoters in early 1969 at 40 years old. In 1976 he was the top-ranked senior player in the world. Ulrich played more than 100 Davis Cup matches for Denmark. In 1977, at a month shy of 49, he became the oldest Davis Cup player in history.

Ulrich apprenticed at Reuters news agency in Copenhagen in the late 1940s and began writing for Danish jazz magazines. In the 1950s he wrote primarily on music for the Danish newspapers Information and Politiken, wrote for contemporary jazz music trade journals, and was co-editor (with Gustava Brandt and Bengt Janus) of the literary magazine Bazar. In the 1960s he had a weekly music column and wrote jazz reviews and roving reports on assorted cultural themes (with illustrator Klaus Albrectsen) for the Danish daily newspaper BT. In the 1970s he contributed to the music periodical M.M. and in the 1980s and 1990s returned to Information writing on music, film, athletics, and culture. In 2003 an anthology of his writings from the 1940s to the 2000s, Jazz, Bold & Buddhisme, edited by Lars Movin, was published (in Danish) by Informations Forlag. Two books of his thin columns of poetry-like texts (in English) were published by Forlaget Bebop: Terninger, Tonefald: 12 Lines, 36 Off-Lines (2005) and Stilhedens Cymbaler (2007)

In the 1950s, Ulrich had a New Orleans-type jazz band, playing clarinet. In the 2000s he was invited to collaborate using voice and texts with the Copenhagen free-jazz trio Clinch (Claus Bøje on drums, Peter Friis Nielsen on bass guitar, Christer Irgens-Møller/keyboards); they released the 2006 album "Dice, Done" (also with Lotte Anker (saxophone) and Steffen Poulsen (electronica)). In 2005 he founded the collaborative improvised music group "Instead Of", composed of Lori Goldston, cello; Angelina Baldoz, trumpet and flutes; Jaison Scott, drums; and Ulrich on voice/texts and "bag of tricks", releasing in 2007 the album "Live on Sonarchy". In 2007 he began recording with Danish pianist Søren Kjærgaard, releasing three albums over the next six years: "Suddenly, Sound: 21 songlines for piano, drainpipe, etc." (2009), "Alphabet, Peaceful, Diminished: 29 Proposals from the Towers of Babble" (2010), and "Meridiana: Lines Toward a Non-local Alchemy" (2014).

 

Singles

Career record            97–145

Career titles            3

Highest ranking            No. 96 (15 October 1973)

Grand Slam singles results

Australian Open    1R (1971)

French Open            4R (1959)

Wimbledon            4R (1959)

US Open            4R (1953, 1956, 1964, 1968)

Doubles

Career record            38–87

Career titles            0

Grand Slam doubles results

Australian Open    2R (1971)

French Open            QF (1968)

Wimbledon            SF (1959)

US Open            2R (1968, 1972, 1973, 1975)