Ahmad Johnson
Ahmad T. Johnson is a multifaceted jazz musician who is quickly emerging as one of his generation's modal figures. Ahmad is from West Palm Beach, Florida, where he grew up in a household of the Arts. Johnson obtained a Bachelor of Music Degree at Michigan State University with a focus on Jazz Studies. He studied drummers from Max Roach to Art Blakey and dug deep into the roots of jazz—drawing inspiration from artists ranging from Duke Ellington to Duke Ellington Thelonious Monk. Ahmad has had the privilege of showcasing his talents while working alongside Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra. He has performed at well-known venues such as Minton's Harlem, Smalls Jazz Club, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and numerous national and international locations. Ahmad's ambition is to be a great musician committed to life-changing music and to connect with others on a spiritual level. He invites you to follow him on that journey.
Alexis Lombre
“Alexis Lombre has the work ethic of a veteran jazz star.”—Detroit Metro Times
Alexis Lombre is a pianist, vocalist, and bandleader who discovered early that the true essence of music is not just about what you hear but how music makes you feel. Her band has been opening acts for Chris Dave & the Drumhedz and Marquis Hill. As a side woman, she has toured internationally in South Africa with Englewood-Soweto Exchange, an effort powered by a MacArthur grant led by Ernest Dawkins. She also toured France as part of a Detroit-Paris exchange with Bacongo Square Boulevard, a trio comprised of French, Congolese, American musicians. Lombre has also played with internationally known musicians such as James Carter, the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble, Makaya McCraven, Donald Harrison, Bobby Watson, Buster Williams, Wadada Leo Smith, Dee Alexander, J Moss, Cece Peniston, Rudresh Mahanthappa, and Nona Hendrix.
In 2017, she released her first record Southside Sounds, a soulful reflection of her upbringing on Chicago’s Southside. Her newest single, “Come Find Me," was produced by Grammy-Award-winning guitarist Isaiah Sharkey. Lombre also produced a new mini-documentary series called THE PROCESS, where you can see the inner workings of her creative mind, available on Youtube now. She aims to encourage others to heal from the traumatizing world around them by finding their inner light.
Brianna Thomas
Vocalist, composer, and arranger Brianna Thomas is one of the most evocative and accomplished vocalists of her generation. Blessed with a sublime and soulfully syncopated soprano voice that scats, swoons, and croons at the speed of swing, Thomas has worked with a plethora of jazz stars from Clark Terry to Dianne Reeves, and Russell Malone to Houston Person, the Count Basie Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. She is featured on Marsalis’ soundtrack to the motion picture, Bolden. Additionally, she has performed a nationwide tour with Michael Mwenso and the Shakes and at several premier venues, including Ginny’s Supper Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Detroit Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Montreux Jazz Festival, and the Apollo Theater. Thomas grew up in the Midwest, surrounded by music at an early age. Her mother, a non-musician, had an eclectic record collection that included Bessie Smith, Dinah Washington, and James Brown. Her father, drummer/vocalist Charlie “CJ” Thomas, took her to clubs when she was an infant—she sang in his groups when she was six. Brianna’s latest CD, Everybody Knows, received 4 ½ stars in Billboard magazine.
Charenee Wade
First Runner-Up in the 2010 Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition, the award-winning and critically acclaimed vocalist, arranger, educator, and composer from New York City, has excited audiences worldwide with her ingenuity and vibrancy through her artistry. Recipient of the 2017 Jazz at Lincoln Center Millennial Swing Award, Wade has worked with notable artists including Wynton Marsalis, Terri Lyne Carrington, Christian McBride, Winard Harper, Eric Reed, Jacky Terrason, Curtis Lundy, Robert Glasper, and Kyle Abraham (MacArthur Genius Awardee).
Wade's current CD, Offering: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, is a powerful reinterpretation of the poet's musical library, which features notable artists including Lonnie Plaxico, Marcus Miller, Stefon Harris, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and Christian McBride (spoken word).
An alumnus of Manhattan School of Music and Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Wade has performed at some of the top venues, including Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Jazz Standard, and the Apollo. Additionally, she has performed at major festivals worldwide, including Montreux, the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Istanbul Jazz Festival, Spoleto, Savannah Music, Jazz En Tete, Bern Jazz Festival, and Charlie Parker Jazz Festival. As an educator, Wade has taught masterclasses, clinics, and jazz camps in the U.S. and worldwide. She is currently an instructor at Aaron Copland School, Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University, and The Juilliard School.
Chris Pattishall
Pianist and composer Chris Pattishall is something of a chimera. Deeply grounded in the jazz piano tradition, Pattishall’s curiosity spans tango, gospel, 20th century orchestral, ambient electronic, and film music. His stylistic breadth is unified by his empathy, meticulous sense of detail, and inclination towards the surreal. Equally comfortable playing music acoustically and producing it electronically, Chris is a multifaceted artist pursuing a decidedly 21 st century practice. Pattishalls’s debut album Zodiac: A Reimagining of the Zodiac Suite by Mary Lou Williams was called a “startling achievement” by the New York Times and a “plangent, attention-holding tour de force” by BBC Music Magazine. The Wire noted the album’s extensive yet subtle production “successfully achieves an impression of forms melting and reconfiguring… an audible space opening up between the routine and the magical.” He is a featured performer on a wide range of recordings, from the Grammy-nominated debut of drummer/vocalist Jamison Ross to the film score of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, as well as the radical deconstructions of guitarist/composer Rafiq Bhatia’s Standards, Vol. 1. Chris has directed a concert film featuring vocalist Vuyo Sotashe for Duke University’s 2020 season. His production work will be featured on several 2021 releases.
Chris Smith
Chris Smith is a Grammy award-winning musician, born & raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He started his musical journey on the violin when he was six years old. He later chose the upright bass to help the music department due to a shortage of bass players. In high school, he started playing electric bass in church. At 18, he took his first educational trip abroad to Spain with the prestigious Dave Brubeck Institute. After attending the program for two years, he moved to New York City, where he received his bachelor’s from The New School and master’s from Rutgers University. Since 2008, Chris has made a living playing music in New York City. He has a wide range of musical experience from playing for wedding bands, churches, and recording projects, as well as touring over 20 countries around the world. Chris has been very fortunate to work with Dave Brubeck, Branford Marsalis, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Kendrick Lamar, Quincy Jones, Justin Kauflin, Bill Laurance, Robert Glasper, and H.E.R. to name a few. Before the COVID-19 crisis, he was bi-coastal between New Jersey and Los Angeles, where he had been hired part-time at the Herbie Hancock Institute in UCLA. Today, he is based in his hometown of Minnesota, where he founded a consulting business that promotes music therapy. Additionally, he works as an Independent Living Skillsworker during the day. Chris is currently finishing a music therapy degree geared towards the mental health care of students. He hopes to start a trend amongst his peers to prepare the next generation for the future.
Dom Jervais
Dom Gervais is a New York City native from Harlem. He is a music producer and percussionist who began exploring music at the age of three when he picked up a violin. Dom can even be seen on an episode of Sesame Street showing Elmo how the violin works! When Dom was ten years old, he joined the NY Boys Club in Harlem and was introduced to the drum set. The rest, as they say, is history. Since then, Dom has performed at prestigious venues across the city and country, including the Apollo Theater, the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, and Birdland. As a music producer, Dom has worked with and written for various musical artists and is currently in collaboration with Death Jam A&R. He studied with Ralph Peterson at Berklee and Reggie Workmen at the Harlem School of the Arts. Currently, Dom is finishing up his Bachelor's Degree in Music Production at the Berklee School of Music.
Elijah Person
Elijah Person was born in The Bronx, New York, along with an older brother, a twin sister, and a beautiful baby brother. Both of Person’s parents are hard workers and have sacrificed a lot for the family. The family moved from state to state, constantly trying to find a stable living, eventually ending up in the Bronx, where life started to blossom. While growing up in the Bronx was rough, dancing was a lifesaver. Elijah began to dance at the age of three. As a child, Elijah would watch Michael Jackson dance on television every day, inspiring a lifetime pursuit of being a great dancer. Subsequently, Elijah began dancing everywhere around the city of New York. Dancing was a way to express and cope with stress. Elijah lost a lot of friends growing up, all of whom are missed dearly. Elijah is now 26 years old and continues to pursue the dream of dancing. Elijah's goal is to continue inspiring the youth and saving the younger generation from death and incarceration.
Franklin Rankin
Growing up in a home of R&B, Funk, and Soul lovers, music has always been at the heart of life for guitarist, composer, and educator Franklin Rankin. While his mother raised him on artists like Prince and Stevie Wonder, his grandfather was the first to introduce him to legends like Coltrane.
Franklin began exploring improvisational music at a young age while studying at the Harlem School of the Arts. He went on to graduate from the prestigious Berklee College of Music with a degree in Jazz Composition. While at Berklee, he was featured in the Best of Jazz Composition concert and arranged for the Rainbow Big Band, led by saxophonist Tia Fuller. Also, during that time, Franklin discovered an interest in film scoring and had the opportunity to compose for the short films of Beeka Regassa.
Currently based in New York, Franklin completed his Masters in Jazz Studies from New York University in 2019. He is a freelance musician who has performed with many artists, including Azealia Banks, Chris Potter, Micah Stampley, and more. He also instructs privately and at several institutions around the city.
Giveton Gelin
From the age of 10, Gelin taught himself to play the trumpet simply by emulating his favorite records. After years of self-tutelage, Adrian D’Aguilar, bass player, began to mentor him, providing him the tools to play jazz. Posteriorly, the Nassau-born trumpeter would study with Dr. Eddie Henderson at the Oberlin Conservatory. The same year, he received recognition at the Young Arts Foundation and Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program. Thereafter, he continued his studies at the Juilliard School and is expecting to graduate in 2021.
In the span of three years, Gelin has played with pioneers of the NY jazz scene such as Curtis Lundy, Bobby Watson, Roy Hargrove, Sullivan Fortner, Wynton Marsalis, Ben Wolfe, and Jon Batiste. Additionally, the 21-year-old trumpeter has received tutelage from some of the world’s greatest, including Wynton Marsalis, Nicholas Payton, Ralph Peterson. Furthermore, he was the protege of the late Roy Hargrove. Earlier this year, the Bahamas-native was awarded the 2020 LetterOne Rising Star Jazz Award and ASCAP's Herb Alpert Award. Ultimately, Gelin's artistic vision is to pay tribute to his ancestors and unify others by incorporating universal human experiences into sound. Through his quintet, the young trumpeter brings forth a new narrative to jazz music.
Jalen Baker
Jalen Baker was born in Washington DC and raised in Houston, TX. He is a vibraphonist, percussionist, educator, and composer whose early training involved classical and jazz, quickly deciding to focus on the latter. In May 2017, Jalen received his BA in Jazz Studies from Columbia College Chicago. While matriculating at Columbia College, Jalen studied with percussionist Jarrett Hicks. He distinguished himself as a jazz vibraphonist receiving several accolades, including outstanding soloist at both the Notre Dame and Elmhurst Jazz Festivals, as well as being one of two chosen students representing Columbia at the Arcevia Jazz Festival in Arcevia, Italy. While in Chicago, Jalen was also an active musician, playing in various venues around town with the Jarrard Harris Quartet, The Dod Kalm Quartet, Human Bloom, and his own group, Musiki Tano. He was also chosen to be a member of the Chicago Next Gen Allstars by the Chicago Jazz Institute.
Jalen was accepted as a Graduate Assistant in the Jazz Performance program at Florida State University, and in May 2019, he received his master’s in Jazz Studies. During his tenure at Florida State, Jalen distinguished himself as a performer, being chosen as a Ravinia Jazz Fellow in 2018. He has been an active performer with the Leon Anderson Quartet, The Ulysses Owens Trio, and The Ulysses Owens Quartet as well as being bandleader for his own project, Musiki Tano, across venues in and around Georgia and Northern Florida. Jalen was also recently the featured guest with the Savannah Jazz Orchestra.
Jason Clotter
Jason Clotter is a bassist from Puerto Cortes, Honduras, who currently resides in the mecca of jazz that is New York City. After his years migrating from Honduras to New York City, he started studying the bass at age 17 after enrolling at Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music. He and his talent have grown tremendously since. Clotter has taken part in many prestigious programs such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, NAFME, Manhattan School of Music, and much more. Additionally, Clotter has shared the stage with numerous great musicians, including Vincent Herring, Stacy Dillard, Wallace Roney, Eric Lewis, Steve Davis, and many more. He has performed in multiple celebrated venues around the world such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, Smalls Jazz Club, Smoke Jazz Club, Grand Ole Opry, and Reduta Jazz Club in the Czech Republic. Clotter has been selected to be a part of multiple programs such as Jazz Lincoln Center, Manhattan School Music Pre-College, Bloomingdales School of Music, the Skidmore Jazz Institute, and many more. Jason is currently storming the jazz scene as an up-and-coming Bassist. His mission is to create beautiful music and keep this music alive as it flows through the soul and spirit.
Jono Gasparo
Jono Gasparro was born in Cleveland, Ohio, into a blue-collar family with roots in Italy. His grandfather longed to be a touring musician but chose the stability of life as a union representative and Teamster. He created a basement refuge of instruments, which he and his grandson Jono would play, and so began the young boy’s lifelong passion for music. Jono's father was an avid music listener and collector who discovered the blues by way of rock music, paving the way for his son’s exploration of the genre.
Music was a space of healing and uplift that offered Jono a view beyond suburban life, a space for dreaming, and a source of unwavering internal strength. He was the first in his family to graduate from college, earning a BA in Music Education from Miami University in Ohio, and going on to work for Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. His first full-time job was assisting Wynton Marsalis, for whom he later produced a series of lectures at Harvard University in addition to later work on TV series, album & book releases, and world premiere symphonies by Marsalis. He built the organization's livestream platform and developed a multi-year K-12 educational partnership with Harlem Children's Zone.
Jono went on to serve as Director of Music at Red Rooster Harlem / Ginny's Supper Club under Marcus Samuelsson for several years before founding JMG Live in 2016. Before the pandemic, the organization produced over 1000 performances annually. He served as manager to Michael Mwenso, whose acclaimed albums and performances include the Monterey and Newport Jazz Festivals. He produced large-scale national tours including We Shall Overcome, a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. led by Damien Sneed as well as Harlem 100 with Mwenso & the Shakes in addition to special guests. He is the co-founder of Electric Root with Mwenso, and their initiatives include the Artist Led Anti-Racism Workshop with Shariffa Ali and Kamilah Long, the Black Roots Summer Series at Bard College, and a WNET-TV special All Arts "Michael Mwenso Honors George Floyd." Gasparro lived in New York City for 13 years before moving to LA in 2020. His wife and two-year-old son look forward to welcoming their newest family member in 2021. He remains a staunch believer in the electricity generated between artists and audiences and in the inimitable power of music to transform people.
Julian Lee
“Julian is just absolute soul. He’s serious. He’s got the feeling. Absolute jazz pours out of his horn.” —Wynton Marsalis
Julian Lee is a graduate of the Juilliard Jazz Program (BM ‘17), and a recipient of the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award. A woodwind specialist, his main focus is the tenor saxophone. Julian has toured and performed worldwide with world-class artists, namely Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride, Michael Mwenso and the Shakes, the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, and Jon Batiste.
Born into a family of musicians, Julian was steeped in musical study from a young age. He picked up the saxophone at age seven after seeing his father, Mike Lee, play the horn with the great Billy Hart on drums. At age 13, he knew he wanted to pursue music as a career and put in countless hours studying and learning from his father and the recordings of masters, namely Lester Young, Dexter Gordon, and John Coltrane.
While at Juilliard, Julian had the pleasure of studying with the great Joe Temperley in the year before his passing. He thinks of Joe every time he goes to play the horn.
Julian appears on the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra release of Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown, and Beige as a featured soloist. His debut album is scheduled to be released in late 2021.
Kamilah Long
Kamílah L. Long is an innovative leader and dynamic theatrical professional. Her multifaceted theater career includes roles as an actor, director, producer, educator, fundraiser, activist, and speaker. She started her career in theater as a storyteller, which led her to join Actors Equity and to become a professional actor before completing her undergraduate theater degree from Alabama State University. Kamilah went on to receive a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts in Performance along with a Certificate in African American theater from the University of Louisville.
She serves as the Executive Director of Play On Shakespeare, and is the owner of The Black Whole, a multimedia company focused on centering the Black global community through art and storytelling.
Mathis Picard
Mathis Picard, born May 30th, 1995, is a French-Malagasy pianist, composer, producer, and bandleader whose music influences span many stages and ages. Rooted in a tradition of live acoustic performance that incorporates the latest musical technology, Mathis creates his own style that merges Electronic Bass Music, Jazz, Classical & Stride Piano.
Mathis, who began playing at the age of three, quickly became passionate about music from the dance idiom and is currently focused on sharing that passion globally—whether it's with his orchestra, Mathis Sound Orchestra, his solo project, or his emerging quartet, The Elements.
When not performing his music, Mathis has had the honor of sharing the stage with artists such as Mwenso and the Shakes, Braxton Cook, Ron Carter, Lee Ritenour, Jason Moran, CROWN, Kindness, and Wynton Marsalis.
Michael Mwenso
Michael Mwenso was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He spent his teenage years “hanging out” and witnessing some of the greatest Black artists of the 20th Century in London, where he was exposed to musicians such as Ray Charles, B.B.King, and many more. In his youth, Mwenso started honing his talents as a trombonist, singer, and performer, playing in a range of styles from reggae to Afrobeat and carnival bands. Mwenso’s talent as a performer caught the attention of many, subsequently leading him to meet James Brown, who allotted space for him to sing and dance at his London shows.
In 2012, friend and jazz musician Wynton Marsalis brought Mwenso to New York City to serve as a curator and programming associate at Jazz at Lincoln Center while also booking nightly sets at Dizzy’s Club. Over the next few years, Mwenso booked, performed, and curated throughout the institution’s spaces.
Through these performances, Mwenso began collaborating with a wide variety of Juilliard-trained musicians that soon became known as The Shakes. This unique group of global artists presents music that merges entertainment and artistry with a formidable timeline that reflects the history of African and Afro-American music. In 2019, Mwenso and his band The Shakes released their debut album, Emergence [The Process of Coming Into Being], to widespread critical praise—The New York Times proclaimed, “Mr. Mwenso, a Sierra Leonean vocalist, comes from the jazz world, but his messages arrive in the form of a growl, not a croon, and his band, the Shakes, is a thrashing hybrid whose concerts often take the form of a prewar revue. If a tap dancer arrives to blow your mind midsong, don’t say you weren’t warned.”
Naila Ansari
An Assistant Professor in theater and Africana Studies at SUNY Buffalo State College, Naila Ansari has merged artistry and scholarship to build and create collaborative works that facilitate conversations on race and Black performance. Her most recent project, a forthcoming book titled Choreographies of Black Women Joy, focuses on the performance of joy through the creative archiving of oral histories, movement histories, live-performance, and film. Ansari is currently the Dance Director for Ujima Company, Inc. selected by the late Lorna C. Hill, as well as serving as the producer for the THIS LOVE THING project presented by the Inner-Muslim Action Network (IMAN) out of Chicago, IL.
Negah Santos
An incredible hand percussionist born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, Anne Caroline Santos Da Silva, also known as Nêgah Santos, has a unique sound, which is influenced by several styles such as Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, Fusion, R&B, Jazz, Pop, African, and World Music.
Performing professionally since her teens in Brazil, Nêgah shared the stage with several artists such as Tony Tornado, Falamansa, and Sandra de Sá. Negah was part of the prestigious NGO Meninos do Morumbi. Posteriorly, she became part of the musical theater scene as the percussionist for plays O Primo Basílio and Mulheres Alteradas.
She graduated from Berklee College of Music as part of the Global Jazz Institute outreach program. Nêgah has performed with her own project, ChoroBop, and with many artists, including Grammy Award Winners Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spalding, Danilo Perez, Alejandro Sanz, A.R Rahman, Terri Lyne Carrington, Giovanni Hidalgo, and Diane Reeves, as well as prolific artists such as Ledisi, Clinton Cerejo, Joyce, Marcos Valle, Toni Tornado, Nona Hendrix, Lizz Wright, Miguel Zenon, Meshell Ndegeocello, Tia Fuller, Valerie Simpson, Sheila E., Al Jarreau, Women of the World, and Alcione. Recently, Nêgah has become the first female percussionist for the Riverdance show as part of the 21st Anniversary Euro Tour in 2016. Additionally, Nêgah has performed in several countries, including Brazil, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Panama, the USA, United Kingdom, Germany, England, Ireland, and China. She has also performed in renowned festivals and taught workshops around the globe. Recently Nêgah has joined the third season of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as part of the house band along with Jon Batiste and Stay Human. In 2019, Nêgah Santos also became endorsed by Contemporanea Intstrumentos Musicais (Brazil) and LP (USA).
Netanya Thompson
A native of Buffalo, New York, Netanya discovered her love for dance at the tender age of three by training in traditional and non-traditional African dance. After pursuing other dance genres, Netanya attended Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, furthering her craft. Netanya has trained and performed throughout Western New York. She has participated in New York City Dance Africa, annual Kwanzaa and Juneteenth celebration performances, multiple community dance companies, and Buffalo State’s Dance Theater company. Netanya holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a minor in Dance from Buffalo State College. She plans to continue her training by engaging with local and global communities, carrying with her the experience of modern dance, ballet, jazz, and African styles. She aspires to combine business with art.
Rashaan Salaam
Rashaan Salaam was born and raised in Miami, Florida. Ever since Rashaan’s youth, an infatuation for music has been alive—particularly calypso and soca, the music of Trinidad & Tobago, where Rashaan’s origins lie. As a child, Rashaan attended performing arts elementary and middle schools, learning piano and trombone and having their first exposure to jazz bands. This opened up their world to masters of jazz—Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and J.J. Johnson. From that moment embarked on a life-changing journey. Rashaan later moved to New York City to participate in the Essentially Ellington National Jazz Competition—their first time playing with hundreds of skilled musicians from many different backgrounds and cultures. Rashaan is grateful for their musical journey and the people who've helped along the way. This is only the beginning of Rashaan’s new musical journey, one with inspiring things to come.
Shariffa Ali
Shariffa Chelimo Ali is a Kenyan-born, New York-based creative leader committed to working with an open heart at the intersection of the performing arts and humanitarianism. As a theater director and academic, Shariffa moves her audiences to engage with timely issues touching upon Black, Afropolitan, and African-American identities. Shariffa has directed and lectured at colleges where her productions have brought many “firsts” to campuses: “first all-female cast and creative team” for her production of Zimbabwean born Danai Gurira’s Eclipsed at Princeton University; “first all-black ensemble with a director of color” for her production of Dominique Morisseau’s Detroit67; “best-attended show” for her production of We are Proud to Present… at Yale University.
Shariffa worked at the Public Theater in New York, where she served in numerous capacities, often piloting new roles that serve her interest in curating radical spaces of hospitality, equity, inclusion, diversity as well as promoting anti-racism throughout the institution.
2019 marked Shariffa’s New York Off-Broadway directorial debut, in which she brought South African writer Yaël Farber’s Mies Julie to audiences at Classic Stage theater. Shariffa’s Regional theater credits include acclaimed writer Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play at Pittsburgh Public Theater, followed by a world premiere of Karen Zacarias’ The Copper Children at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as well as Lynn Nottage’s gripping work on the illicit ivory trade Mlima’s Tale at St Louis Repertory theater.
Shariffa’s forthcoming VR (Virtual Reality) project Atomu took home top honors for best VR project at the inaugural Digital Lab Africa Competition and made its debut at the Sundance International Film Festival in 2020.
Atomu, which draws from ancient Kikuyu mythology touching on themes of LGBTQ rights, has since received global interest, development, and incubation at the Sundance Institute, Utah, Royal National Theatre, UK, and POV Spark. In addition to her work as a theater director, Shariffa maintains her commitment to activism as a community organizer. She has lead diversity and inclusion workshops with Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts and has participated in workshops with a particular interest in the intersections of Arts and Social Justice lead by Arts Equity and EMC arts. She acts as an advisory committee member of Africa’sOut! founded by renowned Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu.
Here, Shariffa provided critical support and leadership for an initiative geared towards advancing radical change through the power of art and activism, particularly supporting artists, initiatives, and institutions from Africa and its Diaspora that celebrate freedom of creative expression. Shariffa is a graduate of the University of Cape Town’s select Theater and Performance division and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree. And perhaps the thing that she is most proud of is that she was featured in the New York Times Gentleman’s style section for her great taste in fashion.
Sumaya Jackson
Sumaya Jackson, a native New Yorker, began her dance training at the age of six at The Ailey School. Upon graduating with honors from The Dwight School, she furthered her dance training at The Juilliard School, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts. Sumaya continued to dance in New York City with Kyle Abraham and Janis Brenner. While freelancing, she worked for Magnolia Bakery, closely with its president, Bobbie Lloyd. During her eight years at Magnolia, Sumaya was the General Manager for four locations and assisted with franchising operations overseas in the Middle East. In 2017, she began working for Complexions Contemporary Ballet, overseeing company operations as well as their educational programs. Sumaya is currently the Assistant Company Manager at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Taylor Roig
Taylor Roig started his journey in the music world at age fifteen, teaching himself how to play guitar. Not being proficient enough to join a band at first, Taylor received a four-track tape recorder from his mother to capture his friend's garage band. He was instantly hooked and began teaching himself recording and mixing through reading instruction manuals. Taylor then went on to study audio engineering at New York City’s School of Audio Engineering and worked at numerous New York studios, including Jimi’s Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios.
In 2013, Roig began working as a live sound engineer at Dizzy’s Club in Jazz at Lincoln Center. It was then, at the late-night jam sessions, where Taylor first met Michael Mwenso. He was then introduced to Jono Gasparro and began working for Electric Root at Ginny's Supper Club at Red Rooster Harlem as a live sound engineer, eventually becoming Director of Production.
TJ Reddick
TJ Reddick is an American musician and educator, as well as a graduate from The Juilliard School. He currently resides in New York City, which has led to collaborations with artists including Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Chick Corea, Jon Batiste, Nicholas Payton, Alicia Olatuja, Will Downing, Mwenso and the Shakes, among others. He has as well performed at many venues, including Radio City Hall, Rose Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Harvard, Balboa Theater, Adrienne Arsht Center, Smalls Jazz Club, Blue Note Jazz Club, Smoke Jazz Club, Dizzy’s, Marciac Jazz Festival, Belize Jazz Festival, Jacksonville Jazz festival, Jacksonville Bethel Baptist Church, Greater Refuge Temple, Mattox Revival Center, and City Tabernacle. TJ believes art shapes and gives color to the world we live in and that art plays an integral role in building communities.
Vuyo Sotashe
Vuyo (Vuyolwethu) Sotashe is a New York-based vocalist, composer, and performer originally from South Africa. Since moving to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar, he has performed with multiple celebrated jazz legends including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jimmy Heath, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Barry Harris, and Winard Harper, to name a few. Vuyo has appeared with multi-Grammy Award winner and Pulitzer Prize winner Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as a featured artist on their 2018 Winter Big Band Holidays tour (US), as well as their South African Songbook tour in Europe and his home country of South Africa. Sotashe has also appeared as a leader and sideman at the internationally acclaimed Montreux Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Fest, Joy of Jazz, and Arcevia Jazz Festival. He is the recipient of the Van Lier Fellowship for Music at Joe's Pub/Public Theater for 2018-2019. Additionally, he has collaborated and performed in Somi Kakoma's debut theater work "Dreaming Zenzile", which premiered at Joe's Pub as well as the Apollo, later making his commercial ff-Broadway debut as part of the cast in "Black Light", created by performance artist Daniel Alexander Jones in February and October of 2018. Sotashe has gone on to premiere a new play, "Cartography" by Kaneza Schaal & Christopher Myres at the Kennedy Center in January of 2019. His most recent collaborative theater project was Ohio (St. Ann’s Warehouse/The Bengsons). Currently, he performs as one of the fronting vocalists in the internationally touring, multi-disciplinary band collective Mwenso and the Shakes, while leading his own ensemble appearing on stages across the United States and around the world. Sotashe continues to create, collaborate, record, and perform as an indelible creative voice both in his homeland of South Africa, New York City, as well as the international scene."
Zhanna Reed
Zhanna Reed is a creative artist currently residing in Buffalo, NY. She is an emerging entrepreneur and multimodal craftsman, actress, dancer, model, vocalist, writer, and occasional leftie, who honors the value of creating a moment of connection with herself and others. She captivates her audience in all she does with a tasteful mix of grace and boldness.
Zhanna has always carried charisma for music. Every given Sunday, she would sprint from her seat in the pew to join the church choir in song and thus became an honorary member at the tender age of two. She nurtured her gifts of voice and many talents while attending Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts. Zhanna is an Alumna of Buffalo State University of New York, from where she obtained an Arts degree. Devotion to service, research, and natural leadership earned her the distinguished honor of graduating Magna Cum Laude, holding the Arts and Humanities Dean’s Award, and the SUNY Chancellor's Award.
“By making art, we transcend and transform what is current; we stir up what's inside. We press both maker and partaker. When we lie dormant, we die in stagnation. I answer the call. I come to live.” —Zhanna Reed