Jann Klose

Wikipedia:

Jann Klose (pronounced Yann Close) is a German-born pop singer-songwriter. Raised in Kenya, South Africa, Germany and northeast Ohio, he has released three albums and two EPs as a solo artist. His songs have been heard on the Grammy-nominated "Healthy Food For Thought" compilation as well as MTV Cribs and the movie "Dead Broke" (Warner Bros) featuring Paul Sorvino. He has performed as an actor and singer in touring companies of Broadway musicals, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Jekyll & Hyde, and The Who's Tommy. In 2005, the off-Broadway production Moonlight Interior, a musical based on Klose's music, premiered in New York City. He has periodically collaborated with members of classical rock group Renaissance and tours regularly in the U.S. and Europe. He has opened for a wide range of artists including Annie Haslam, Brett Dennen, Suzanne Vega, Rusted Root, Vonda Shepard, Antigone Rising, Willy Porter, The Strawbs, and performed live with Rosanne Cash, The Byrds' Roger McGuinn, Marty Stuart, The Yardbirds' Jim McCarty, Elliott Murphy and Les Paul.

Early life

Klose was born in Mannheim, Germany and raised in Nairobi, Kenya and Johannesburg, South-Africa where he attended grade school. He moved to Hamburg, Germany as a teenager and first came to the United States as an exchange student, attending an American Field Service (AFS) program in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. At this time he began teaching himself the keyboard and subsequently guitar as well as singing and dancing in the high school show choir. He returned to Hamburg, Germany to finish Gymnasium (high school) and started playing out, first in subway stations, the high school's band and then local clubs in Hamburg's Reeperbahn red-light district.

Music career

Between 1998-2000, Klose studied voice with composer/conductor and Emmy Award winner David Gooding who had Klose join various ensembles, including the choirs at Fairmount Temple, St. Peter's church in Lakewood, Ohio and the Cleveland Opera Chorus with whom he performed in operas Carmen, La Traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor, Romeo et Juliet and HMS Pinafore. In 2000 Jann relocated to New York City and started auditioning for musical theatre jobs. After three months in the City he was cast as the Pinball Wizard in NJPAC's production of The Who's Tommy and then went on to tour with Broadway's Jekyll & Hyde and in 2001 the European tour of Jesus Christ Superstar.

In 2002 Klose met Grammy Award winning producer/guitarist Marlon J. Graves and recorded Black Box EP which he self-released in 2003. Jann and upright bassist Chris Marolf then started touring vigorously in the Northeast and Midwest U.S., developing a loyal following. Black Box EP received adult album alternative and college radio airplay and the title track was placed in the Warner Bros. film, Dead Broke which starred Paul Sorvino and also featured music from David Byrne. The track also received a placement on MTV Cribs. His song "It's Not The Way" off the EP was included on the sampler album, Prambors Hits 3, in Indonesia and led to heavy rotation airplay on Top 40 station Prambors FM in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Moonlight Interior, an Off-Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Yo-el Cassell, had a sold-out run in April 2005 at the Sande Shurin Theatre. The show centered around Klose's songs which he performed live with Chris Marolf (upright bass) and new band members Patrick Carmichael (drums) and Roberta Piket (keys). The show also included music by Beethoven and soundscapes by Pavel Zustiak. Lars Potteiger (keys, accordion) replaced Robert Piket and the group, in various formations, increased touring to over 75 shows per year.

In 2007 Jann began work on his third full length album Reverie, with producer Stewart Lerman and the guidance of Rob Grenoble at Water Music Recorders in Hoboken, New Jersey. The album featured over 15 musicians and singers, including now band-mates Leah Potteiger (violin) and Megan Marolf (oboe) as well as guest musicians Ryan Scott, Doug Hinrichs, Roosevelt Credit, Pedro da Silva, Dan Brantigan and Peter Sachon. The album was mastered by Dominick Maita (Airshow Mastering).

Partially fan-funded, Reverie gained substantial airplay on Adult album alternative, college, talk, Top 40, Internet and Satellite Radio stations, including Sirius XM and the BBC in the UK. Klose continued to tour, now averaging 100 shows per year and stepping into new markets including California, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and France. Klose's song "Give In To This Life" off Reverie is included on the Grammy-nominated double album, Healthy Food For Thought: Good Enough To Eat (East Coast Recording Co.) alongside works by Julian Lennon, Moby, Russell Simmons, Tom Chapin, Uncle Floyd and cover art by Peter Max.

In 2010, Klose collaborated with students at the New York Film Academy for a music video for his song "Doing Time." Directed by Addison Neville the video was shot in stop motion. Together with the video he released Sacrifice EP, his 5th release and 2nd EP.

Klose and his band are working on a new album for a 2012 release with David Bendeth.

Touring

Klose has opened for or shared the stage with a wide variety of musicians, including Brett Dennen, Pete Seeger, Willy Porter, The Strawbs, Rusted Root and the group's lead singer Michael Glabicki, Old School Freight Train, Antigone Rising, Melissa Ferrick, Marshall Crenshaw, Jonathan Edwards, Jorma Kaukonen, Dan Hicks and multi-track recording inventor/performer Les Paul.

Klose received invitations to collaborate with Renaissance's Annie Haslam and keyboardist John Tout for a sold out show at the Sellersville Theater, in Sellersville, Pennsylvania. Annie had heard Klose perform at the CD release party for Serenity House (East Coast Recording Co.) which also included works by Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Pat DiNizio (The Smithereens), Robert Hazard and Kathy Sledge (Sister Sledge). In 2009 he opened for Renaissance on their 40th anniversary reunion tour at performing arts centers and theaters in the Northeast U.S., including The Concert Hall, The Keswick Theatre and The Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.

Jann performed at Martin Guitar's 175th Anniversary concert with Marty Stuart, Roger McGuinn, and Rosanne Cash and has toured extensively with rock troubadour Elliott Murphy, whose band The Normandy All Stars backed him at a show in Le Havre, France in 2009. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Joey Reynolds regularly featured Klose on his syndicated radio show. WGN Chicago's overnight radio team Steve and Johnnie (Steve King and Johnnie Putman) presented Jann in concert to a full house at the Skokie Theatre. Klose has performed at the annual Jeff Buckley Tribute at Uncommon Ground in Chicago three times (2008–2010) and at Gary Lucas' Buckley Tribute at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, NY, March 2011. In October 2011, Jann performed dates in Ontario, with The Yardbirds' and Renaissance co-founder Jim McCarty and former Strawbs/Renaissance keyboardist John Hawken for a Chamber Pop Summit.

Style

Critics have compared Klose to a range of modern day and old school artists including Paul McCartney, Kevin Gilbert, XTC, Elliott Smith, Seal, Paul Simon, Nick Drake, Eric Matthews, Sting, Jacques Brel, Kurt Weill, Francis Dunnery, and a less risque Serge Gainsbourg.

Personal life

Klose currently lives in the Bronx, New York.