Mareike Wiening Quintett

"Wiening’s compositions are emotional, rhythmical and most importantly, always lyrical.The outcome is an extraordinary program with a planar modulating language and a propulsive drift. The music is part chamber jazz, part big-boned rock percussion, part free improvisation.” (The New York Times)

The drummer and composer Mareike Wiening lived and worked in Brooklyn, New York for six years. Since 2019 she has commuted between America and Cologne. In addition to her freelance work as a jazz musician in various international projects and ensembles in New York and Europe, she leads her own jazz quintet. With this band she plays exclusively her compositions, with which she processes and tells her previous musical and personal experiences.

The band consists of Mareike’s long-time musical partners: Rich Perry on saxophone (Maria Schneider, Village Vanguard Orchestra), Glenn Zaleski on piano (Ravi Coltrane), Alex Goodman on guitar (1st). Place at the Montreux Competition) and Johannes Felscher on bass (Roman Rofalski). The latest quintet CD "Metropolis Paradise" was recorded as the last recording session of the prestigious System Two Studio in Brooklyn and will be released on November 1, 2019 in America and Europe.

Concerts took them all over Germany and to Denmark, France, Switzerland, Slovenia, Norway, Lithuania, Brazil and the USA. She gave workshops and concerts at Carnegie Hall, Blue Note NYC, Jazzgallery NY, Jazzclub Unterfahrt, A-trane Berlin, New York Winter Jazzfest, Atlanta Jazzfestival, Elbjazz Hamburg. In addition, Mareike has appeared in numerous musical and theater performances in Europe and at off-Broadway shows in New York City.

She has worked with renowned musicians such as John Zorn, Stefon Harris, Dan Tepfer, Dayna Stephens, Fabian Almazan, Johannes Enders, Adrian Mears, Ben Wendel uva. She is a cultural prize winner in her hometown Herzogenaurach and the district of Erlangen-Hochadt. She participated as a scholarship holder in the internationally renowned jazz meeting “Banff” in Canada and took second place at the audition of the Theolonius Monk Institute of Jazz in Los Angeles. Mareike is MEINL endorser for pelvis and sticks.

Born in Frankish Erlangen, Mareike Wiening began her musical life at the piano. Then followed the flute and the singing before she finally switched to drums at the age of 15. Early successes included the Bundesjugendjazzorchester, Jugend Jazzt and the IASJ Meeting (director Dave Liebman) in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Mareike has a Bachelor of Music from the College of Music and Performing Arts in Mannheim, from the Rytmisk Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and a Master of Music from the College of Music and Performing Arts in Mannheim.

She is a two-time DAAD scholarship holder and thus also holds a Master of Music from New York University. Her teachers and supporters include renowned musicians such as Stefon Harris, Michael Küttner, Tony Moreno, Guillermo Klein, Henry Cole and Marilyn Mazur.