EFG London Jazz Festival 2018

Klemens Marktl Four

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Last Show: Thursday 22 nd November 2018

PizzaExpress Jazz Club (Soho)

Austrian drummer and composer Klemens Marktl is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished European drummers of the younger generation and this new chordless quartet sees him collaborate with three world-class artists to feature his original music written specifically for this project - with Blue Note recording artist Logan Richardson, MOBO-award nominated bassist Michael Janisch and Ronnie Scott's house saxophonist Alex Garnett.

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Klemens Marktl was born in Klagenfurt, Austria in 1976 and received classical piano lessons at the age of six. However, it quickly became apparent that the piano would not be the instrument of choice. He soon switched to drums, which saw him enter an intense period of focused study, setting the future path of his musical career.

Marktl completed his first degree at the age of 21 at the Carinthian State Conservatory, followed by studies in The Hague and Amsterdam, but it was in New York City where he polished his craft with some of the biggest names in modern jazz drumming, firmly anchoring Marktl's style in the field of contemporary jazz. His teachers included none other than jazz legends Jimmy Cobb, Jimmy Wormworth, as well as with contemporary greats in Kenny Washington, Lewis Nash, Jeff "Tain" Watts, John Riley, Tony Moreno, Ralph Peterson Jr., Ali Jackson, Rodney Green, Johnathan Blake, Kendrick Scott, Eric McPherson, Willie Jones III, Carl Allen, Gregory Hutchinson, Clarence Penn, Eric Harland, Ari Hoenig, Steve Hass, Geoff Clapp, Latin drummer Mark Walker, Vanderlei Pereira, Portinho, and funk drummer Adam Deitch.


Marktl's projects: Jazz Quartet "New Spirit" with Michael Erian (saxophone), Renato Chicco (piano) and Marc Abrams / Milan Nikoli? (bass); "Brotherhood" with Jure Pukl (saxophone), Sava Mileti? (piano), Milan Nikoli? (bass); "Drums & Keys" with Rob Bargad (piano, Hammond organ), Renato Chicco (piano, Hammond organ) and Erwin Schmidt (piano, Hammond organ); The Klemens Marktl "Free Spirit" Quartet with Johannes Enders and Michael Eri on (saxophone), Peter Madsen (piano) and Milan Nikoli? (bass); Klemens Marktl "Constellation" with Andy Middleton (saxophone), Adrian Mears (trombone), Flip Philip (vibraphone), Milan Nikoli? (bass) and Luis Ribeiro (percussion) recorded the album Open Sea; "Johnson 3!" with Michael Erian and Rob Bargad; "Organic Fashion" with John Swana (trumpet), Herwig Gradischnig (saxophone) and Rob Bargad (Hammond organ / vocals); "NY Explosion" with Joe Locke (vibraphone), Andy Middleton (saxophone) and Michael Janisch (bass). 

In addition to his musical activities, Marktl was recently nominated for the Hans Koller Prize in the category Sideman of the Year. He is a drum instructor at international workshops such as "Poysdorf Jazz & Wine Summer", "Jazzinty Novo Mesto" and "Musikforum Viktring".

Since the end of 2011, Marktl has been professor of jazz drums and rhythm at the Carinthian State Conservatory. In addition to numerous appearances as a bandleader/sideman, he continues to write his own music and released his most recent album December. Recorded for the second time under the well-known label Fresh Sound New Talent, his latest release features his sextet with Seamus Blake, John Ellis, Aaron Goldberg, Joe Locke and Harish Raghavan.