$15 (General Admission)
7:00pm Show
Ted Olsen’s newest project focuses on rhythmic intensity and collective spontaneity while interpreting the Great American Songbook and jazz standards. He will share this project with Berlin’s audience for the second night of his August residency. Special guest Omar Abdulkarim (trumpet and flugelhorn) will lend his masterful touch to this approach to the canon.
Band Members:
Ted Olsen - Bass
Ben Ehrlich - Drums
Kavyesh Kaviraj - Piano
Omar Abdulkarim - Trumpet/Flugelhorn
Ted Olsen is a double bassist from Minneapolis, MN, with extensive experience as a performer and composer. He has been fortunate enough to share the stage with many stellar musicians, including Michael Cain, Dayna Stephens, Javier Santiago, John Raymond, Tim Sparks, Dean Magraw, Aby Wolf, Eric Mayson, and Steve Kenny. Olsen’s original music is steeped in jazz yet forward-looking and accessible, creating bright moments of melody and harmonic color while allowing for spontaneous interplay. His 2017 debut garnered 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.”
Minneapolis native Omar Abdulkarim has been playing trumpet since he was 14 months old, having learned from his father, Ahmed Abdulkarim. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music performance from the renowned New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. He has performed around the world with various groups at the Haitian Jazz Festival; Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland; and the top clubs in New York, including the Blue Note, Smalls, and Birdland. He has performed and worked with Roy Hargrove, Redman, Method Man, KRS-One, Talib Kweli, Lauryn Hill, Nicholas Payton Television Studio Orchestra, José James, and Valery Ponomarev’s big band. His quintet held a year-long residency at New York’s prestigious Standard Hotel, playing five nights a week in the Boom Boom Room. He has also performed in an orchestra and jazz quartet on the largest cruise ship in the world: “The Oasis of the Seas.” He is currently leading his group in the Twin Cities area.
Ben Ehrlich is a drummer, educator, and composer based in Minneapolis, MN. After studying with Ed Soph and graduating from the University of North Texas in 2018, Ben moved back to his home state and quickly became one of the top call drummers in the Twin Cities jazz scene. Recognized for his versatility, Ben has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Randy Brecker, Kurt Elling, Diane Schuur, Jens Lindemann, Davina and the Vagabonds, Javier Santiago, the JazzMN Orchestra, Leslie Vincent, and many others, including rock, blues and indie artists from around the country.
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 Wynton Marsalis, David Sanchez, Justin Robinson, Roosevelt Collier, and Steve Cole.