Dazzle celebrates its 1st year at the Denver Performing Arts Complex with four shows on July 31st & August 1st, 7 & 9:30PM*.
Derrick has complete creative control over these shows (as does every artist at Dazzle), but expect jazz, RnB, blues, fusion, and maybe even some gospel.
*$10 Flash Sale on late shows (9:30PM) on July 30, 2024.
Matt Ruff, Owner and Operations Manager, says, âthe process to get to the Arts Complex was long and arduous, but I felt this was the correct move for Dazzle. One year at this location has given me proof that we are finally home.”
Owner Chad Schneider believes that, âthere is no cooler jazz club anywhere and itâs such an honor to be entrusted by the people of Colorado to continue this legacy. I want the best jazz in the world brought to Dazzle. We are succeeding wildly!â
YOU Get the Presents
Instead of Dazzle receiving presents for its birthday, show attendees get the presents. Drawings will be held before each show to win presents. Everyone who comes to the shows gets a ticket and is entered in the drawing.
đ All Presents Given Away at ALL Four Shows đ
đ A pair of tickets to any touring show at Dazzle (available seats only)
đ A pair of tickets to any local show at Dazzle (available seats only)
đ A signed print of Dazzle by photographer Mark Payler
đ Official Dazzle water bottles
đ A cocktail created for and named after YOU by master mixologist Westin Elliot and it will be on the Dazzle menu for a month
đCommunity Partner Gifts (one will be given away each night) from: Swallow Hill, Colorado Symphony, and The Renaissance Hotel.
đAdmission for two to Dazzle Brunch because Dazzle is bringing back the bottomless brunch for our birthday, starting Aug. 4!
đ And more!
The best đ of all is Derrick Hodge. Derrick performed at the soft opening for Sponsors, Friends, and Family before Dazzle opened to the public last year. This year, he puts together âThe Dazzle Sessions,â with fellow Denver based musicians:
Derrick Hodge – bass
Aaron Daniels – keyboards
Solomon Chapman – piano
Matt Campbell – drums
Derrick Hodge
Derrick Hodge is one of contemporary musicâs most complete and complex artists.
Two time GRAMMY Award Winner for: Best Traditional R&B Performance 2014 – Jesus Children & Best R&B Album 2012 – Black Radio (with Robert Glasper)
Also lauded as a composer, he is revered as one of the great bassists and musicians of his generation and his solo projectsâLive Today (2013), The Second (2016), and Color of Noize (2020)âhave been met with praise from critics and audiences alike.
His albums are rich, raw and revelatory, reflecting his roots in the church, a passion for hip hop, and an eternal reverence for melody and classical composition. Like the artist, Hodgeâs music contains multitudes.
Hodge has played a role in countless groundbreaking projects and historic firsts.
In 2022, he directed the music for the Academy Awards and arranged for Nasâs performance at the Grammys. As part of CNNâS Juneteenth celebration, he conducted the first all Black orchestra to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. In 2014 Hodge became the first Black composer to compose Hip Hop for the National Symphony when he acted as orchestral arranger and music director for the 20th anniversary celebration of Illmatic. Named one of the top moments in hip hop history by Fender Magazine, it was the first time hip hop was ever performed by the National Symphony Orchestra. He was also the first Black composer to write strings for hip hop at Carnegie Hall and the first Black composer to write symphonic music for hip hop with the Houston Symphony.
Moving to New York City, her talents quickly gained her a reputation among her peers as a matchless interpreter of song. She performed and recorded with Roy Hargrove and stole the show in front of the notoriously hard-to-please crowd at the Harlem Apollo. Steven Sondheim invited her to star in a tribute at New Yorkâs City Centre, backed by Wynton Marsalis. Her 2019 album Move On featured versions of Sondheimâs songs which received praise from Sondheim himself, and her version of “Marry Me a Little”, was nominated for a 2019 Grammy Award.
At the height of her New York success, new horizons beckoned. Visiting New Orleans, she fell in love with the energy and diversity of the city and made it her home. Linking back to New York to connect up all the dots, she teamed up with producer/multi-instrumentalist Jake Sherman, and together they have created her latest album, A Fleur de Peau. to be released on a new label, the London-based imprint Whirlwind Recordings Combining the depth and sophistication of jazz, the immediacy of pop, the irrepressible dance rhythms of the Caribbean, itâs more intimate and more accessible than anything Cyrille has done before.
Musical Style: Jazz hip hop fusion Kassa Overall is a Grammy-nominated musician, emcee, singer, producer and drummer who melds avant-garde experimentation with hip-hop production techniques to tilt the nexus of jazz and rap in unmapped directions. On his first two studio albums GO GET ICE CREAM AND LISTEN TO JAZZ and I THINK IâM GOOD, Kassa layered virtuosic drumming, meticulous production techniques, and incisive lyricism to establish himself as a rhythmic innovator and visionary poet, using his voice to address the injustices of the carceral system, the pharmaceutical industry, and anti-black racism, while wrangling with the perils of his own mental illness. On ANIMALS, his Warp Records debut out May 26, Kassa pushes his kaleidoscopic, subversive vision further. He layers Roland 808s against avant-garde drumming in the vein of his mentors Elvin Jones and Billy Hart, the latter of whom he studied with at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Virtuoso musos appear alongside rap poets, including Danny Brown, Wiki, Lil B, and Shabazz Palaces. Top-flight jazz improvisation weaves in and out of orchestral string arrangements by Jherek Bischoff. The albumâs diverse, all-star roster of collaborators includes several of his close friends, like vocalists Nick Hakim, Laura Mvula, Francis and the Lights, and jazz stars like Theo Croker and Vijay Iyer. ANIMALS pushes Kassaâs message further too, the title a loaded metaphor for the paradoxes of his life as an entertainer and as a black man in America. ANIMALS is the sound of an artist aware of the cost of embodying oneâs natural self in the public eye, a deep reckoning with the two-sided truth that to perform oneâs freedom for an audience can mean succumbing to life inside a cage.
Scott Amendola, Ben Goldberg & Todd Sickafoose Trio
Show Description
Musical Style: Jazz Scott Amendola, Ben Goldberg, & Todd Sickafoose play the music of Thelonious Monk, and more!
Scott Amendola, Ben Goldberg, and Todd Sickafoose have been playing music together in various forms for nearly 30 years. Together as a trio they bring virtuosic mastery of their instruments, along with band sensibility to create a playful, and thoughtful musical experience. Thelonious Monkâs music has captured their collective heart ever since they all heard him as young upstarts. Along with original music, the trio will journey through all kinds of moods, and musical landscapes. âIf Scott Amendola didn’t exist, the San Francisco music scene would have to invent him.â âšDerk Richardson, San Francisco Bay Guardian . For Scott Amendola, the drum kit isnât so much an instrument as a musical portal. An ambitious composer, savvy bandleader and capaciously creative foil for some of the worldâs most inventive musicians, Amendola applies his rhythmic virtuosity to a vast array of settings. His closest musical associates include guitarists, Nels Cline, Jeff Parker, Charlie Hunter, Hammond B-3 organist Wil Blades, violinists Regina Carter and Jenny Scheinman, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, players who have each forged a singular path within and beyond the realm of jazz. Todd Sickafoose is a Tony and Grammy award-winning composer, producer, orchestrator, bandleader and double bassist. He produced and co-arranged all three albums of the Broadway hit Hadestown and also produced AnaĂŻs Mitchellâs album Young Man in America. Since 2004, Sickafoose has recorded and performed internationally with artist/activist Ani DiFranco. Straddling the worlds of folk, indie rock, jazz and chamber music, his own band Tiny Resistors has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Stern Grove Festival, Angel City Jazz Festival and been featured on many âBest-Ofâ lists including the Village Voice and JazzTimes. Writing for Tiny Resistors, he recently created Bear Proof, a long-form chamber jazz hybrid commissioned by the Doris Duke Foundation. Clarinetist / composer Ben Goldberg grew up in Denver. He was a pupil of the eminent clarinetist Rosario Mazzeo and studied with Steve Lacy and Joe Lovano. Since 1992, when his group New Klezmer Trio “kicked open the door for radical experiments with Ashkenazi roots music” (SF Chronicle), Ben has shaped a career through curiosity and experimentation. The New York Times says Benâs music âconveys a feeling of joyous research into the basics of polyphony and collective improvising.â Downbeat Magazine has twice named him Rising Star Clarinetist. Scott Amendola – drums/percussion/electronics Ben Goldberg – clarinet Todd Sickafoose – bass
Join multi award-pianist and composer Charu Suri, who has made history by performing four times at Carnegie Hall as the first Indian jazz artist to do so, in her debut at Dazzle. Charu blends Indian ragas (modal scales) with jazz and has composed five albums, including her latest, RAGS & RAGAS, which was recorded with Steve Gadd, John Patitucci, and Joe Lastie. Join her in a very special evening, relax and listen to her unique world that New York City Jazz Record says defies Rudyard Kipling’s saying, “East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.”
Musical Style: Jazz Nduduzo Makhathini grew up in the lush and rugged hillscapes of umGungundlovu in South Africa, a peri-urban landscape in which music and ritual practices were symbiotically linked. The area is significant historically as the site of the Zulu king Dingane kingdom between 1828 and 1840. It is important to note that the Zulu, in fact the African warrior code, is deeply reliant on music for motivation and healing. This deeply embedded symbiosis is key to understanding Makhathiniâs vision. The church also played a role in Makhathiniâs musical understanding, as he hopped from church to church in his younger days in search of only the music. The legends of South African jazz are deep influences as well, Bheki Mseleku, Moses Molelekwa, and Abdullah Ibrahim. âThe earlier musicians put a lot of emotions in the music they played,â he says. âI think it may also be linked to the political climate of those days. I also feel there is a uniqueness about South African jazz that created an interest all around the world and we are slowly losing that too in our music today. I personally feel that our generation has to be very conscious about retaining these nuances in the music we play today.â Through his mentor Mseleku, Makhathini was also introduced to the music of John Coltraneâs classic quartet with McCoy Tyner. âI came to understand my voice as a pianist through John Coltraneâs A Love Supreme,â he says. âAs someone who started playing jazz very late, I had always been looking for a kind of playing that could mirror or evoke the way my people danced, sung and spoke. Tyner provided that and still does in meaningful ways.â Makhathini also cites American jazz pianists including Andrew Hill, Randy Weston and Don Pullen as significant influences. Active as an educator and researcher, Makhathini is the head of the music department at Fort Hare University in the Eastern Cape. He has performed at renowned festivals including the Cape own International Jazz Festival and the Essence Festival (in both New Orleans and South Africa), and in 2019 made his debut appearances the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City, as well as Jazz at Lincoln Center where he was a featured guest with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on their 3-night musical celebration The South African Songbook in Rose Theater. He is a member of Shabaka Hutchingsâ band Shabaka and the Ancestors appearing on their 2016 album Wisdom of Elders, and has also collaborated with artists including Logan Richardson, Nasheet Waits, Tarus Mateen, Stefon Harris, Billy Harper, Azar Lawrence, and Ernest Dawkins. In addition to producing albums for his peers (such as Thandiswa Mazwaiâs Belede and Tumi Mogorosiâs Project Elo), Makhathini has released eight albums of his own since 2014 when he founded the label Gundu Entertainment in partnership with his wife and vocalist Omagugu Makhathini. Those albums earned him multiple awards and include Sketches of Tomorrow (2014). Mother Tongue (2014). Listening to the Ground (2015), Matunda Ya Kwanza (2015); Icilongo: The African Peace Suite (2016) Inner Dimensions (2016), and Reflections (2016). His 2017 album Ikhambi was the first to be released on Universal Music South Africa and won Best Jazz Album at the South African Music Awards (SAMA) in 2018. His Blue Note debut Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworlds was released in 2020 to wide critical acclaim earning many end of the year âBest Ofâ lists.
Musical Style: Jazz Singer Tierney Sutton and pianist Tamir Hendelman have a musical relationship that goes back over 20 years. While Sutton racked up 9 Grammy nominations for her 14 albums as leader, Hendelman was arranging, recording and performing with Barbra Streisand and Natalie Cole, leading his own trio, and being the featured pianist of the Jeff Hamilton Trio and Grammy-Winning Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. And along side all this, Tierney and Tamir still found time to tour as a duo in Italy, Japan, China and throughout the U.S. Yet it was the pandemic that cemented and deepened the partnership of these 2 LA-based artists. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Tierney and Tamir created and presented live-streamed themed shows as well as creating âBy Requestâ video dedications for fans around the world. Says Sutton: âThis is truly one of my very favorite projects. No pianist in the world swings harder than Tamir and heâs an encyclopedia of songs so Iâm able to be so free and improvisational. This project is a joy.”
Musical Style: Jazz Hailed as a “Sax Phenom” by the New York Daily News, Chad LB has toured globally as a bandleader and with superstars ranging from Chris Botti to Taylor Swift. Chad has been a featured soloiston 2 GRAMMY-winning albums and in concert with premiere ensembles like the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and Multi-Grammy winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. No stranger to the big screen, Chad has made appearances on numerous TV shows with pop icons and rock legends like Don Henley, as well as the Hollywood film âHere Todayâ with Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish.
Musical Style: Black American Music As a leading voice in American popular music, the Grammy Award-winning Nicholas Payton is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, producer, arranger, essayist, and social activist who defies musical and artistic categories. All the while, he honors the tradition of what he terms âpostmodern New Orleans music,â as well as the spirit of Black American Music, of which he states, âThere are no fields, per se. There are lineages.â The New Orleans-born Payton has followed his calling since growing up under the tutelage of his parents â acclaimed bassist Walter Payton and Maria Payton, a pianist and vocalist. Already a prodigy before entering the first grade, he began playing trumpet at age four and started performing professionally at age 10. Before the age of 20, he was already in demand by everyone from Danny Barker and Clark Terry to Elvin Jones and Marcus Roberts. Payton released his first album, From this Moment, in 1995 on the famed Verve label. He received his first Grammy nomination in 1997 for the album Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton, and for the category of Best Instrumental Solo, which found him winning the award that year. Payton has released over 20 recordings as a leader, pushing musical boundaries and showcasing a variety of contemporary and traditional styles, while displaying his ambidextrous ability to play both the trumpet and keyboard at the same time when heâs inspired to do so. He has collaborated with numerous mentors and contemporaries alike, ranging from Common and Cassandra Wilson to Trey Anastasio, MonoNeon, and Jill Scott, to Dr. John, Joseph âZigabooâ Modeliste of The Meters, Allen Toussaint, and Abbey Lincoln to name a few. His most recent albums are Quarantined with Nick and Maestro Rhythm King, both released in 2020. âEverything I write is about life experiences. The music means nothing without life. A life lived. It’s not just notes on a page. It’s not just a technical exercise. It’s vibrations and energy,â Payton says. âAnd I’m striving to help lift, if possible, raise the vibration of the collective conscious one audience, one album, one song at a time. If I can’t do that, there’s no point in me playing. That’s why I play. Itâs about contributing to society and inspiring. That’s my life as an artist, period. Challenging people to think differently, to think critically and to not be slaves to the system and the status quo.â In addition to Paytonâs work as a performer, he is an equally respected composer, having written The Black American Symphony an orchestral work, which the Czech National Symphony Orchestra commissioned and performed. He led a live concert performance of Miles Davisâ renowned Sketches of Spain with the Basel Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland. âPretty much all the music that I play is centered in Black culture, Black music. And that’s why Iâve eschewed jazz and came up with the terminology, Black American Music, because I want to be connected to the whole of it,â Payton says about genre. âIt’s all the same. John Coltrane and Charlie Parker and James Brown could be neighbors. So what’s the distinction there? The only difference in the music is who they came through, and where they’re from.â As a leader, Payton’s seminal writings and discussions on the problematics of the term and associations of “jazz” have inspired musicians, researchers, music listeners, and thinkers alike. As such, he termed Black American Music, or #BAM for short, to represent the breadth of improvisational musical creations created by Black people in the U.S., regardless of genre. His introduction of #BAM into the lexicon of popular music discourse landed him an entry in the New York Times’ âThe Decade in Jazz: 10 Definitive Momentsâ in 2019. â(Black American Music) is … a liberation music, it is our first global recognition in humanizing, if you will, a class of people who were systematically dehumanized for centuries,â Payton says. âThe concern for me is to draw from the wellspring of all the great Black ancestors who inspired me to play this music in the first place. And to hopefully keep that energy, that spirit.â Through his mission-driven work and art, Payton continues to creatively move boundaries, while inspiring and remaining inspired by the pioneering lineage of Black American Music, of which he is a part.
Jane Monheit is a jazz and adult contemporary vocalist with a deep passion for the Great American Songbook. With many highly acclaimed solo albums, countless awards and accolades, and over two decades of international touring experience, Jane has not only been an extremely successful bandleader, but has had the privilege of making music with some of the greatest musicians, arrangers, and producers in jazz.
During her childhood, Jane studied woodwinds and piano, spent a decade performing in award winning choirs, and participated in community theater on Long Island. Throughout all of this, her focus remained on jazz, especially interpretation of the Songbook. At the age of 20, during her senior year at the prestigious Manhattan School Of Music, Jane placed second in the Thelonious Monk Competition, now known as the Hancock Competition. This led to an incredible career trajectory, catapulting Jane into the jazz stratosphere nearly overnight.
By 22, Jane was working with legends such as Tommy Flanagan, Ron Carter, and Kenny Barron, recording her first albums, and touring the planet. This led to collaborations with jazz luminaries such as Terence Blanchard, Ivan Lins, Tom Harrell, John Pizzarelli, Christian McBride, Vince Mendoza, Jorge Calandrelli, and many more. Countless television appearances followed, including David Letterman, Conan OâBrien, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show, The View, and many popular international talk shows. Several successful film soundtracks have also included Janeâs music, including Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow and Never Let Me Go.
After more than twenty years, twelve studio albums and countless recorded guest appearances, Jane has continued to tour the world nearly nonstop, including playing iconic venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Hollywood Bowl, and headlining at nearly every legendary jazz club on the planet, most notably NY stalwarts such as the Village Vanguard and Birdland. In addition to touring, she also writes English lyrics for Ivan Lins, and uses the knowledge and experience she has gained both at Manhattan School Of Music and on the legendary bandstands of the world to educate and uplift students worldwide. Jane resides in Los Angeles with her husband of over twenty years, drummer Rick Montalbano, and their son.
Musical Style: Holiday Show To watch Stella Cole perform is to be transported back in time. Her sense of joy and wonder is infectious â one look at her massive social media following makes this clear. Take a quick scroll through the comments of any of her many viral videos and you’ll see not only her irresistible charm, but an ability to expose fans of all ages to the wonders of the Great American Songbook, especially when these timeless stories are told honestly by an artist with an uncanny ability to transcend generations. On her highly anticipated debut recording, Stella is presented performing interpreting a collection of classics in a variety of settings, including many featuring an orchestra arranged by multiple Grammy-winner Alan Broadbent. Featuring songs made famous by everyone from Barbra Streisand (âWhen the Sun Comes Outâ) and Judy Garland (âThe Boy Next Doorâ and a classic re-interpretation of âOver the Rainbowâ) to Billie Eilish (âMy Futureâ) and Audrey Hepburn (âMoon Riverâ of course!), it is sure to be one of the most impressive vocal recordings of 2024. Upon first hearing Stella Cole, one is immediately struck by her rich tone and extraordinary vocal control. However, what is particularly rare is her ability to interpret songs that were initially intended for actors in character in a direct, personally vulnerable way that connects to something within herself, placing her in the lineage of the greatest interpreters of the repertoire. Perhaps most exciting, to her many young fans, who have never heard these songs before, these are Stella Cole songs, which clearly makes her one of the most exciting artists of her generation.
Musical Style: Jazz Christian McBride is an eight-time GRAMMY-winning bassist, composer, and bandleader. He is the Artistic Director of the historic Newport Jazz Festival, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), the TD James Moody Jazz Festival, and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. McBride is also a respected educator and advocate for youth, and serves as Artistic Director of Jazz House KiDS and the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Summer Sessions. In addition to artistic directing and consistent touring with his ensembles, he hosts NPRâs âJazz Night in Americaâ and “The Lowdown: Conversations With Christian” on SiriusXM. Whether behind the bass or away from it, Christian McBride is always part of the music. From jazz to R&B, and pop/rock and hip-hop/neo-soul to classical, he is a luminary with one hand ever reaching for new heights, and the other extended in fellowshipâand perhaps the hint of a challengeâinviting us to join him.
For this show he is joined by four rising young master instrumentalists including saxophonist Nicole Glover, guitarist Ely Perlman, pianist Mike King, and drummer Savannah Harris. Michael King – keys Virtuosic pianist Michael King, a Chicagoan native, began playing drums in his local church band at the early age of 4. This fortuitously melodic schooling nurtured an undeniable affinity to the piano and organ, the very seat that he began to occupy, by ear, at age 14. Mr. King is an alumni of Lincoln Park High School and the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory. He was selected to attend the Thelonious Monk Institute and The Ravinia Jazz Scholars program on merit scholarships. Michael has performed with Bobby Watson, Kevin Eubanks, Dave Liebeman, Gary Bartz, Billy Hart, Joel Frahm, Rufus Reid, & Antonio Hart, among others. Currently you can catch Mr. King touring internationally with: DeeDee Bridgewater, Robin Eubanks, Theo Croker’s DVRK FUNK, Soul Understated, & Marcus Printup. Savannah Harris – drums Savannah Harris is a New York City-based drummer, composer and producer. Raised in Oakland, California by musician parents, she gravitated towards the drums at age 2. Steeped in a jazz tradition, Savannah views its connection to all forms of diasporic and folkloric music as central to her approach. Sheâs performed and recorded with indie and experimental artists Helado Negro, Georgia Anne Muldrow, KeiyaA, Nick Hakim, Kate Davis, Justin Allen, and Standing on the Corner. Her jazz recordings include releases from Peter Evans, MarĂa Grand, and Or Bareket. Sheâs performed with Geri Allen, Jason Moran, Ambrose Akinmusire, Terrence Blanchard, Linda May Han Oh, Billy Childs, Immanuel Wilkins, Joel Ross, and Aaron Parks. Presently, she tours extensively with Christian McBride, Cecile McLorin Salvant, and Kenny Barron. In 2019, Savannah was awarded the Harlem Stage Emerging Artist Award, and she received her masterâs in jazz performance from Manhattan School of Music. She was featured twice in the January 2021 issue of Modern Drummer as both a featured artist and a contributing writer. In October of 2021, she debuted her solo piece âWith Inner Sound, Truthâ commissioned by Issue Project Room as a tribute to composer Ruth Anderson. Savannah was also featured in Sixteen Journalâs âJAZZâ edition, with portraits shot by photographer James Brodribb. Nicole Glover – saxophone Saxophonist, bandleader, composer, and educator Nicole Glover, is based in New York City and has established herself as a rising star and a musician in great demand. Her most recent solo recording is Strange Lands (Savant), with the venerable pianist George Cables. The London Times awarded the album 4 stars, calling it âotherworldly.â It remained near the top of the Jazzweek radio charts for 11 weeks. Nicole is also an integral member of the supergroup ARTEMIS, led by pianist Renee Rosnes. In May 2023, the collective released their 2nd recording, In Real Time, on Blue Note Records. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Nicole was a student of the American Music Program, a program dedicated to priming students for a career in jazz. In 2009, she moved east to attend the jazz program at William Paterson University. There, she studied with pianists Harold Mabern, Mulgrew Miller and tenor saxophonist Rich Perry. Currently, Nicole is a member of an new quintet led by bassist Christian McBride, and she performs often with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. She has worked with drummers Al Foster, Victor Lewis and Kenny Washington, Grammy award winning vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater and Buika, saxophonist Rudresh Manhanthappa, vibraphonist Joel Ross, and pianists Geoffrey Keezer, Luis Perdomo, and George Colligan among others. She recently performed Mary Lou Williamsâ âZodiac Suiteâ with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the musical direction of pianist Aaron Diehl. An experienced educator, Nicole is on faculty at Princeton University, Manhattan School of Music, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is a passionate teacher, and has given many masterclasses and private lessons to aspiring musicians all over the globe. Ely Perlman – guitar Ely Perlman (b. 1999) is a guitarist, composer, and producer hailing from Tel Aviv, Israel. A third-year student at the Berklee College of Music, Ely Perlman is a member of Christian McBride’s newest band. In addition to collaborating with other acclaimed artists such as Shai Maestro and Ben Wendel, Ely leads multiple musical projects, including a jazz quartet highlighting his compositional vision and an indie band called “SWIMS.” Ely released “All We Got” in 2022, his first single as a singer/songwriter, and is currently working on his self-produced debut album. He received his early musical education at the esteemed Jazz Department of the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, graduating with honors, and at the Center for Jazz Studies at the Israel Conservatory of Music, Tel Aviv