Oli Bott

Oli Bott studied vibraphone and composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston with teachers such as Gary Burton and Bob Brookmeyer and graduated summa cum laude. Since then he has been a freelance musician in Berlin, several scholarships from the Berlin Senate, composition commissions for his own jazz orchestra, radio and television recordings of numerous concerts in Germany and abroad, winner of international competitions such as the NDR Music Prize for Jazz Conductors, 1st Prize Leipzig Improvisation Competition, Europ Jazz Contest and Wayne Shorter Award, USA. Oli loves interpreting good music of all styles and improvising his own stories on works of classical, jazz, rock and world music. His portfolio ranges from the Romanian rock band ZMEI3 to his work with cellist Anna Carewe and the Sheridan Ensemble (a cross-genre ensemble ranging from baroque and classical to jazz, rock and improvisation) to his jazz trio with the fantasy stories CHRONICLES OF JAZZ, in which compositional giants from classical music, jazz and more come together, and his jazz quartet with its miniatures CONTENT, from which narratives are knitted in large improvisations. He has played at festivals such as WOMAD Festival, Electric Castle Festival, Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele, Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, Niedersächsische Musiktage, Beethovenfest Bonn, WDR Jazz Festival Cologne, Händel Festspiele Halle, Musikfest Stuttgart and Kurt Weill Fest Dessau. Oli has been teaching improvisation to classically trained musicians in Berlin since 2001 and gives workshops for the education programme of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin University of Popular Arts, the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus and the Berlin State Music Academy. In 2022, he was commissioned by the German Bundestag to compose a 60-minute homage to Haydn’s work to mark the 100th anniversary of Germany’s anthem, which he produced with Anna Carewe, Markus Stockhausen, Oliver Potratz and Eric Schaefer and has released on www.dasdeutschlandlied.de.

The new album Chronicles of Jazz (release: 01.11.24) is a fantasy story in which compositional giants from classical music, jazz and more meet in a jazz session. The trio of vibraphonist Oli Bott with bassist Arnulf Ballhorn and drummer Kay Lübke transcends the boundaries of different genres by mixing Maurice Ravel’s Boléro with Duke Ellington’s Caravan, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Allemande from the Violin Sonata in D minor with Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters or Erik Satie’s Première Gnossienne with Milt Jackson’s Bags’ Groove. The compositions merge into one another and are each combined into a single piece by the musicians in a jazz jam with a great deal of spontaneous joy in playing. Oli Bott and his trio tell stories that also contain autobiographical elements. He grew up with classical music, learnt percussion as a teenager, listened to rock music and later began training in jazz. At Berklee College of Music, he studied with Gary Burton, the great lyricist among jazz vibraphonists. However, Oli Bott has not become a conventional jazz musician. He consistently plays his own music, which feels its way into completely different musical languages, epochs and cultures, while he carves out impressive moods on the metal discs like a sculptor.

Oli Bott released his album content blue in autumn 2023. The seven tracks are snapshots. Oli Bott refers to them simply as ‘content’. In both senses of the word. Because the recordings reflect both the quartet’s joy of playing and the content: compositions reduced to the essentials that offer an astonishing amount of space for interaction and improvisation. Bott, a cross-genre musician, composer and arranger, conveys his own vision of jazz: as freedom for personal development. ‘Nothing was rehearsed, nothing was timed,’ says Bott. ‘We had no idea how it would start and how it would end, when the theme would come, who would improvise when.’ The session was based on some miniatures that Bott had written beforehand: two-liners that can be opened up for improvisation, allow for variations and can tell stories. Bott had initially only invited the musicians for the project to a non-binding, free rehearsal. Although they knew and liked each other, they had not yet played together in this constellation. However, during the hours spent in the rehearsal room, everyone revealed an irrepressible desire to make music together – just after the lockdown was lifted in early summer 2021. The four musicians themselves were surprised by the spontaneous session, during which – under the supervision of sound engineer Guy Sternberg – only a demo tape was created. A single take was enough for Markus Stockhausen to realise with delight during a break: ‘A real album is being created here!’ All the pieces on it are not only inspired by individual imagination and creativity, but also by the enormous ability to listen to each other in order to create an exciting dialogue. ‘I couldn’t have arranged it in this form,’ says Oli Bott. For him, this is ultimately the essence of jazz: celebrating the impulsive, unrepeatable moments of a session. With the seven ‘Contents’, the rehearsal is therefore already the result. Why spend three days honing a single take? In some cases, less can be much more.

“A small stroke of genius occurs right at the beginning of ‘Chronicles of Jazz’, where Ravel’s famous ‘Bolero’ is underlaid with a dragging rock groove and then merges into Duke Ellington’s ‘Caravan’.” JAZZTHING

‘A celebration of the true content of jazz.’ RONDO

‘The enthusiasm of the ensemble playing is transferred directly to the listener.’ JAZZPODIUM

‘Opening doors – Oli Bott takes all the liberties.’ JAZZTHETIK

‘A multi-layered, passionate album with magical moments.’ DAS MAGAZIN

‘The essence of jazz, a celebration of impulsive, unrepeatable moments.’ Jazz Now, HR2

‘Radiantly beautiful and soulful – a tingling listening experience!’ CONCERTO

‘A great moment in the studio.’ JAZZTHING

‘It sweeps the listener away mercilessly.’ DRUMS & PERCUSSION