JENNY KLUKKEN QUARTET

Jenny Klukken is a marimbist, composer, recording artist and educator based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Since studying percussion performance at the University of Minnesota, Jenny has developed her career as a crossover marimbist, performing and writing music in styles including Jazz, Pop, Americana, Hip Hop, Brazilian, and more. In 2018, she received an MRAC Next Step grant to travel to Paris, France to study marimba composition and improvisation with Eric Sammut. This trip helped Jenny fully realize her creative voice as a marimbist who crosses over into improv-based music genres like jazz and folk. Her album “Color in Motion” encapsulates her sound and centers the 5-octave marimba as the leader of the ensemble.

As an educator, Klukken encourages young marimbists to embrace improvisation in order to make themselves a more balanced, versatile, and adaptive musician. Jenny currently teaches percussion and music careers courses at Gustavus Adolphus College and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and offers lessons out of her private studio in Richfield. She is the creative director of the Patreon community/resource for creative marimbists called the Crossover Marimba Collective, which holds an annual in-person workshop in Minneapolis. Jenny is proud to be a premier artist with Marimba One.

Jenny Klukken – marimba

Chris Bates – bass

Dave Schmalenberger – drums

Chris Olson – guitar