Extended biography
Vid Jamnik was born in Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia in 1993. He made his first official musical steps in 2001 in the music school in Ravne na Koroškem with professor Davorin Jevšnikar.
In 2005, he attended a summer jazz school in Grožnjan, Croatia, where he met the legendary Yugoslav vibraphonist Boško Petrović, who became an important mentor figure and ushered the young musician into the world of jazz. Vid has performed with many renowned musicians and ensembles, including Jimmy Cobb, Georgie Fame, Jim Rotondi, Stefan Milenkovich, Gianni Basso, Dusko Goykovich, Arthur Lipner, the JMI Jazz World Orchestra under the direction of Luis Bonilla, and was a member of the Euroradio Jazz Orchestra 2017.
He studied privately with Gary Burton and participated in workshops led by the likes of Dave Samuels, Eric Alexander, Peter Bernstein, Lewis Nash and Nebojša Jovan Živković. His group Urgent Detergent made it to the finals of the EBU European Jazz Competition in Rotterdam, Holland, in 2015; and in 2019, took 2nd place in the 7 Virtual Jazz Competition.
In 2012, Vid graduated from the Carinthian State Conservatory in Klagenfurt, Austria with an Artistic Diploma in Jazz Studies. In 2011/2012, he participated in a five-month Erasmus student exchange at the Jazz Institut Berlin with professor David Friedman, and in 2014 released his debut album Last Minute! on Alessa Records. In 2018, Vid graduated Summa Cum Laude as a dual-major student of Performance and Jazz Composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston, having studied with Terence Blanchard, George Garzone, Ed Saindon, Kenny Werner, Ralph Peterson and many others. He is currently a Master of Music student at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, studying with Joe Locke, Joel Ross, Stefon Harris, Dayna Stephens and Miguel Zenón.
He received Berklee’s Most Active Mallet Performer Award in his first semester of studies and was selected twice to record for Berklee’s Jazz Revelation Records’ compilation CD featuring best student bands and compositions; he represented the label at the Umbria Jazz festival in Italy and, in 2015, toured in France on behalf of the college. Vid’s recordings also made it to two Jazz Slovenia compilations (2015, 2019), presenting the best of Slovene jazz.
In the past couple years, he toured Taiwan three times with the Mizform Project, presenting a unique fusion of traditional Taiwanese music and jazz. He has collaborated with Just A Corpse luxury fashion brand, and is heading a pioneering ongoing project, Viva Jazz Forma, fusing sounds of outdoor metal sculptures with jazz, techno and electronic music, thus bridging the visual and musical worlds. Currently, he is recording a duo album with vocalist Ajda Stina Turek, whom he has been performing with for many years.
Additionally, he has been teaching remotely and in-person, and is a leader or member of several other groups: Vid Jamnik/Ratko Zjača Duo & Quartet, You've Got That Swing (with Eddie Luis & His Jazz Passengers) and Jazz Continuo.
Vid Jamnik is a Balter Mallets Artist.