ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/12/15

Born in Mannheim, Germany, Klose at a young age moved to Nairobi, Kenya and then later to Johannesburg, South Africa. Returning to Germany as a teenager, this time to Hamburg; Jann ventured to the U.S as an exchange student while in high school attending an American Field Service program in the suburbs of Cleveland, OH. It was during this time that Klose began his music career by becoming a self taught keyboardist and guitar player. Jann also began singing, dancing and acting in various school productions before eventually returning to Germany to complete his high school education.

Returning to the U.S. in the '90's, Jann began working with theater companies and various producers who helped shaped his blossoming career. Landing touring roles with "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Tommy" and "Jekyll & Hyde," Klose began to explore more of his own writing and music and in 2003 released a four song EP called "Black Box EP." Several additional works followed and began to entrench Jann firmly in place as a viable touring act. Performing with or opening for the likes of Pat Benatar, Suzanne Vega, Paula Cole, Gary Hoey, John Oates, Roseann Cash and the legendary Yardbird Jim McCarty as well as the late Pete Seeger and Les Paul; Jann has established himself as a force to reckon with.

This most recent tour was to support the re-release of "Mosaic" which saw the new "Special Edition" add six new offerings in addition to the original tracks and kept Jann on the road for quite some time. "Yeah, re-releasing the album in December had me out on the road for the last few months," he said with a sense of accomplishment. "I toured extensively to support it and then I'll be heading over to Germany in May to continue doing so."

Using the next couple of months to wrap up a project with his friend Gary Lucas and explore some new territory with Renaissance's Annie Haslam; Jann has begun writing his next album while enjoying the recent success of "Greetings From Tim Buckley," a film about the father/son relationship between Tim and Jeff Buckley. Klose is the singing voice of Tim in the film which is currently running on the Showtime Networks. "I am very happy about that," he said when the subject of the film came up. "I've done Jeff Buckley tributes for years while I was in Chicago. I met Gary and we became friendly; it was he who recommended me for the film. I was very willing to do it and quite excited about it. The story in itself is about a father and son relationship and that whole dynamic; it's very sad actually but what beautiful music. I have begun writing my next record which will probably be ready by the fall and I am working with Gary finishing up a record on his end. I am also collaborating with Annie Haslam who I have known a long time. Annie and I met while we were both doing a compilation album and I sang at the release of that one; her and I have been working together ever since."

Concentrating on all of that, one would not expect time for much else but Jann has a show coming up on March 14 in Teaneck, NJ at the Ethical Brew Coffeehouse; a show which he is very much looking forward to. "Uh, well, you know what? The scene in Jersey has been pretty good to me. I plan on introducing some new tunes at this one because this is a very friendly listening room. I have Hiroyo Tsukamoto opening for me and he and I are going to do a couple of tunes together, he's a great talent and I am very excited for this one."

All shows 21+

Ivy Tavern

3108 S. Broad Street, Hamilton

(609) 888-1435

Fri. 10 p.m. El Ka Bong

Sat. 10 p.m. Soul Custody

All shows 21+

96 S. Main St. New Hope, Pa.

(215) 862-5981

Thurs. 9 p.m. The Silks

Fri. 9 p.m. Lincoln Durham

Sat. (3 p.m.) King of Nowhere (9 p.m.) Heavy Temple

Sun. 3 p.m. Buffalo Trixx

Mon. 9 p.m. Open Mic. Night w/ Lauren

Tues. 9 p.m. Sugar Burns

All shows 21+

JoJo's Tavern

2677 Nottingham Way Hamilton

(609) 586-2678

Wed. 10 p.m. Karaoke

Paint the Roses Tea and Caf�

37 West Broad Street Hopewell

(609) 466-8200

Sat. 11 a.m. Bryan Hill

Palermo's Of Hamilton

310 Klockner Rd. Hamilton

(609) 838-7979

Thurs. 9 p.m. Karaoke

Sat. "Parade Day" feat. (12 p.m.) Eugene O'Neal & Joey Krame (2 p.m.) Mike Brill (6 p.m.) Seamus Kelleher (9 p.m.) Some Assembly Required

Tues. "St. Patrick's Day" feat. Bill Shannon, Eugene O'Neal & Joey Kramer, Some Assembly Required

All shows 21+

The Yardley Inn

82 E. Afton Avenue Yardley, PA

(215) 493-3800

Sat. 8 p.m. Paul Plumeri & Jerry Monk

Trenton Buzz

702 Pine St. Trenton

(609) 392-6000

Thurs. 8 p.m. Open Mic. w/ Hek Cat

Trenton Social

449 South Broad Street Trenton

(609) 989-7777

Fri. 7 p.m. First Friday: "Celestine's Soul Kitchen"

Mon. 10 p.m. Service Industry Night w/ DJ-Jay Kountree

Tues. 7 p.m. Open Mic.

Triumph Brewing Company (New Hope, Pa. Location)

400 Union Square New Hope, Pa.

(215) 862-8300

Fri. 10 p.m. Catullus ($5 cover charge)

Sat. (12 p.m.) Hobnail (10 p.m.) Commonwealth Choir w/ The Sixties ($5 cover charge)

Sun. 7 p.m. Open Jam Night

Wildflowers Inn

2572 Pennington Rd. Pennington