ROBERT GAMBARINI

The Band: Roberta Gambarini, vocal | Bill Easley, saxophone | Cyrus Chestnut, piano | Ameen Saleem, bass | Lewis Nash, drums

Roberta Gambarini began singing and performing at the age of 17 in jazz clubs around Northern Italy. In 1997 she worked with French Hammond organ player Emmanuel Bex touring jazz clubs throughout Italy. Shortly after she moved to New York City, and has since been performing with musicians like Jimmy Heath, Richard Wyands, Curtis Fuller, Hank Jones, Thelonious Monk, Jr., Roy Hargrove, Benny Bailey, Ben Riley, Phil Woods, Ron Carter, Larry Willis, Howard Johnson, Russell Malone, Christian McBride, Jeff Hamilton, Jesse Davis, Ronnie Mathews, Alvin Queen and many more.

Born in 1963, Cyrus Chestnut started his musical career at the age of six. He worked as a sideman with some of the leading players in the music including Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, Branford Marsalis, Frank Morgan, Lauryn Hill, Chick Corea, Dizzy Gillespie, Jon Hendricks, Joe Williams, Betty Carter, Freddy Cole, Bette Midler, Jimmy Scott, Isaac Hayes and Kevin Mahogany. As a leader, Cyrus has released 24 albums.

Bill Easley has had a diversified career as a professional musician and started playing professionally with his parents at the age of thirteen. He has played with George Benson, Isaac Hayes, Ruth Brown, Jimmy McGriff, Louie Bellson, Wynton Marsalis, Illinois Jacquet, Ron Carter, Frank Foster, Mercer Ellington, Warren Vache and many more. Bill has released seven recording as a leader.

Ameen Saleem is an allround artist. A native of Washington DC, since the start of his career his great compositional and technical skills have been instantly recognized. Although mainly grounded in jazz, Saleem’s music cannot be strictly defined as pertaining to a particular genre but, rather, as a uniquely personal style that spans a vast musical geography.

Universally recognized as one of the great drummers in jazz history, Lewis Nash’ illustrious career now spans over four decades. Nash is one of jazz’s most recorded musicians, appearing on over 500 recordings including 10 Grammy winners and numerous Grammy nominees. Nash toured, recorded and performed with many of jazz’s most celebrated icons, and his resume reads like a “who’s who” of jazz royalty.

Seating is limited. It is highly recommended buying your ticket in advance.

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TARUS MATEEN

Tarus Mateen, a child prodigy on bass, went on a tour of the Caribbean when he was twelve years old. The double-bass and electric bassist, who works in jazz, pop, and R&B idioms.

Receiving his bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College, then relocated to New York City in 1988. He worked with Betty Carter, Marlon Jordan, Roy Hargrove, Eddie Harris, Kenny Burrell, Milt Jackson, Mark Whitfield, Tim Warfield, Rodney Kendrick, Terence Blanchard, Kenny Barron, Bobbi Humphrey, Marc Cary, Stefon Harris, Greg Osby, Bernard Purdie, Nasheet Waits, Stanley Cowell, Mark Shim, Jacky Terrasson, Michael Marcus, Logan Richardson, and Jason Moran among others.

The Band: Tarus Mateen ~ Bass |  Colin Chambers ~ Piano | Tyler Leak ~ Drums | Clarence Ward III ~ Horns | Tamika Love Jones ~ Vocal

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HERBIE HANCOCK

There are few artists in the music industry who have had more influence on acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B than Herbie Hancock. As Miles Davis said, “Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven’t heard anybody yet who has come after him.”

Now in the sixth decade of his professional life, Hancock remains where he has always been: at the forefront of world culture, technology, business, and music. In addition to being recognized as a legendary pianist and composer, he has been an integral part of every popular music movement since the 1960s. As a member of the Miles Davis Quintet that pioneered a groundbreaking sound in jazz, he also developed new approaches on his own recordings.

Hancock is currently in the studio at work on a new album. He is a true icon of modern music. Throughout his explorations, he has transcended limitations and genres while maintaining his unmistakable voice, and he continues to amaze audiences across the globe.

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EUGENIE JONES

Eugenie Jones was not supposed to be a jazz singer. She graduated with an MBA in marketing, and her post-graduate career took her deep within the nonprofit sector as a marketing communications executive. Her mother, a soprano gospel singer, was the singer of the family, and when cancer claimed her life, Jones managed her grief by setting out to see if she could carry forward that part of her Mom’s life.

Jones puts her Marketing MBA and business savvy to work producing music legacy events that commemorate Seattle’s African American musical history, including the Jackson Street Jazz Walk and, in partnership with legendary Crusaders drummer Stix Hooper, the Celebrating Ernestine Anderson Tribute series. These events go beyond entertainment by raising funds for Seattle nonprofits such as the Rotary Boys & Girls Club, the Central Area Senior Center, and the Northwest Harvest Food Bank. Jones’s community efforts were recognized in 2023 when she received the Jazz Hero Award from the Jazz Journalists Association.

Eugenie Jones, vocals
Peter Adams, piano
Bob Antolin, guitar and sax
Jonathan Green, bass
Ronnie Bishop, drums

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GREGORY PORTER & THE BAYLOR PROJECT

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Gregory Porter was raised in Bakersfield, California, and he cites the Bakersfield Southern Gospel sound as well as his mother’s Nat King Cole record collection as fundamental influences on his own sound. In 2013 he released his breakout Blue Note debut Liquid Spirit, which sold more than a million albums and earned Porter his first Grammy Award, with NPR declaring him “America’s next great jazz singer.”

His 2016 follow-up Take Me to the Alley won Porter his second Grammy for Best Vocal Jazz Album and firmly established him as his generation’s most soulful jazz singer-songwriter. His 2021 release Still Rising collects new songs, covers, duets, and a selection of his much-loved favorite songs.

Featuring Jean Baylor and Marcus Baylor, The Baylor Project is a duo built on love, family, faith, culture, and community. Their debut, The Journey, garnered two Grammy nominations. Their second album, Generations (2021), earned the duo its first NAACP Image Award win for Outstanding Jazz Album-Vocal and its fourth Grammy nomination.

Marcus and Jean’s combined musicianship is unmatched. Their dynamic performances are soulful to the bone. The Baylors will raise you up and inspire you to clap along with them to a swinging mid-tempo tune. Yet, at a moments’ notice, you may be moved to tears when they change the atmosphere with a spiritual song that will stir the emotions.

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