The Steve Kenny Quintet will perform selections from its upcoming album release—Blue Chunks—on Friday, July 18. Blue Chunks is a compositional concept wherein bite-sized jazz situations are grouped into suites and performed as a larger work. Individually, these small ideas can be solemn or exciting or brash, but when combined, they form complete thoughts. Kenny’s 2014 Ghost Suite was an earlier example of this kind of compositional style, and now Blue Chunks fills out this vision with more examples. The ensemble has been performing these works for a year, including sold-out shows at Crooners’s Dunsmore Jazz Room, Berlin, and the 2025 Twin Cities Jazz Festival TPT Stage.

Band Members:

Steve Kenny - Trumpet
Dave Brattain - Saxophones
Kavyesh Kaviraj - Piano
Ted Olsen - Bass
Miguel Hurtado - Drums

Steve Kenny is active in the Minnesota jazz community as a performer, composer, and curator. Kenny is a founding member of the illicit sextet, Group 47, What Would Monk Do?, and his own quartets. Kenny was the curator of a weekly Saturday jazz series at KJ’s Hideaway, and before that the Black Dog Cafe, producing over 400 Saturday Night Jazz shows. His latest recording, "Quartets", includes original compositions played by four separate ensembles of Twin Cities jazz musicians, including a live version of Steve Kenny’s Ghost Suite. In 2019, the national Jazz Journalists Association named Kenny a "Minnesota Jazz Hero" for his work in the jazz community and lifelong devotion to the idiom.

Dave Brattain is a first-call Twin Cities saxophonist who has been playing in major Minnesota jazz ensembles and on major jazz recordings since the late 1980s. He has collaborated with Dave Stanoch, Steve Wagner, The Cedar Avenue Big Band, and his own quartets and quintets. He has been a constant member of Steve Kenny's Quintets and Coltrane tributes, perfectly channeling the sax master and infusing those performances with his own artistry.

Ted Olsen is a double bassist from Minneapolis, MN, with an extensive background as both a performer and composer. His compositions create bright moments, with a penchant for melody and harmonic color, while still allowing for spontaneous interplay. His bass playing teems with rhythmic vitality and an optimistic spirit. Olsen’s music is steeped in jazz, but is not beholden to tradition—it is forward-looking, yet accessible. From over 60 original works penned, Olsen has released two albums of all-original music. His 2017 debut garnered critical praise from the Minnesota Star Tribune: “The sprawling yet cohesive songcraft on Ted Olsen's new album, ‘Joyfire,’ attests to why he won an American Composers Forum award five years ago and followed it up as a finalist for the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Awards in 2015.” Additionally, he self-released an EP called “It’s Easy to Pretend” in 2020. Music from these albums garnered Olsen a 2020 McKnight Artist Fellowship in composition. His latest release, “Violette,” features genre-blurring chamber works performed by a powerhouse ensemble with guests Aby Wolf, John Raymond, and Minnesota Orchestra members. Blending jazz, classical, and songcraft, this emotionally rich music marks the peak of Olsen’s creative surge since winning the McKnight Composers Fellowship, inviting both heart and mind into its expressive world.

Kavyesh Kaviraj is a critically acclaimed composer, arranger and pianist living and working in Minnesota. The Twin Cities based musician has worked with several internationally renowned artists, including the likes of Wynton Marsalis, David Sanchez, Justin Robinson, Roosevelt Collier & Steve Cole. Despite being primarily a Jazz pianist, having studied at Berklee College’s Global Jazz Institute, Kaviraj has established himself in an eclectic assortment of music scenes. Whilst being active in hip-hop, gospel, R&B, funk scenes, he has enjoyed working with Jamecia Bennett, The Steeles, I Self Devine, Lady Midnight, Desdamona, Nooky Jones & Toki Wright. All the while, he has become an important member of the local music circuit, collaborating with local jazz legends like Debbie Duncan, Bruce Henry, Babatunde Lea, Kevin Washington & LA Buckner. Having collaborated with some of Minnesota’s most esteemed musicians, Kaviraj has solidified himself as one of the most sought-after composers, arrangers and pianists in the Twin Cities. Taking influences from his birthplace of Oman, his rich Indian heritage, and the place, he now calls home, the St. Paul virtuoso utilizes his astounding ability to craft compelling musical narrative, imbuing his life’s essence into each of his acclaimed compositions. For the past seven years, Kaviraj has channeled his most transformative experiences and lessons from his heart to the piano, through the language of Jazz.

Miguel Hurtado played throughout the Twin Cities as a teenager in several youth bands, as well as with South High jazz ensembles. After graduating from the Manhattan School of Music in spring 2010, he returned to the Twin Cities where he quickly became a busy member of the local jazz scene. He has led his own ensembles at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival and performed at the Artists Quarter and Dakota; more recently he has been heard at Jazz Central, the Icehouse, Black Dog, and more. In addition to leading his own bands, he has performed with Jake Baldwin, John Raymond, Jeremy Walker, Javi Santiago, Joe Strachan, Ted Olsen, Will Kjeer, Steve Kenny, and Courageous Endeavors. He is also expanding his musical resume, playing with some local pop and R&B singers, particularly Alicia Steele and vocalist/rapper Toussaint Morrison.