Ted Olsen is a musician from Minneapolis, MN who plays double bass and bass guitar.

 

As a composer, he focuses on creating bright moments within the framework of spontaneous group interplay. As an instrumentalist, he plays with a bouncy rhythmic vitality and a fiery optimistic spirit.

 

"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." - Star Tribune

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"Playing with the same swinging post bop that has distinguished their performances at the Black Dog and other local venues, the quartet romps through a setlist of Ted’s original compositions." - jazzpolice.com

 

As a bandleader his groups have been featured at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, The Artists’ Quarter, and Icehouse. He has also performed at Nocturne Jazz Club in Denver, CO and Festival No Improviso in Curitiba, Brazil. In 2017 he released his début record, Joyfire, on Shifting Paradigm records. In 2019 he was named an alternate to the International Society of Bassists' Jazz Competition. He has been a stalwart of the Twin Cities music scene for the past decade and is regularly enlisted by top jazz luminaries. He has also branched out into working with artists from the folk, rock, R&B, and contemporary classical scenes.

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