Thee Steve Kenny Quintet will play a few selections from the recently released “Blue Chunks” CD (picked as one of the best of 2025 by Don Berryman) intermixed with some crowd-pleasing favorite Jazz Standards selected from the group’s multiple years of performances. There will probably be some Coltrane material as well. The current lineup features Steve Kenny on Trumpet, Pete Whitman on Saxophones, Levi Schwartzberg on Vibraphone, Dan Carpel on Bass, and Miguel Hurtado on Drums. The concert is at 7:30 on April 3rd at Berlin Jazz club in Minneapolis.. Tickets are available at https://www.berlinmpls.com/calendar/steve-kenny-quintet-april-2026
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.
Pete Whitman is a saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist, composer, arranger and educator based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. As a freelance musician, Whitman performs in a wide range of musical styles and contexts that include Jazz, Classical, Pop, dance bands, etc. He has performed with such distinguished groups as the Minnesota Orchestra, Jack McDuff, Curtis Fuller, the Woody Herman Orchestra, the Jazz MN Big Band, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Andres Prado, Dave Stryker, The Temptations and The Midtown Men. Whitman frequently performs in Broadway shows in the Twin Cities area. He has performed in the pit orchestra with such shows as Legally Blonde, The Pirates of Penzance, Christmas Story, The Wizard of Oz, White Christmas, Chorus Line, Singing in the Rain, West Side Story and Chicago. Whitman has recorded extensively as a sideman and has three CD’s under his name: Departure Point (Igmod Records), The Sound of Water (Artegra), and Where’s When (Artegra). Where’s When features the Pete Whitman X-tet, a ten-piece ensemble, which received a four-star rating by DownBeat Magazine. Two of his most recent recording projects include Mississippi (Shifting Paradigm Records) and Changes We Can Believe In by the Pete Whitman/Chris Olson Quintet (Bandcamp).
Levi Schwartzberg is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. He is a veteran of four-mallet vibes performance, and he is also an accomplished pianist. He was a two-time member of the Dakota Combo. Levi has led his own ensembles at Jazz Central, Black Dog, kj’s hideaway, Berlin and Khyber Pass Cafe as well as performing with Adam Linz’s Le Percheron, Steve Kenny, Will Kjeer, Charlie Lincoln, Davu Seru, and more
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.
Miguel Hurtado played throughout the Twin Cities as a teenager in several youth bands, as well as with South High jazz ensembles. After graduating from the Manhattan School of Music in spring 2010, he returned to the Twin Cities where he quickly became a busy member of the local jazz scene. In addition to leading his own bands, he has performed with Jake Baldwin, John Raymond, Jeremy Walker, Javi Santiago, Joe Strachan, Ted Olsen, Will Kjeer, Steve Kenny, and Courageous Endeavors. He is also expanding his musical resume, playing with some local pop and R&B singers, particularly Alicia Steele and vocalist/rapper Toussaint Morrison.
