In the rather short span of one decade, drummer/percussionist and composer Niels Engel has established himself as an artist of great profundity and flexibility. Having toured and recorded with many artists in/and outside of Luxembourg, he has proven his ability to adapt his hybrid musical approach to basically any occasion or circumstance, and in the same time maintain his own unique and characteristic voice in this vast world of modern drummers.
: HAS PLAYED
MENT Festival (SI), International Jazz Live Festival (IN), Sunnyside Festival (FR), Sibiu Jazz Festival (RO), Melkweg (NL), Ankara Caz Festival (TR), The Puppet Theatre (UA), Centrum Kulturalna (PL), Preveza Jazz Festival (GR), GMLSTN Jazz Festival (SE), Padova Jazz Club (IT), Jazz Festival (USA).
: PRESS QUOTES
“his quite thrilling stick work evoking the contemporary idioms of drummers such as Mark Guiliana" - All about Jazz
“wenn die Musik einfach nur so fließt, dann ist der Schlagzeuger Niels Engel kaum zu halten” -Luxemburger Wort
: BIOGRAPHY
Born in July 1987, Niels grew up in a family of musicians in the South of Luxembourg where his inherited and deep-rooted interests for music ran into blues, funk and jazz music.His early classical experiences took place in the conservatories of Esch-sur-Alzette and Luxembourg where he studied mainly classical music such as percussion, clarinet, classical harmony, music theory, music history and solfeggio.
Playing in different classical ensembles such as brass bands, wind bands and chamber music ensembles strengthened his ability to read music at a demanding and high level.
Since the age of 3 he played drums at home on his father’s drum set and established a passionate autodidact path of learning the drums.At the age of only 16 he entered the drum department in Esch-sur-Alzette and finished the program in just 3 years.That same year, he won the Médaille d’Or au Concours jeunes Solistes Européens in Luxembourg.
The combination of innate talent, discipline and support from his parents earned him a seat at the renowed “Koninklijk Konservatorium” in The Hague where he started his bachelor degree in 2007 with Erik Ineke, Joost Patocka, Frits Landesbergen and Stefan Kruger. From 2009 he finished his studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with dutch drum master Martijn Vink and Marcel Serierse.After his studies in the Netherlands, he finished his master studies in Cologne with his mentor Jonas Burgwinkel and dived into the city’s intense jazz scene.
In that period he learned from prestigious alums such as John Clayton, Gerald Clayton, Jim McNeely, Terell Stafford, Brad Mehldau, Branford Marsalis, Barry Harris, Peter Erskine, John Riley, Justin Di Cioccio, Nelson Faria, Markus Gilmore and many more..
“It was that great time where you had no doubt that you could be a professional musician because music was around you all the time.It was a blessing to being part of that environment where you could go out and see great bands every single night in the week.The cities were in a constant artistic vibe and so the extraordinary became the ordinary.”
After finishing his studies in the Netherlands and Germany, Niels won a number of competitions as a sideman such as: the Princes Christina Concours in the Netherlands ; the Grote Prijs van Nederland ; the European Burghausen Jazz Award in Germany and the Sibiu Jazz Competition in Romania.
Since then, Niels has recorded over a dozen albums with artists such as Pol Belardi, Jérôme Klein, Ernie Hammes, David Laborier, Orchestre National de Jazz de Luxembourg, Luxembourg Jazz Orchestra, Marc Mangen, Matiss Cudars, Beam, etc..
Besides being on stage, Niels is a passionate educator at both the conservatories of Esch-sur-Alzette and Luxembourg.
“I call myself a student of life, because there is no end tail, no termination in learning, there are only aims, desires and ambitions lead by infinite inspiration and creativity.This is the reason why I wouldn’t call myself a teacher but more someone sharing his experiences and explorations during all that time being on stage and in the practise room.I consider educating music an honourable.
