Apifera – Nitai Hershkovits, Yuvi Havkin, Amir Bresler and Yonatan Albalak – bring a melting pot of influences and experience to their second album Keep the Outside Open. When these different musicians come together, the effect is like switching between radio stations: a dash of prog, a twist of post-rock, and a heavy dose of psychedelia, with the members’ shared background in jazz tying it all together.

Keep the Outside Open came about organically, arising from the friends’ hangouts at Yuvi’s studio culminating in late-night smoke sessions spent laughing at dad jokes, goofy names for demos, and made-up words: “Bazooka” when the music is happy, “sweating at the gig” when the arrangement isn’t tight, and “slug” if things aren’t clicking.

Apifera’s Stones Throw debut Overstand was instrumental, but when it came to recording Keep The Outside Open,they felt closer than ever and ready to try a more intimate approach. They let their imaginations run wild, wrapping personal stories from everyday life within fantasy and fictional characters.

“Theodor Marmalade” tells the story of a curious fellow who escapes humanity in search of nature, only to find he now misses the energy of society. The band says: “We all grew up in cities and at some point got tired of them. There’s always a dream of leaving to some secluded spot, but once you’re there, you feel detached from society, however fucked up it is.” Other songs tell of encounters with talking machines (“Mr. Pullman”), searching for a cat called Iris who’s chasing a bat named Neil (“Iris Is Neil"), and childhood fear of the dark (“The Curious Wild”). Threaded throughout is Apifera’s belief in the healing power of nature: “life, even when it’s weird, somewhere there’s a tree I can hug”.

The band’s members all have deep roots in their musical community: Yuvi releases electronic jazz as Rejoicer; Yonatan is frontman for post-rock/psych jazz band Geshem; Amir’s group Liquid Saloon blends afrobeat with jazz funk; and Nitai is best known for his solo piano records, with a 2023 album on ECM (spot the nod to the label in Keep The Outside Open’s tracklist). They call on their friend, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, for the album’s closing track, “Sera Sam”.

Apifera’s new album title surfaced after “we’re closing the outside” was yelled after shows at their favorite local jazz club. They decided to give the words a “surreal twist” for the record: “Over the last few years, we’ve felt the walls closing on our everyday lives, our culture and music. Keep The Outside Open is a call for the world to be open. To return to its free and wild state.” Mindful that this is a heartbreaking time of violence and war, the band adds, “We do not support violence of any kind and can’t fathom how the world today could choose anything other than peace, but until such a time comes when humanity can transcend boundaries and conflicts, we are dedicated to the unifying power of music.”

Shintaro Sakamoto Bio

Shintaro Sakamoto is a Japanese music composer, producer, writer and singer based in Tokyo.He began his career in 1989 as a member of the rock band “Yura Yura Teikoku”, where he played guitar and sang. YYT released 10 albums over the course of 21 years, disbanding in 2010. After 20+years with psych legends Yura Yura Teikoku, in 2011, Shintaro launched a solo career and started his own record label, “zelone records.” He released his debut solo album “How To Live With A Phantom” to critical acclaim in Japan in 2011, and Other Music Recording & Co. licensed the album for US/EU/UK release in 2012.In 2014, Shintaro released a split 7-inch single with Mayer Hawthorne for Record Store Day, and then released his 2nd solo album “Let’s Dance Raw.” Once again, Other Music Recording & Co. licensed the album for US/EU/UK release (and it reached #2 on Billboard’s “World Chart” in October, 2014).
Shintaro’s 3rd solo album “Love If Possible” was released in Japan in 2016, and “Love If Possible” was released digitally worldwide on January 2017.

Mesh-Key Records NYC issued an LP of “Love If Possible” for US/EU/UK in September 2017 and a split 7-inch single with Devendra Banhart was also released in Germany.  Shintaro gave his first solo live performance with his band at the WEEK-END FES in Cologne Germany.  In 2018, he had went to live peformance in China (tour), Netherlands (Le Guess Who? Fes), London and Mexico (Tropico Fes.).  In 2019, he joined a song "Volta e meia” with Devendra Banhert on the Brazilian rock band, O Terno's new album "atrás/além”. In the same year, he succeeded US headliner tours (SF, SR, Chicago and NY). And in 2022, 6 years since his last album, Love If Possible, Shintaro has completed his fourth solo album, "Like A Fable". From this album, digital and physical distribution to the global  except Japan will be Secretly Distribution, and LP vinyl will be released worldwide in 2023.

In 2023, Shintaro performed at the RISING festival in Melbourne, Australia, and this year, he headlined the first day of JOYLAND 2024 in Bali, Indonesia.

Bobby Oroza Bio

After years of grinding as a sideman in the Finnish music scene, Bobby Oroza has stepped up to make his voice heard. Always with an air of crude romanticism, Bobby pushes towards an expression transcending the borders of soul and rock balladry. His dark and intimate debut single ”This Love” didn’t take long to reach the ears and hearts of a worldwide soul music community and is already a proper classic amongst the lowrider and soul collector scenes. Bobby was born in Helsinki, Finland into a family of musicians and artists. During frequent family parties Bobby ́s Bolivian grandfather would pick up a guitar and sing Latin canciones and Cuban classics. Bobby ́s mother is a singer and his father a gypsy-style jazz guitarist. All his siblings work in show business and music. As a kid, Bobby was lucky to grow up surrounded by his parents’ record collection which included early jazz and blues, Motown hits, gospel ensembles, and doo-wop groups like The Drifters and The Clovers. The Soul records were balanced out by Brazilian ones, African ones, his mother’s collection of North and South American folk songs, and Nuyorican Salsa albums. All of these influences show up in Bobby’s music.

Bobby started working professionally as a musician in his early teens. His main instruments are guitar and percussion. Before finishing high school Bobby decided he needed to experience the rhythmic source that had inspired him the most, and travelled to Santiago, Cuba. There he studied percussion and singing intensively for months. Since his return he’s been producing, recording and performing music to make a living for his family. Teaming up with the Timmion Records house band Cold Diamond & Mink, led by Jukka Sarapää, Sami Kantelinen, and guitarist/composer Seppo Salmi, he has a tight quartet of musicians to support his vision. With his instant classic, debut album “This Love” Oroza has shared his strange and unique shade of Soul with the world, creating a cult-like following for his sound from Finland to sunny Southern California and beyond.

Recorded in the USA, the album features musical production by the artist, Pupillo, and Adrian Younge.

Céu discovered herself as a songwriter during a season in the Lower East Side of New York. In the early 2000s, influenced by the performances of black and Puerto Rican MCs on the neighborhood's streets, the budding interpreter was seized by an extreme freedom to express herself through her own music. This boldness is evident in her debut album, "Céu" (2005), a record nominated for both the Grammy Awards and the Latin Grammy Awards, featured on various charts worldwide and on Billboard, becoming one of the best-selling Brazilian albums in the history of the United States. This audacity continues to guide her unique transnational journey, acclaimed with renowned awards and, no less importantly, recognition from audiences who deeply resonate with her.

In 2023, Céu returned to the USA, this time to the West Coast, where she conceived "Novela" (Urban Jungle/ONErpm), her sixth album of unreleased songs in her career, set to be released on digital platforms on April 26th. Recorded at Linear Labs Studio in Los Angeles, the production is signed by the São Paulo-born artist, the musician and producer from Pernambuco, Pupillo – former drummer of Nação Zumbi, co-responsible for "Tropix" (2016) and "APKÁ!" (2019), both by Céu, winners of three Latin Grammy Awards, and a producer for Gal Costa and Erasmo Carlos - and by the American multi-instrumentalist and arranger Adrian Younge, owner of Linear Labs, known for albums such as "Something About April" (2011), and for projects with Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, The Delfonics, and Wu Tang Clan, as well as co-directing the multimedia initiative Jazz Is Dead.

As is customary in Adrian's work, the album was captured live, without the technological gadgets of today. Recorded on tape, in a dynamic moment that demands total presence. An old-fashioned approach that harkens back to the beginnings of character-forming record recordings. Interestingly, a futuristic experience that, according to Céu, requires a lot of emotional intelligence and no artificiality. "Nothing vintage," she assures. In the studio, the band consisted of Pupillo (on percussion, programming, and drums), Younge (on keyboards, guitar, bass - in "Reescreve" -, arrangements, and conducting strings and winds), and Lucas Martins (on bass - in virtually all tracks -, guitar, and co-authorship of three of the 12 tracks on the album).

"Dawned in your lucky color/ Chant your mantra and go/ Singing/ Living is for the brave," says the lyrics of "Raiou," which opens "Novela." American MC and songwriter, LadyBug Mecca, from Digable Planets, whose parents are Brazilian, shares vocals with Céu. In "Gerando na alta," it's the turn of anaiis, a Franco-Senegalese singer and songwriter, based in London, England, to exchange impressions about sisterhood. Loren Oden and Jensine Benitez, singers from the USA, feature on "Into my Novela," a collaboration between Céu and Lucas Martins, the informal title track of the album, which talks about the teledrama of everyday life, where there are no TV cameras recording actions, nor predefined scripts. "I am the protagonist of my Novela/ So good, yeah baby/ I want to learn how you want me/ To love you."

There are other significant characters in the plot. Frankie Reyes, an American DJ and producer of Puerto Rican descent, contributes to the harmony of the track "Buá Buá," where Céu, the owner of the melody and lyrics, says: "Cry all the tears that one day/ You refused to cry/ Cry because you recognize/ That you won't find one of these." Hervé Salters, a French artist and leader of General Elektriks, co-producer of "Tropix," appears on "High na Cachú," whose verses by Céu say: "Cold sweet water makes me reborn/ While the stone calls me back to sit/ Retaining all the heat it kept from the sun/ I settle like a flower pollinating." Marcos Valle, a national treasure from Rio de Janeiro, co-wrote "Reescreve" with the São Paulo-born artist, which, at the end of the affectionate session, questions the perspective of colonizers in Brazilian history textbooks. "What was there/ I never believed in/ Every page I read/ Just made me more sleepy/ Since the peoples who were silenced/ The embers came to burn/ The truth comes to light/ It's too much material to work with." Before that, "Corpo e colo," the only track by third parties, is the result of the encounter between Nando Reis and Kleber Lucas. Recently, on social media, the award-winning gospel artist and pastor of Igreja Batista Soul, in Rio, celebrated the fact. "Another beauty coming. Beautiful partnership I made with my bro Nando Reis. I just received a preview of him singing and I am simply ecstatic," he said.

In "Novela," ancient technologies, healing, creaminess, bolero, polished stars, echoes of soul music, things of the earth, rap, and whispers to guides emerge. Throughout the record, there is a reaffirmation of the author's fearlessness, committed to her time, in the complexity and beauty of creative work. Always keeping the diversity of Brazilian music on the horizon. Stay tuned for exciting scenes from the next chapters.

DELVON LAMARR ORGAN TRIO—or as it is sometimes referred to, DLO3—specializes in the lost art of “feel-good music.” The precise sequence of music chosen by Delvon is unique in itself, as he creates an experience for each show based on the vibe and feel of that audience. This includes the 1960s organ jazz stylings of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette, a tweak of the snappy soul strut of Booker T. & The M.G.’s, and The Meters. It teases you with Motown, Stax Records, Blues, and many other styles that may surprise you. It’s a concoction that goes straight to your heart and soul, leaving you emotionally connected on a whole new level.

The band features organist Delvon Lamarr, a self-taught virtuosic musician with perfect pitch who taught himself jazz and has effortlessly been able to play many instruments. The trio is formed by collecting a unique blend of guitarists and drummers worldwide. They leave you with a feeling of wonder caused by seeing something surprisingly beautiful and unforgettable for their fans at every show.

DLO3 was formed from the ground up by Delvon’s wife and manager, Amy Novo, together they created feel-good music to heal the world. The trio started from humble beginnings in 2015 and has since released several Billboard charting albums and toured the world to sold-out venues. Today, the power couple has taken the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio beyond their wildest dreams through her tireless work ethic and his bottomless talent.

The trio started from humble beginnings in 2015, but since then has released several Billboard charting albums and toured the world to sold-out venues. Not to mention, Congratulations to Delvon Lamarr on being named the Rising Star Critics Choice for Organist of the Year! Check out the 70th Annual Downbeat Critics Poll.

To hear Kiefer live is to hear him in his element, and to hear that dynamic with his trio creates a whole new atmosphere for anyone lucky enough to witness. 

Something For Real, Kiefer’s first official live album, features audio captured during an intimate show in Los Angeles back in April of 2023. The show was recorded in secret, per Kiefer’s request– thus capturing a natural electricity between him and his trio, consisting of collaborators Luke Titus and Pera Krstajic. The project includes one brand new song in title track “Something For Real,” along with originals from Kiefer’s catalog and a stirring rendition of Bobby Hutcherson’s “Montara”. This live album was conceived as a project without rules: “three friends playing for each other, for fun. With friends, for friends. Something for real!”

The album follows the release of Kiefer’s triumphant NPR Tiny Desk on May 6th– with support from his trio (Luke Titus, Pera Krstajic), and surprise guest appearances by supremely talented friends Charlie Hunter, Nate Smith, CARRTOONS, and Theo Croker.

Kiefer’s first release with Stones Throw was the 2016 album Happysad. His most recent album was last year’s It’s Ok, B U – a record that saw Kiefer return to his beat-making roots. In addition to his solo work, Kiefer has produced, played, and written for artists including Drake and Anderson .Paak, winning a Grammy for his work with the latter. 

Kiefer recently completed two sold out nights with this trio at the famed Blue Note NYC, and will tour Asia this summer. He’ll also accompany Nate Smith and CARRTOONS across the US in May. 

José James – the forward-looking, genre-defying Jazz singer for the hip-hop generation – has done it again. “1978” (his 12th studio album since 2008’s “The Dreamer”) announces an instant classic, combining James’ deep love of jazz and hip-hop with songwriting and production nods to R&B heroes Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson and Leon Ware.

“I had a writing session with Leon Ware back in 2009 in LA at his house in Marina Del Rey. He rolled one and we talked for hours about jazz, Motown and Marvin. At one point in the middle of working on a song he said ‘you remind me of me.’ That stayed with me. Of course I asked him a million questions because ‘I Want You’ is my all-time favorite album. I wanted 1978 to feel like he and J Dilla made an album for me.” 

Produced by James and featuring an all-star ensemble including Grammy nominees Pedrito Martinez (Camilla Cabello, Eric Clapton), Marcus Machado (Daniel Ceasar, Pharoahe Monch) and David Ginyard (Solange, Blood Orange), “1978” pulsates with the socially conscious feel-good vibes of Marvin Gaye, Prince and Stevie Wonder. James also skillfully explores the boundaries of Black music beyond his own backyard, featuring Brazillian rising star and recent Latin Grammy nominee Xenia França as well as the Congolese-Belgian rapper/filmmaker Baloji.

The Mizell brothers, Larry and Alphonso “Fonce” Mizell, revolutionized jazz-funk under the name Sky High Productions. As a production duo, they shot to fame writing and producing hits for the Jackson 5 while on staff at Motown Records. Their curiosity and creativity brought them to jazz, where they worked on groundbreaking records with Donald Byrd, including Black Byrdand Street Lady. Their days as hitmakers gave them strong pop senses, which they infused into Byrd’s trumpet compositions, laying the foundation for jazz-funk—and a stack of brilliant records. 

To celebrate his 80th birthday, Larry Mizell joins jazz luminaries Gary Bartz and The Blackbyrds—both of whom worked with the Mizell Brothers in their heyday—and rising talents Melanie Charles and Katalyst to bring us back to one of jazz’s most indelible moments.

A highly-respected trumpeter born in Kobe, Japan, Takuya Kuroda is a forward-thinking musician that has developed a unique hybrid sound, blending soulful jazz, funk, post-bop, fusion and hip hop music.

After following the footsteps of his trombonist brother playing in big bands, he relocated to New York to study jazz & contemporary music at The New School in Union Square; a course he graduated from in the mid- noughties. It was here that Takuya met vocalist José James, with whom he worked on the ‘Blackmagic’ and ‘No Beginning No End’ projects.

Following graduation, Takuya established himself further in the NYC jazz scene, performing with the likes of Akoya Afrobeat and in recent years with DJ Premier’s BADDER band (also including acclaimed bass player, Brady Watt). Premier said “The BADDER Band project was put together by my manager, and an agent I’ve known since the beginning of my Gang Starr career. He said, ‘What if you put a band together that revolved around a trumpet player from Japan named Takuya Kuroda? He’s got a hip-hop perspective and respect in the jazz field…”

Takuya Kuroda is already incredibly prolific, releasing five albums in the past decade and fortifying a solid reputation in the global jazz scene. 2011 saw the release of Takuya’s independently-produced debut album, ‘Edge’, followed by ‘Bitter and High’ the following year and ‘Six Aces’ on P-Vine in 2013. Takuya was signed to the legendary Blue Note Records in 2014 for his album ‘Rising Son’, as well as appearing on their 2019 cover versions project, ‘Blue Note Voyage’. He released his 5th album ‘Zigzagger’ on Concord in 2016, which also featured Antibalas on a reimagining of the Donald Byrd classic ‘Think Twice’.

Late Summer 2020, Takuya Kuroda returns with his sixth album ‘Fly Moon Die Soon’. In his words, “this album is about the irony between the greatness of nature and the beautiful obsceneness of humanity. Melodies and grooves fly back and forth from being spiritual to being vulgar.”

Irreversible Entanglements (IE) is a free-jazz quintet with an experimental punk mentality, that consists of poet/vocalist Camae Ayewa (often known as Moor Mother), bassist Luke Stewart, trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, saxophonist Keir Neuringer, and drummer Tcheser Holmes.

It is a community band playing deeply improvised, rhythm music full of love and social commitment. IE came together spontaneously, organically, in April of 2015 at "Musicians Against Police Brutality," a day of protest sound and discussion in Brooklyn. All were artists and activists of varying degrees: Philadelphia-based Ayewa and Neuringer, and D.C.-based Stewart as veterans of the Mid-Atlantic noisehardcore-experimental scene, while Holmes and Navarro as recent New England Conservatory grads Each of the studio albums that followed — 2020's Who Sent You? and 2021's Open The Gates — developed this legend further.

In 2023, IE signed to the fabled Impulse! Records, and released its most accomplished work to date, Protect Your Light, on September 8, 2023, primarily recorded at New Jersey's historic Van Gelder Studios. It features eight examples of how IE's collaborative composition strategies and Ayewa's in-communion verses result in some of the most potent music being made in the third decade of the 21st century, music with communal light and love at its heart. Get to that love on time — don't force history to guide you.

Giacomo Turra is an Italian musician born in 1997. Intrigued by the vinyls of his father, Giacomo started playing guitar at the age of 13, learning by jamming on his favorite artists like Stevie Wonder, George Benson and Herbie Hancock.

In 2018, he started his solo musical project, exploring R&B, Funk and Jazz and releasing his first singles under the name JMT between 2019 and 2020. In March 2020, during the pandemic lockdown, Giacomo started posting video performances on his Instagram account, soon becoming an Artist for D'Angelico Guitars and gaining hundreds of thousands of followers.

In July 2021, Giacomo released "The Groove Sessions", a compilation of Funk and R&B covers recorded with renowned musicians and singers from all over the world like Brandon "TAZ" Niederauer, Phoebe Katis, Jessica Burdeaux, George Collins and Augie Bello.

On November 12th, 2021, Giacomo played his first international show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam for the Soul Live in front of 2500 people. In December 2021, Matteo Dallape on drums, Francesco Dallago on bass and Anna Pollinari on vocals and keys joined the project as part of the band for Giacomo Turra. On August 26th, Giacomo released his first original single “Get Into The Groove” with Vokall Records. The following day, Giacomo and his band played their debut show, opening for Joss Stone, Candy Dulfer and many more artists at the summer edition of the Soul Live Festival in the Netherlands, in front of 5000 people.

On October 21st, Giacomo released his second original single "Sweet Life", in collaboration with Italian R&B singer Filippo Perbellini. In November 2022, Giacomo and his band went on their first headliner tour in Italy, with sold out shows in Milan, Bologna and Rome.

In February 2023, Giacomo announced the release of his signature Envelope Filter pedal in collaboration with Canadian brand SolidgoldFX. Later that month, Giacomo and his band played two sold out shows at The Zone in Tel Aviv, Israel and through the next months of the same year, he has been invited to perform at the famous JavaJazz Festival in Indonesia, as one of the very few international acts to perform there. Last but not least Giacomo and his band toured for over a month in North America where he collected several sold-out shows before coming back to Europe to launch his first European Tour ever.

MUST BE AGED 21+ FOR ADMISSION!

There is no wrong time to play 'Bam Bam.' Every summer belongs to 'Bam Bam.'... A perfect song. The New Yorker In the words of her iconic 1982 single Bam Bam, Sister Nancy is one inna three million, an artist whose talents truly come from creation. Regarded as the first female star in the male-dominated world of Jamaican dancehall, Sister Nancy continues to blaze new trails 35 years after the release of her first and only album. Recently recognized by Pitchfork as The Best Dancehall Song of All-Time, Bam Bam has been sampled, quoted and referenced in tracks by Lauryn Hill, Wiz Khalifa, Too Short, Kanye West and Jay-Z.

Born Ophlin Russell, Nancy grew up in Kingston, Jamaica Papine district, in a large family that included dancehall pioneeR&Brigadier Jerry. Her familial ties afforded her an opportunity granted few, if any, Jamaican girls at the time: To deejay (or chat) songs on sound Systems, the local DJ crews that form the backbone of dancehall culture. After learning of her talents from artist General Echo, Winston Riley of Kingston storied Techniques Records label brought her into the studio to record her first single, Papa Dean, in 1979. Returning to the studio to complete what would be her first and only album, One Two, in 1982, Nancy lent her voice to a haunting, minimalist version of Riley Stalag riddim, a popular instrumental track voiced by countless artists since 1973. Co-opting a lyrical refrain (Bam bam bi lam, bam bam, what a bam bam) from Toots the Maytals identically-named 1966 hit, Nancy created an anth of female powerment, repurposing the skepticism she encountered as the lone woman on the sound syst circuit into a supremely-confident mission statement. One Two, the title cut from her album, would become her signature hit in Jamaica, leading to international tours and collaborations with dancehall then-reigning king, Yellowman. Little heard at the time of its release, Bam Bam would find its audience in New York, first in the city Caribbean Diaspora and then in hip-hop.

In the early 1990s, it was sampled by golden-era rap acts Main Source and Pete Rock CL Smooth, and r ixed into a hip-hop version by legendary radio DJ Stretch Armstrong. It wasnt until Nancy herself relocated to New Jersey, where she would take a job as a bank accountant, later in the decade that she became aware of her song and her own iconic stateside status. Hype Williams 1998 film Belly c ented Nancy place in the pop culture canon, in an unforgettable scene in which Bam Bam soundtracks the movements of the stunning Jamaican feme fatale, Chiquita. That same year, Lauryn Hill echoed Nancy Bam Bam chorus on Lost Ones, from her Grammy-winning and career-defining album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, passing Nancy patois inflections on to a new generation of listeners. Since then, the samples, covers and plac ents including a 2014 Reebok TV campaign featuring model Miranda Kerr have become ever more frequent. In 2016, Nancy received the ultimate co-sign, or at least some really great exposure, when Kanye West used Bam Bam prominently on Famous, arguably the most controversial song and video of his always-provocative career. The New Yorkers Carrie Battan went so far as to dub Bam Bam the Song of the Summer for 2016, describing it as a perfect song and a reggae classic that only grows more lustrous with age.

Multifaceted American jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen is one of his generation's pivotal figures in music and the related arts. Leader of the Emmet Cohen Trio and creator of the Masters  Legacy Series, he is an internationally acclaimed jazz artist, a dedicated educator, the winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards, and a finalist in the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. Cohen headlines regularly at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Village Vanguard, and Birdland, and has appeared at the Newport, Monterey, and North Sea jazz festivals. His artistry has taken him to venues and festivals in over 30 countries. Cohen's entrepreneurial energies led to his developing "Live From Emmet's Place," a live-streamed "Harlem rent party" that unites a worldwide  audience via tens of millions of internet views.

“When Cohen is in full flight, with Poole slamming the kit around the room behind him, he reminds me of Ahmad Jamal: not the genteel Jamal you hear on record, but the wall-banging, holy-shit Jamal I saw in concert a few years ago, who rolled across the keyboard like a thunderstorm.” — PHIL FREEMAN, STEREOGUM

Nate Smith is a drummer, composer, & producer from Chesapeake, Virginia. His visceral, instinctive, and deep-rooted style of drumming has led to three GRAMMY® nominations and work with esteemed artists, including: Pat Metheny, Dave Holland, Brittany Howard, Van Hunt, The Fearless Flyers, Norah Jones, and Somi. Smith fuses his original compositions with an eclectic mix of music, including everything from jazz to R&B to hip-hop to pop. His latest album, Kinfolk 2: See The Birds (released September 2021 on Edition Records) is the highly- anticipated follow up to his 2017 GRAMMY® Award-nominated album, Kinfolk: Postcards From Everywhere. In recent years, Smith’s viral videos have been viewed by millions of people, underscoring his popularity as one of the most influential drummers of his generation.

This will be Nate’s second time performing live at Jazz Is Dead and we can’t wait to see what he brings to the stage this time around!

A highly-respected trumpeter born in Kobe, Japan, Takuya Kuroda is a forward-thinking musician that has developed a unique hybrid sound, blending soulful jazz, funk, post-bop, fusion and hip hop music.

After following the footsteps of his trombonist brother playing in big bands, he relocated to New York to study jazz & contemporary music at The New School in Union Square; a course he graduated from in the mid- noughties. It was here that Takuya met vocalist José James, with whom he worked on the ‘Blackmagic’ and ‘No Beginning No End’ projects.

Following graduation, Takuya established himself further in the NYC jazz scene, performing with the likes of Akoya Afrobeat and in recent years with DJ Premier’s BADDER band (also including acclaimed bass player, Brady Watt). Premier said “The BADDER Band project was put together by my manager, and an agent I’ve known since the beginning of my Gang Starr career. He said, ‘What if you put a band together that revolved around a trumpet player from Japan named Takuya Kuroda? He’s got a hip-hop perspective and respect in the jazz field…”

Takuya Kuroda is already incredibly prolific, releasing five albums in the past decade and fortifying a solid reputation in the global jazz scene. 2011 saw the release of Takuya’s independently-produced debut album, ‘Edge’, followed by ‘Bitter and High’ the following year and ‘Six Aces’ on P-Vine in 2013. Takuya was signed to the legendary Blue Note Records in 2014 for his album ‘Rising Son’, as well as appearing on their 2019 cover versions project, ‘Blue Note Voyage’. He released his 5th album ‘Zigzagger’ on Concord in 2016, which also featured Antibalas on a reimagining of the Donald Byrd classic ‘Think Twice’.

Late Summer 2020, Takuya Kuroda returns with his sixth album ‘Fly Moon Die Soon’. In his words, “this album is about the irony between the greatness of nature and the beautiful obsceneness of humanity. Melodies and grooves fly back and forth from being spiritual to being vulgar.”

TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY OCTOBER 20TH.

Bassekou Kouyate was born in Garana, a small and multi-ethnic village 60 km from Segou located at the banks of the Niger river. He is descended from a long line of griots on both sides.

In the mid eighties Bassekou started playing the traditional sumu circuit, which soon put him in touch with another extraordinary musician such as the kora player Toumani Diabate. At the end of the 1980s, Bassekou became a founding member of Toumani Diabate’s Symmetric Orchestra, which then included among others a young Habib Koite as lead singer. It was the Symmetric Trio that brought Bassekou to Europe for the first time to play at the festival in Dranouter in Belgium in 1990.

Later that same year, Bassekou made his first trip to the USA, where he met the African American blues musician, Taj Mahal.

In the mid 1990s Bassekou married Amy Sacko, a fine griot singer originally from northwest Mali. As a couple, they produced a number of popular cassettes and were in constant demand on the wedding circuit and on Mali television, where Amy was nicknamed “the Tina Turner of Mali”.

In 2005 Bassekou was invited by Mali’s “desert bluesman” Ali Farka Touré to play on his album ‘Savane’ and to join Ali on stage for his final tour in the summer of 2005. In the same year Bassekou decided to create his band Ngoni ba. a quartet of different sized ngonis. It was a novel idea, but it was also very old – the rulers of precolonial Segu sometimes had bands of up to 30 or 40 ngoni players, all playing together.

Since than Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba have toured the world playing 100rds of shows from NY Central Park to the Royal Albert Hall in London, from Roskilde to Glastonbury.

Lately he performed with Africa Express and charged stages with musicians like Sir Paul McCartney, John Paul Jones, Damon Albarn and many more.