Trumpet Summit

A Jazz Trumpet “Throw-Down”

Trumpeters Steve Kenny, Omar Abdulkarim, Jake Baldwin, and Solomon Parham appearing with a stunning Jazz rhythm section of Kavyesh Kaviraj, Kevin Washington, and Dan Carpel will be playing a host of crowd-pleasing Jazz Trumpet favorites and well-known Jazz Standards. Some of the arrangements are impromptu, with plenty of all-four-of-the-horns collaborating, but there’s also tunes with plenty of space for featuring each artist as well. Sometimes, It’s a good ol’ cutting contest, where the gauntlet is thrown, and at other times there’s a palpable sense of brotherhood and camaraderie as these four artists share the stage and win the hearts of the audience.

Steve Kenny, Omar Abdulkarim, Jake Baldwin and Solomon Parham: Trumpet

Kavyesh Kaviraj: Piano

Kevin Washington: Drums

Dan Carpel: Bass

Steve Kenny is active in the Minnesota jazz community as a performer, composer, and curator. Kenny is a founding member of the illicit sextet, Group 47, What Would Monk Do?, and his own groups. Kenny was the curator of a weekly Saturday jazz series at KJ’s Hideaway, and before that the Black Dog Cafe, producing over 400 Saturday Night Jazz shows. In 2019, the national Jazz Journalists Association named Kenny a “Minnesota Jazz Hero” for his work in the jazz community and lifelong devotion to the idiom. In August of this year, Steve released a Jazz Quintet recording titled ‘Blue Chunks’ to a sold-out show at Dakota Jazz Club. It’s his 12th overall produced Jazz recording and his 3rd as a leader.

Omar Abdulkarim has been playing trumpet since the early age of 14 months. Omar holds a bachelor’s degree in music performance from the renowned New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. He has shared the stage with Roy Hargrove, Redman, Method Man, KRS-ONE and Talib Kweli to mention a few. Omar has also had the pleasure of performing with Nicholas Payton’s Television Studio Orchestra and Valerie Ponomarev’s Big Band. Omar has written and recorded with Lauryn Hill and Jose James. His influences include Fats Navarro, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, John Coltrane and Lee Morgan. After living in New York for 11 years, where he completed the undergraduate program at the New School, Omar moved back to Minnesota where he is currently composing new music for his upcoming album, performing with Source Code and the Minnesota Hard Bop Collective, and more.

Jake Baldwin is a trumpet player based in Minneapolis, MN. His stylistic versatility has made him one of the busiest freelance trumpet players in the Midwest. You can hear him with groups ranging from the iconic Four Freshmen to the Minnesota Orchestra. In 2023 Jake won a grammy for his contributions to the videogame “Assassin’s Creed: Ragnarok” He has released multiple records on the Shifting Paradigm label. 2021’s “Where You’re Planted”, 2023’s “Misc. Items” and 2025’s “Vanishing Point”. Jake is currently the professor of trumpet at Anoka Ramsey Community College.

Solomon Parham graduated from Wayne State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in Instrumental Music Education and earned his master’s in performance with an emphasis in trumpet from McNally Smith College of Music. While teaching in the metropolitan area of Detroit, he then served as mentor/member of the Civic Jazz Orchestra (CJO), a jazz education youth outreach program funded by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Later, he became Director of Bands in the Lansing (MI) Public School District. Solomon has performed in the Twin Cities ranging from co-composing for KBEM Jazz 88.5 radio drama and hosting Jazz workshops, and summer youth Jazz camps such as Jazz Around Minneapolis (JAM). He has played on stages with celebrated musicians such as Delfeayo Marsalis, Eric Kamau Gravatt, Saxophonist Eric Alexander, Wess Anderson, and Bassist Christian McBride. He serves as a dedicated music educator and consummate professional in the fine and performing arts. Currently, Solomon is an active member of the 3-time Grammy award winning group Sounds of Blackness and is celebrating his first album entitled “Forward”.Pianist

Kavyesh Kaviraj is a critically acclaimed composer, arranger and pianist living and working in Minnesota. The Twin Cities based musician has worked with several internationally renowned artists, including the likes of Wynton Marsalis, David Sanchez, Justin Robinson, Roosevelt Collier & Steve Cole. Despite being primarily a Jazz pianist, having studied at Berklee College’s Global Jazz Institute, Kaviraj has established himself in an eclectic assortment of music scenes. Whilst being active in hip-hop, gospel, R&B, funk scenes, he has enjoyed working with Jamecia Bennett, The Steeles, I Self Devine, Lady Midnight, Desdamona, Nooky Jones & Toki Wright. His latest release, Fables, was seven years in the making and represents his ability to tell a story through his playing and compositions.One of the Twin Cities most versatile musicians, drummer

Kevin Washington doesn’t stick to the jazz of the past. He takes the music to a new level, often incorporating other genres from Afro-Latin to hip hop and R&B beats. The son of saxophonist Donald Washington and singer Faye Washington, he grew up in Detroit immersed in learning music and listening to the jazz greats who came before him. Since moving to the Twin Cities in his teens, Washington continues to capture the spirit of African and African American music, while making it his own. Washington is a drumming instructor at Walker West and works with the student jazz ensembles.Bassist

Dan Carpel attended Berklee College of Music, where he was in the school’s Monterey Quartet. He was a member of Jason Palmer’s band throughout his time in Boston and was a mainstay in their residency at Wally’s Jazz Cafe. His time out east also notably included playing in groups led by Godwin Louis, Noah Preminger, and Melissa Aldana. Since relocating to the Twin Cities, Dan has regularly worked with Javi Santiago, Zacc Harris, and Omar Abdulkarim. He frequently performed with singer/guitarist Mary Cutrufello as well as Sonny Knight and the Lakers, and he recently became a part of Dylan Hicks’ Small Screens.