Marcus Sukiennik is a pianist and composer living in Cologne, Germany, trained in jazz and classical music. He has played through the history of piano music in the classical genre as well as in jazz, starting with the first available notations. As a hotel and bar pianist in a luxury hotel, he enjoys arranging classical music for a modern lounge sound. Born in 1966 and having an impressive visit as a teenager to Israel, he has a story about "being German" in the postwar generation. He talked about it in a YouTube video on his channel, but it's only in German.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Marcus Sukiennik, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What drew you to the music industry?
I started playing piano at 8. Classical piano lessons. At that time I was more into sports, especially football (soccer). Music became more important at age 14. I joined a band, the first band at our school (gymnasium) and we managed to get a room for rehearsals. We played Carlos Santana Evil Ways and composed our own music.
That was the part which drew me to music in general and into Jazz especially. I studied Jazz and Classical Piano, later composition. To make a living the music industry part got more and more important. It is nothing I thought about at a younger age.
What is the funniest or weirdest question that you have ever been asked in an interview?
What do you do for a living? I was asked this question from a nice old lady who must have heard me playing at a shopping mall like hundred times. She always gave me cheap caramel candy as I made a break. Her question came out of the blue - what does she thought I’m doing in the shopping mall playing hour after hour?
Your latest song is 'Deutsche Nationalhymne (2022)'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
I was born in 1966 which means I’m the post war generation. Becoming older I had to learn the implications. And there were much more because about unspoken things. Both grandfathers went to war. My mother was bombed out, my father is a displaced person. And the great guilt of the war generation carries on into the future, even generations after.
Thanks to a trip to Israel with a soccer club, I visited Yad Vashem in Israel. That was a disturbing as well as shameful experience for me. Also an impactful, lasting one. Life went on. 2006 was the World Cup in Germany. As hosts, we welcomed the whole world. What was new was a looseness, starting from the young generation: joyful, flag-waving and cosmopolitan.
Until then, national symbols - a reaction to Germany's guilt in World War II - were rather frowned upon and claimed mainly by right-wing radicals. The young German generation opened a door to reclaim the national symbols in a casual way.
For me, that was the starting point to say: I'm writing my own arrangement of the German national anthem. And it should be exactly that: compassionate, modern and cosmopolitan. Musically, it was not a new idea; I have already arranged many original classical compositions, as can be heard, for example, in my albums Piano Classics 1 and 2. But it is the connection with my own family history as part of the post-war generation that makes this piece so special for me.
What are your songs about?
It really depends on the song. I’m composing in different styles and so there is no final answer globally.
What is the most trouble that you ever have gotten into?
Musically speaking? Almost being late to a wedding gig because of a terrible traffic jam at the beginning of the vacations. The ceremony just started.
If you could date any other musician, who would it be and why?
I’d love it to meet Keith Jarrett to talk about the making of “A Melody At Night With You” or Brad Mehldau asking about how his concepts on reharmonization.
If you can have your fans remember one thing about you, what would it be?
This will be my next release next year, which will be about the pandemic. It will feature 2 of my current favorite styles: a band playing neo soul/jazz and neoclassical arrangements for string quartet and piano.
When were you generally fulfilled in your position as an artist?
Making the album I announced above.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Be true to yourself. Allow yourself to do what you like best even if you think it's your duty to give priority to other music. Also, be practical and make a living from music.
What are your plans for the future?
Playing a lot of gigs like before the pandemic. Right now I’m good already as I have steady jobs playing at the Excelsior Hotel Ernst and the Musical Dome Cologne.
It would be awesome to perform my upcoming program live. We will move from Cologne to Nettersheim. So that will keep us busy also.