Nina Ott's Astronomico at the Mandorla Music Series at Third Life Studio

About

Nina Ott was born into a musical family in Detroit, and started studying piano at age 7. After majoring in classical piano performance in college, she moved to Boston to study jazz under Charlie Banacos and Jerry Bergonzi. After a few years in Boston working with the White Heat Swing Orchestra, she headed to Chicago, where among other things she was a house piano player for late night jams at the legendary Green Mill. More recently her musical travels in Boston and San Francisco have taken her deep into Afro-Caribbean musical traditions. She describes Astronomico, where she doubles on organ and is joined by her husband Chris Lopes on bass, Steve Fell on guitar, and Jared Seabrook on drums, as "free funk with a latin tinge." Their debut recording is in the works.