I’m Søren with an “Ø”

I happen to share first name with the danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. The name Søren is derived from Severin which means serious (seriously). It’s spelled with the scandinavian vowel “Ø” as in “Østerbro”, the area in Copenhagen where I grew up. “Ø” can also be found in the sentence “Rød Grød Med Fløde”, which is a danish tongue twister and difficult to pronounce if you’re not danish. But not as difficult as this one I made myself: ”Skåret rød røget ørred på Rødovre Rådhus”. Which means: Sliced red smoked trout in Rødovre townhall. In english or spanish you might just say: Soren. Some girls in Scotland once called me Sean, and some women in Oakland: Soreeeen. The danish way: First syllable must be stressed, both syllables pronounced softly, ‘Sør’ as ‘Sir’ and ‘-en’ as ‘-on’. “Rød Grød Med Fløde” means “Red mashed berries with Cream” which is a cold danish dessert that tastes great! 

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I grew up in an apartment with a piano and singing parents, in the center of Copenhagen. My father has been a big inspiration with his improvisation talent and musical feeling. On the record player we would listen to The Beatles, Steely Dan, Billy Joel, EW&F, George Duke, Gino Vannelli, Miles Davis, Huey Lewis and Donald Fagen. He also made a mix-tape with jazz classics including Miles Davis, Bix Beiderbecke, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Errol Garner, Don Byas, Art Tatum and many others. Magical music that I re-discovered years later.  

PIANO! I got my first piano lessons when I was 9 years old. In a huge house in a huge garden with a big tree in the middle. That was a great place to dig the piano with Gutten Bach a one of a kind and inspiring teacher, that had the biggest collections of african drums (the djembe) in Denmark. I learned to play mostly by looking at his hands on the keys and by listening. I first started reading music after three years or so. I think that was a good way for me to learn how to play music. My desire remained intact because of the focus on playing and listening, instead of reading and understanding. We played Beatles, Broadway tunes, evergreens, bluesy pieces, christmas carols, a strange turkish folklore piece in 7/4, brazilian songs... I remember the day I learned how to play a C7#9-chord (the one from Foxy Lady with Jimi Hendrix). What a sound! Another memory was one day by the piano at a friends house: I was jammin' a simple blues and tried different things out in the right hand. For the first time I had the experience of improvising and creating in the moment. What a feeling!    

I went to highschool in Christianshavn just next to the famous freetown Christiania (where Lukas Graham grew up). I didn't smoke but I definitly felt the vibe. Especially in Børneteateret, an authentic jazzvenue with a smokey atmosphere, a colorful crowd and a big heart. In highschool I started playing in a funk band: Herbie Hancock's Secrets, John Scofield's Peculiar and the Octopus song from Benny's Bathtub (an overlooked Danish funk song with Peter Belli at his best). With a friend I also wrote two songs: Badminton for the Highschool melody contest (2nd place) and The Argue Song for Romeo & Juliet the musical. I started diggin' jazz and bought a book that turned out to be really good and inspiring: The Jazz Piano by Mark Levine. In my 3rd grade thesis, I wrote about my mysterious childhood mixtape memory, Miles Davis' Birth of the cool and scored my first, only and last 13 (= A+). Hooray, how proud I was!

After high school I took two sabbath years and with a friend I crossed the Alps on foot (Zu fuss über Die Alpen). An absolutely amazing experience. When I got home, I continued to practice the piano and in two attempts I got in to The Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. A new musical journey had begun.

Six years later I graduated as a pianist and musicteacher from The Rhythmic Music Conservatory. I'm thankful to have been working professionally with music ever since: as a pianist, singer, songwriter, teacher and arranger.

Apart from my regular projects BAUN, Baun On Beatles and Acoustic Lounge I'm working as a pianist and singer in many diffenent constellations. I'm working regularly as the pianist in two gospel choirs which I really like. The gospel music has been a big inspiration for me with the uplifting and powerful energy and the connection to both soul, rnb, jazz, funk, latin, pop, and even classical music.

For 10 years I was singing, arranging, scatting and traveling with the vocal jazz ensemble Touché. I had the honour of performing as a soloist in the Copenhagen Opera and with the Danish Radio Big Band.

So far I’ve had the pleasure of working with musicians such as Mathias Heise, Hans Ulrik, Thomas Fonnesbæk, Mads Vinding, Malene Mortensen, Claus Waidtløw, Jesper Bodilsen, Jakob Dinesen, Benjamin Koppel and Claudia Campagnol.

Music is my passion and a universal language with the ability of connecting all kinds of people. That is surely a beautiful thing and my lifelong dedication.

- Søren Baun