Niels Klein (born 1978 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

) is a German

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musician (

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

) and composer.

Biography

Klein started playing the saxophon at the age of thirteen. From 1998 he studied saxophone with Frank Gratkowski and Claudio Puntin as well as composition and arrangement at the

Musikhochschule Köln A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

. From 1998 to 2000 he was a soloist and composer of the Federal Jazz Orchestra (BuJazzO). In 2000 he was with his ''Niels Klein Oktett'' prizewinner at the Jazzpodium Niedersachsen. From 2001 to 2009, he was a member of ''heavytones'', the band on the television program ''

TV total ''TV total'' is a German late-night television comedy talk show which originally aired from 8 March 1999 to 16 December 2015 on ProSieben, hosted, created and produced by entertainer Stefan Raab. Following a six-year hiatus, it was revived on 10 ...

'', with which he has accompanied rock and pop musicians such as

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

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, and

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

on the 2006 released album ''Heavytones'' where he also is represented with a composition. NIels_Klein_(130622)_(Annamarie_Ursula)_P1110428

In 2002, he appeared at the festival

Jazz Baltica Jazz Baltica is a jazz festival which was started in 1990. Up until 2011 it was held every summer in Schloss Salzau (Salzau Palace) near Kiel, Germany, and the coast of the Baltic Sea. In 2009 the festival was directed by Bengt-Arne Wallin and in ...

as Coleader of the band ''Firomanum'' together with guitarist

Arne Jansen Arne Jansen (born 26 November 1975) is a German jazz guitarist. Biography As a teenager Jansen picked up the guitar, inspired by Jimi Hendrix and the Dire Straits. The great storytellers of pop, such as Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell also belonge ...

. In 2004, he received the Förderpreis of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia for music, and it appeared the first album of the ''Niels Klein Trio'' (with Dietmar Fuhr and Nils Tegen). In 2005, on behalf of the WDR, he compiled the ''Niels Klein Tentett'', for which he composed a ninety-minute program that was performed at the ''Traumzeit-Festival'' Duisburg and at the ''Jazz Cologne Festival'' Cologne. In the same year he composed a mass for choir and double wind quintet for the ensemble o-ton. His

Third stream Third stream is a music genre that is a fusion of jazz and classical music. The term was coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller in a lecture at Brandeis University. Improvisation is generally seen as a vital component of third stream. Schull ...

composition ''Refractions'', for which he was awarded the '' Europäische Komponistenpreis der Stadt Berlin'', was premiered in 2009, by the Federal Jazz Orchestra and the Federal Youth Orchestra. In 2011 he was awarded the WDR Jazz Prize as a composer. Since 2006, Klein has designed the concert series ''Jazz-O-Rama'' in the Cologne Artheater with Oliver Leicht and Matthias Schriefl. He participated in tours and CD recordings (2005) with the ''Frank Wingold Quartet'' ("Clairvoyance"), Underkarl ("Goldberg Variationen"),

Florian Ross Florian Ross (born 1972) is a German jazz pianist, composer and arranger. Life and career Ross was born in Pforzheim in 1972. His debut recording as leader was made for Naxos Records in 1998 – ''Seasons & Places''. In 2011, he was commission ...

("EightBall") and the James Choice Orchestra. In 2008, he led the European Jazz Orchestra on a European tour; In 2009 he also conducted the NDR Big Band. Together with

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, he has been directing the Federal Jazz Orchestra since 2011. As a sideman, he collaborated with Toots Thielemanns, Jeff Hamilton, Nils Wogram,

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Markus Stockhausen Markus Stockhausen (born May 2, 1957) is a German trumpeter and composer. His recordings and performances have typically alternated between jazz and chamber or opera music, the latter often in collaboration with his father, composer Karlheinz Sto ...

Arkady Shilkloper Arkady Shilkloper (born 17 October 1956) is a Russian multi-instrumentalist (horn, alphorn, flugelhorn, corno da caccia, didgeridoo, shofar, and others) and composer, currently living in Berlin. He is known as one of the best jazz performers ...

, Victor Bailey, and others. Since winter semester 2009/10, Klein has been teaching at the Department of Jazz Theory and Ensemble at the Institute of Music of the Hochschule Osnabrück. For the winter semester 2016/17, he was appointed professor for jazz saxophone at the

Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln The Cologne University of Music ( is a music college in Cologne, Germany. Founded in 1850, it is Europe's largest academy of music. History The academy was founded by Ferdinand Hiller in 1850 as ''Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln''. In 1895 Ger ...

in Cologne.

Discography

* Firomanum: ''Scope'', with Arne Jansen, Eva Kruse, Nils Tegen, 2004 * Niels Klein Trio: ''It only Took ...'', with Dietmar Fuhr, Nils Tegen, 2004 * Frank Wingold: ''Clairvoyance'', 2006 * Niels Klein Tentett: ''The Last Soup'' with Oliver Leicht,

Steffen Schorn Steffen Schorn (born 26 September 1967 in Aalen) is a Jazz music in Germany, German jazz musician (saxophone and other Woodwind instruments, Musical composition, composition). He is one of the most outstanding musicians and composers of German ja ...

, Stephan Meinberg,

, Matthias Muche, Frank Wingold, Wolf Kerschek, Dietmar Fuhr, Eric Schaefer, 2007 *

: ''EightBall'', 2007 * James Choice Orchestra: ''Live at Musik Triennale Köln'', 2008 * Rüdiger Baldauf: ''Own Style'', 2010 * Niels Klein ''Quartett'', with

Pablo Held Pablo Held (born 27 December 1986) is a German jazz pianist and composer. Life and career Held was born on 27 December 1986. He is from Hagen. His father played the piano and introduced him to the music of Federico Mompou. Held was also influ ...

, Robert Landfermann, Jonas Burgwinkel, 2012 * ''Tubes and Wires'', with Lars Duppler, Hanno Busch, Jonas Burgwinkel, 2013 (

Echo Jazz The Echo Jazz (stylized as ECHO JAZZ) was a German music prize, an Echo Music Prize for personalities and production of jazz. It was awarded annually by the between 2010 and 2018. The awards had been given in 30 categories, including ensemble of t ...

2015) * ''Loom'', with Stephan Meinberg, Matthias Schriefl, Ludwig Himpsl, Johannes Lauer, Mattis Cederberg, Wanja Slavin, Leonhard Huhn, Heiko Bidmon,

, Pablo Held, Kathrin Pechlof, Dierk Peters, Frank Wingold, Robert Landfermann, Jonas Burgwinkel, 2015Besprechung
Jazzthing * ''Tubes and Wires: Life in Times of the Big Crunch'', with Lars Duppler, Hanno Busch, Jonas Burgwinkel, Friedrich Paravicini, 2017

References

External links

Niels Klein's website

Porträt
Jazzzeitung {{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Niels 1978 births Living people German jazz composers German jazz clarinetists German jazz saxophonists Male saxophonists Music arrangers Musicians from Hamburg 21st-century saxophonists 21st-century clarinetists