Oli Bott studied vibraphone and composition at the Berklee College of Music in Boston with teachers such as Gary Burton and Bob Brookmeyer, graduating 'summa cum laude'. After completing his studies, he moved to Berlin where he now works as a freelance vibraphonist and composer. The Arts Council of Berlin has been a regular supporter, awarding him both scholarships as a vibraphonist and commissions as a composer for his own jazz orchestra, which he also conducts. Oli Bott has been awarded many prizes, including the 'NDR-Musikpreis' for bigband conductors, 1st prize at the Leipzig Improvisation Competition and the Wayne Shorter Award, USA. His concerts throughout Europe have been broadcast on TV and the radio.

Oli loves to interpret good music of all styles and feels comfortable improvising his own stories on works of classical, jazz, rock and world music. His portfolio thus ranges from the Romanian rock band ZMEI3 to the collaboration with cellist Anna Carewe and the Sheridan Ensemble (cross-genre ensemble 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 his miniatures CONTENT, from which narratives are knitted in large improvisations. He played at festivals like WOMAD Festival, Electric Castle Festival, Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele, Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, Niedersächsische Musiktage, Beethovenfest Bonn, WDR Jazz Festival Köln, Händel Festspiele Halle, Musikfest Stuttgart und Kurt Weill Fest Dessau.

Since 2001 Oli has been teaching improvisation to classically trained musicians in Berlin and gives workshops for the education programme of the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Berlin University of Popular Arts, the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus and the Landesmusikakademie Berlin.

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 national anthem, which he produced with Anna Carewe, Markus Stockhausen, Oliver Potratz and Eric Schaefer and which is published on www.dasdeutschlandlied.de.

Pressquotes:

"Vibraphonist Oli Bott is top-of-the-range." Jazzpodium
"Brilliant!" Kulturradio
"The rising star at the Berlin jazz sky." Berliner Morgenpost
"A maniac with four sticks, who hits the bars so fast, that he is almost invisible which carries his audience away to extraordinary enthusiasm." Der Tagesspiegel
"His writing is on a level of the best students that Berklee has produced over the years, and I foresee that he will have a successful career as both writer and player." Gary Burton about Oli Bott

Projects:

2023 CD-Release "Content - blue" by Oli Bott Quartet on o-tone/Edel
2022 Composition commission by Deutscher Bundestag, 100th anniversary of Germany's anthem
2019 CD-Release "Timescapes" by Anna Carewe & Oli Bott on GLM/soulfood
2016 BBC-Recording of ZMEI3 at WOMAD Festival
2016 CD-Release "Rough Romanian Soul" by ZMEI3 on six degrees records/Indigo
2015 CD-Release "Voyage à Buenos Aires" by Vibratanghissimo on big-tone-records
2014 Radio recording Vibratanghissimo live at Nikolaisaal Potsdam, Deutschlandradio
2011 CD-Release "Ciudades... Berlin" by Vibratanghissimo on big-tone-records
2009 RBB-Production "Birth" with the Oli Bott String Orchestra
2006 CD-Release "Astor" by Vibratanghissimo on big-tone-records
2005 CD-Release "Inside Out" by the Thomas Wallisch & Oli Bott Duo on big-tone-records
2003 Radio recording of the Oli Bott Orchestra "Dialogues on Identity", SFB Berlin
2001 CD-Release "Unknown Beauty" by the Thomas Wallisch & Oli Bott Duo on big-tone-records
2001 TV recording of the Oli Bott - Bertrand Lauer Band at the WDR Jazz Festival
2001 Composition commission for the Oli Bott Orchestra, "Jazz Across the Border" Festival, Berlin
2000 Concertseries "Die Cirkulatur des Quadrats" by the Oli Bott Orchestra, Music and Dance
1999 Monthly concerts with the Laura Andel & Oli Bott Orchestra in Berlin

Awards:

2022 Deutscher Musikrat Scholarship Neustart Kultur
Studio production with Oli Bott Trio
2021 Scholarship "Jazz" by the City of Berlin
Production "Content" with Markus Stockhausen, Oliver Potratz & Eric Schaefer
2019 Toursupport by the City of Berlin for ZMEI3
2017 Scholarship "Jazz" by the City of Berlin, videoproduction with Anna Carewe & Oli Bott Duo
2016 Tourfond by Initiative Musik and Internationaler Kulturaustausch Berlin
ZMEI3 at WOMAD Festival
2015 Scholarships by Internationaler Kulturaustausch Berlin and the City of Berlin
Buenos Aires Tour, concerts and CD production with Vibratanghissimo
2011 Europaen Musikauthors-Scholarship (EMAS), GEMA for LowerB & Oli Bott Quartett
2007 Composition Commission by the City of Berlin for "Birth", Oli Bott String Orchestra
2005 Studioprize "Jazz" by the City of Berlin for Vibratanghissimo
2001 Composition Commission by the City of Berlin for "Dialogues on Identity", Oli Bott Orchestra
2000 1. prize at the 4. Leipzig Improvisation Competition, Vibraphone Solo
2000 Special prize "Jazz" at the 4. Leipzig Improvisation Competition, Vibraphone Solo
1998 NDR-Musikpreis, 3. prize, bigband conductors
1998 Compositionprize of the HR-Big Band, final round with "Dance Your Life"
1998 3. prize prize Europ´Jazz Competition, Belgium for the Oli Bott - Bertrand Lauer Band
1998 2. prize "Jazz à Vannes" Competition, France for the Oli Bott - Bertrand Lauer Band
1998 2. prize AS.PRO.JAZZ Competition, France for the Oli Bott - Bertrand Lauer Band
1997 1. prize Big Band Competition "Blechschaden" for "Two Pictures“
1996 BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, New York, USA, advanced class
1996 "Wayne Shorter - Award", Berklee College of Music, Boston, USA
1993 Berklee Scholarship received from Gary Burton

Education:

1995/96 Berklee College of Music, Boston, U.S.A.
Instructions by: Gary Burton, John LaPorta, Greg Hopkins, Phil Wilson, Hal Crook, Bob Brookmeyer
1996 Diploma of Jazz Composition (summa cum laude)