Olli Soikkeli, the world renowned Finnish gypsy jazz guitarist, has played with practically every major gypsy jazz musician in Europe, stunning audiences with his virtuosity. Now Olli has teamed up with Cesar Garabini, a nylon string, finger style guitarist from Italy in creating a gorgeous duo repertoire of Choro music from Brazil.
Having discovering Django Reinhardt and Gypsy Jazz, Olli was playing in jazz clubs and festivals all around Finland. After touring Europe with musicians such as Paulus Schäfer and Arnoud Van Den Berg, Olli decided to move to New York City in 2014 and joined the premier USA gypsy jazz group Rhythm Future Quartet. Olli has played legendary venues such as Birdland Jazz Club, the Blue Note and the Lincoln Center. He has performed with stars such as Bucky Pizzarelli, Stochelo Rosenberg, Tommy Emmanuel, Andreas Öberg, Cyrille Aimee, Anat Cohen, Antti Sarpila, and Marian Petrescu. Olli Soikkeli was part of the recent International Guitar Night 20th Anniversary Tour.
Cesar Garabini was born in 1987 in Minas Gerais. He is an Italian-Brazilian 7-string guitarist that specializes in Choro, the predecessor to the well-known Brazilian music styles Samba and Bossa Nova.
Choro began in the 1890s as a mix of European classical and folk with African rhythms. Cesar, who also plays many other styles including Samba, Bossa Nova, Waltz, American Jazz, and Portuguese Fado, has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Standard, Birdland, Columbia University, and the Museum of Modern Art. He has worked with Anat Cohen, Olli Soikkeli, and Tim Connell and has been featured on NPR, NBC,
Miss Moonshine got to practice her Finnish with Olli before the show ;).
@ollisoikkeli3587
