Marcus Klossek

MARCUS KLOSSEK IS A BERLIN-BASED GUITARIST AND COMPOSER AND ONE OF A GROWING NUMBER OF JAZZ MUSICIANS WHO PERFORM ON THE FENDER TELECASTER, THE ARCHETYPE OF THE ELECTRIC GUITAR. AN INSTRUMENT THAT HAS SHAPED GENERATIONS OF DISTINCTIVE STYLES, KLOSSEK CONTINUES THIS TRADITION IN HIS OWN UNMISTAKABLE WAY.

AN ESTABLISHED FIGURE ON THE BERLIN JAZZ SCENE, MARCUS KLOSSEK IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS LONG-RUNNING ELECTRIC TRIO WITH CARSTEN HEIN ON BASS AND DEREK SCHERZER ON DRUMS. WITH THIS COMPACT YET VERSATILE FORMAT, HE HAS DEVELOPED A SOUND THAT IS DIRECT, MELODIC AND STORY-DRIVEN – PROOF THAT SOMETIMES ALL IT TAKES IS GUITAR, BASS AND DRUMS TO CREATE COMPELLING MUSICAL NARRATIVES.

OVER TIME, THIS CORE APPROACH EXPANDED. FOR HIS TENTH ALBUM AS A BAND LEADER, “BLINK 6”, RELEASED ON DOUBLE MOON / CHALLENGE RECORDS INTERNATIONAL, KLOSSEK ADDED A THREE-PIECE HORN SECTION WITH SOME OF HIS FAVORITE BERLIN-BASED IMPROVISERS: NIKOLAUS NEUSER (TRUMPET), IGNAZ DINNÉ (TENOR SAXOPHONE) AND ANKE LUCKS (TROMBONE). THE RESULT WAS A RICHLY LAYERED SEXTET THAT RECEIVED STRONG REVIEWS AND LED TO SUCCESSFUL APPEARANCES AT FESTIVALS ACROSS EUROPE.

HIS CURRENT PROJECT, “BLINK 7”, CONTINUES AND DEEPENS THIS CONCEPT. THE SAME ENSEMBLE RETURNS, NOW JOINED BY KOREAN VOCALIST CHAMIN, WHOSE CONTRIBUTIONS IN HER NATIVE LANGUAGE ADD A NEW EMOTIONAL DIMENSION AND DISTINCTIVE SONIC TEXTURES TO THE MUSIC. WRITTEN SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS LINE-UP, THE UPCOMING ALBUM MOVES FLUIDLY BETWEEN COMPOSED STRUCTURES AND OPEN IMPROVISATION, ALLOWING EACH PIECE TO UNFOLD ORGANICALLY AND DIFFERENTLY EVERY TIME.

MUSICAL INFLUENCES RANGE FROM CONTEMPORARY JAZZ AND EXPERIMENTAL ROCK TO NEW MUSIC, ALWAYS SHAPED BY STRONG GROUP INTERACTION AND A CLEAR COMPOSITIONAL VOICE. AT THE HEART OF KLOSSEK’S MUSIC IS THE IDEA THAT COMPOSITION AND IMPROVISATION ARE NOT OPPOSITES, BUT COMPLEMENTARY FORMS OF STORYTELLING.

A GRADUATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS IN AMSTERDAM, MARCUS KLOSSEK HAS PERFORMED AT COUNTLESS EUROPEAN CLUBS AND FESTIVALS AND HAS BEEN ACTIVE AS AN EDUCATOR FOR MANY YEARS, LEADING WORKSHOPS AND ENSEMBLE CLASSES WORLDWIDE. HIS EXPRESSIVE, NARRATIVE-DRIVEN PLAYING HAS ALSO MADE HIM ONE OF THE MOST IN-DEMAND GUITARISTS OF THE GERMAN JAZZ SCENE, WITH NUMEROUS GUEST APPEARANCES AND COLLABORATIONS ACROSS A WIDE RANGE OF PROJECTS.

“IN JAZZ THERE IS A DEMAND THAT STORIES SHOULD BE TOLD ON AND WITH THE INSTRUMENTS. MARCUS KLOSSEK IS SOMEONE WHO HAS TRULY INTERNALIZED THIS.”
— MARTIN LAURENTIUS / JAZZTHING