The finale of Bryan Nichols’s October residency at Berlin, We Are Many is an improvisational large group playing Nichols' compositions. Based on a Pablo Nerudo poem, We Are Many combines some of the best elements of large and small group jazz and harnesses the power of an incredible assemblage of the Twin Cities' finest musicians. Nichols will play a rare solo set to end the show.

Set 1:
Bryan Nichols - Piano
Jake Baldwin - Trumpet
Jeff Bailey - Bass
Erik Fratzke - Bass/Guitar
Jeremy Ylvisaker- Guitar
Miguel Hurtado - Drums
Bryan Murray - Saxophones
Aaron Hedenstrom - Saxophones

Set 2:
Bryan Nichols - Piano

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Bryan Nichols is a pianist, composer, and educator based in Minneapolis. Often found playing jazz and improvised music, but at home in a variety of musical worlds, he leads and composes for his own trio, quintet, and nonet, in addition to performing, recording, and touring with a variety of forward-thinking artists. The Star Tribune has called him “a versatile, daring and inventive keyboardist...one of the Twin Cities' most respected jazz players.” He is a recipient of a prestigious McKnight Fellowship for Performing Artists and a residency at the Kennedy Center for Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead program. Nichols has released two albums as a leader to critical and audience acclaim; an original solo piano work, Looking North; and a suite of originals for his quintet, Bright Places.

Jake Baldwin is one of the busiest freelance trumpet players in the Midwest. You can hear him with groups ranging from the iconic Four Freshmen to the Minnesota Orchestra. In 2023, Jake won a Grammy for his contributions to the video game Assassin’s Creed: Ragnarok. His most recent release, Misc. Items on the Shifting Paradigm record label, was hailed by DownBeat magazine as one of their "Best Releases Of 2023."

Jeff Bailey is a preeminent bassist in the Twin Cities. He is the director of the Certificate in Music Production Program at Hamline University, and he served as bass department head at McNally Smith College of Music for six years, developing and implementing a curriculum that integrated modern music technology with traditional conservatory culture.

Erik Fratzke is a composer/performer/educator based in St. Paul, MN. Best known as the bassist of Happy Apple, he also leads his own quartet, Fake Accent. He is also a member of Craig Taborn’s Junk Magic and Cory Healey’s Beautiful Sunshine Band. As a guitarist, Erik is a member of The Dave King Trucking Company, the avant-metal group Abhorrent Expanse, Scott Miller’s Fifth Column Ensemble, The Gang Font feat. Greg Norton, and the instrumental rock group Zebulon Pike. His compositions have been performed and recorded by the new music group Zeitgeist. Erik has performed and/or recorded with Tim Berne, Ethan Iverson, Adam Levy, Michel Portal, Rhys Chatham, Airto, Benoit Delbec, and Yoshida Tatsuya (Ruins).

Jeremy Ylvisaker is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, teacher, and visual artist who has worked with a wide variety of popular and underground art-makers, including Bon Iver, Jenny Lewis, Bruce Hornsby, John Prine, Andrew Bird, Anais Mitchell, Gaelynn Lea, Prince’s New Power Generation members (in tribute after Prince passed), Mouse on Mars, Aida Shahghasemi, Swamp Dogg, Shahzad Ismaily, Eyedea, and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. His music and images are influenced by decades of these disparate, fun, and sometimes challenging collaborations.

Miguel Hurtado is a professional drummer and educator based in the Midwest. Born and raised in Minneapolis, MN, he started drumming at age 10 while attending Ramsey International Fine Arts Center. By age 14, he was playing gigs with youth jazz groups and local professional musicians. Miguel attended the Manhattan School of Music, where he received a BFA in jazz performance. Since returning to the Twin Cities, he has established himself as an important member of the rich hip-hop, jazz, and experimental music scenes. His musical versatility has allowed him to collaborate with artists across many genres of music, including West African, Latin, funk, pop, and gospel, as well as collaborations in the visual arts. Miguel can be seen playing at venues across the Midwest with such artists as Lady Midnight, the Ted Olsen Quartet, Your Smith, and the Minneapolis String Project.

After 20 years of living, studying, and performing in the New York music scene, Bryan Murray relocated to Apple Valley, MN, with his family in 2022. While in New York, Murray led an “avant country” band called Bryan and the Haggards that focused on the songwriting of country music legend Merle Haggard. The band’s two albums on Hot Cup Records and one with Eugene Chadbourne on Northern Spy Records have received much praise. The New York Times said, “…their debut is satisfying as both a commentary on Mr. Haggard’s music and a dispatch from the current jazz frontier.” The Boston Globe called the debut “The Biggest Surprise Jazz Album,” and The Wire rated it as one of the top 10 jazz albums of the year. Murray has also been a regular sideman on other projects—including Moppa Elliott’s Unspeakable Garbage and Jon Lundbom’s Big Five Chord—and joined the “Love This Giant” tour with David Byrne and St. Vincent. His latest musical projects use a modified saxophone of his own creation and are recorded under the pseudonym Balto Exclamationpoint.

Aaron Hedenstrom is an award-winning saxophonist/composer whose sensibilities span from modern groove-based music to classical music and many sounds in between. His musical collaborations have ranged in style from indie (S. Carey) to eclectic (The New Standards) to jazz (saxophonist Grace Kelly, vibraphonist Stefon Harris, vocalist Diane Shuur, and saxophonist Bob Reynolds). He is an instructor of saxophone and jazz studies at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and is an active clinician and guest performer for educational programs at schools and colleges.