Welcome to this site!
Nina Ott is a jazz pianist and composer from Detroit Michigan. Her father was a jazz trumpeter. Ms. Ott grew up in a house filled with all types of music and began playing at age 7. Her early exposure to great jazz, brazilian, classical and motown/soul music gave her the inspiration to become a musician. Nina earned a degree in piano performance music from Western Michigan University.
A deep desire to improvise and create her own music
led her to pursue jazz seriously and Nina made a move to the east coast. She studied in Boston and New York with exceptional teachers Charlie Banacos and Jerry Bergonzi. She also studied with Danilo Perez, Gonzalo Grau and percussionist Robertico Arias. Nina could also be found in constant attendance at clubs in both cities to hear her favorite musicians playing live.
Nina also spent some time in Chicago where she gained invaluable experience playing in clubs there and doing sessions with the finest musicians in the area. Ott often played the famous Green Mill Cocktail lounge late night jam session as house pianist in Pat Mallinger's Sabertooth band. Musicians would come and sit in after their gigs since the session went (and still does) until 5 am. Nina was invited to play in Singapore during that time and lived there for 4 months.
After a move back to the east coast Nina began playing salsa and latin jazz with trumpeter Carlos DeLeon. Studying percussion and playing piano in salsa and latin jazz contexts lead her in a new musical direction. Nina continues to be greatly influenced by the music of latin america and the caribbean. Nina has also studied composition with New York pianist and composer Michelle Rosewoman.
Nowadays, her main focus is on composing and arranging for her jazz quartet which she co-leads with husband and bass player/composer Chris Lopes. The group includes drummer Alan Hall and saxophonist Eric Crystal and is slated to record in summer/fall of 2012.
Being a versatile player has enabled Nina to work in a wide variety of musical contexts. She has played with Ralph Peterson Jr., Phil Grenadier, Jorge Najarro, Joe Hunt, Jesus Andujar, Gerald Cleaver, Chris Poudrier, Jim Robitaille, Kenwood Dennard, Harvey Wirdt, Louis Romero, John Calloway, Mark Turner, Equie Castrillo, Mark Walker, Bertram Lehmann, Mark Turner, Ernesto Diaz and many other people.
Ms. Ott is also an award winning composer and was a Nord keyboard endorsee. She has taught at Berklee College of Music, the Stanford Jazz Workshop, SF Jazz and has been a guest artist in dozens of jazz workshops and clinics world wide.
Thank you for dropping by!
For booking inquiries contact: ninaottmusic@gmail.com
