The Jazz Cruise lineups are comprised of nearly 100 of the very top jazz musicians in the world. Over the years, several musicians have become mainstays of the cruise and return nearly every year. Another large group of musicians are frequent, though not perennial participants, and, whenever possible The Jazz Cruise features a musician who is either new on the scene or simply new to the cruise. This combination of musicians creates excitement and enthusiasm, while maintaining a solid base upon which the aura of the cruise is built.
Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves
Five-time GRAMMY® winner Dianne Reeves is one of the most pre-eminent jazz vocalists in the world. As a result of her breathtaking virtuosity, improvisational prowess, and unique jazz and R&B stylings, Dianne received the GRAMMY® for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for three consecutive recordings—a GRAMMY® first in any vocal category. Featured in George Clooney’s six-time Academy Award nominated Good Night, and Good Luck, Reeves won the Best Jazz Vocal GRAMMY® for the film's soundtrack.
Dianne has recorded and performed with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. She has also recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim and was a featured soloist with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. Dianne was the first Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the first vocalist to ever perform at the famed Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Dianne worked with legendary producer Arif Mardin on the GRAMMY® winning A Little Moonlight, an intimate collection of standards featuring her touring trio. Her album, Beautiful Life, featured Gregory Porter, Robert Glasper, Lalah Hathaway and Esperanza Spalding and was produced by Terri Lyne Carrington. Beautiful Life won the 2015 GRAMMY® for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. Dianne is the recipient of honorary doctorates from the Berklee College of Music and the Juilliard School. In 2018 the National Endowment for the Arts designated Reeves a Jazz Master—the highest honor the United States bestows on jazz artists. She has sailed on both The Jazz Cruise and Blue Note at Sea in past years.
Christian McBride
CO-HOST
Christian McBride
CO-HOST
A true renaissance man, Christian McBride is an 8-time GRAMMY® Award-winning bassist/composer and advocate for jazz and American music. A native of Philadelphia, Christian went to high school with Joey DeFrancesco, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Questlove and the members of Boyz II Men. Since his arrival on the NYC jazz scene in the early ‘90s, Christian has recorded on over 300 dates as a sideman, as well as being a leader of his own groups, including Tip City, the Christian McBride Trio, The Christian McBride Big Band, The New Jawn and others. He’s recorded 20 albums as a leader for prestigious labels like Verve, Warner Bros and Mack Avenue.
In addition to various stints with Sting, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, Freddie Hubbard and George Duke, Christian has been artist-in-residence and artistic director with organizations such as Jazz House Kids, Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Jazz Museum in Harlem, Jazz Aspen and NJPAC (New Jersey Performing Arts Center - Newark). Winner of the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award in 2017, Christian is currently the artistic director of the historic Newport Jazz Festival, where he replaced the iconic George Wein.
Christian also hosts The Lowdown: Conversations With Christian on Sirius/XM, is the host for NPR’s nationally syndicated show Jazz Night in America and DJs at clubs spinning jazz, soul and R&B as DJ Brother Mister. To paraphrase his hero James Brown’s moniker, Christian may be “The Hardest Working Man in Jazz.” In addition to being a host of The Jazz Cruise ’25, Christian will present and play with the Jazz House Kids All-Stars.
Duane Eubanks
The Eubanks Brothers
Duane Eubanks
The Eubanks Brothers
Trumpeter Duane Eubanks is a multi-talented force whose fiery blasts and sweet distinctive sound carry his horn into a musical space that defies categorization. There’s a gritty soul and passion that emphatically captures his Philadelphia roots. Jazz is his bloodline. That bloodline began with his mother, pianist Vera Eubanks. She was Kenny Barron’s first piano teacher. His brothers are celebrated trombonist Robin Eubanks and guitarist Kevin Eubanks, with whom he’ll perform on The Jazz Cruise. Legendary pianist Ray Bryant is their uncle.
He began playing trumpet at 11 but didn’t consider music as a career until college. While studying for a business degree at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Duane joined the university’s jazz band. He jumpstarted himself into opportunities to play with jazz luminaries Stanley Turrentine, Shirley Scott, Charles Fambrough and Clark Terry. Duane studied jazz in master classes at Temple University with the legendary Dr. Billy Taylor. He was later tapped by the late pianist Mulgrew Miller to join his ensemble, Wingspan. Acclaimed bassist/bandleader Dave Holland invited Duane to play with his big band on a pair of GRAMMY® award-winning albums. He also recorded and played with Elvin Jones, John Hicks, Curtis Fuller, Louis Hayes, Randy Brecker, Avery Sharpe and Nicholas Payton.
Duane crossed over to play and record with Alicia Keys, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Wu-Tang Clan, and Kirk Franklin. He has played the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center, as well as toured throughout Europe, Japan, and the Middle East. His most recent albums as a bandleader are Things of that Particular Nature and DE3-Live at Maxwell’s, both on Sunnyside.
Kevin Eubanks
The Eubanks Brothers
Kevin Eubanks
The Eubanks Brothers
The guitarist and prolific composer Kevin Eubanks is well known by many as the former Music Director of The Tonight Show band, appearing on the show for 18 years (1992 - 2010). His laid-back style and affability belies the concentration and focus that have made him successful both as a consummate musician and a household name for late-night TV viewers.
Kevin, along with brothers Duane and Robin, was born into a musical household in Philadelphia, PA. His mother, Vera Eubanks, was Kenny Barron’s first piano teacher. Vera’s brother is the legendary pianist Ray Bryant. Kevin began violin lessons at age seven and also studied the trumpet before making his commitment to the guitar, which was solidified with his entrance to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, from which he later received an ‘Honorary Doctorate’ degree.
Kevin would go on to work with jazz greats such as Art Blakey, Slide Hampton, McCoy Tyner, Sam Rivers, Roy Haynes, Dave Holland, Ron Carter and others. In addition to working in other bands, Kevin became the leader of his own groups that have toured all over the world. He has recorded more than 15 albums as a leader, plus several as a co-leader with artists like Orrin Evans and Stanley Jordan.
Kevin has written scores for both TV movies and full-length independent feature films and he’s appeared on various TV shows from Hollywood Squares to Celebrity Family Feud (with his sister and two brothers). He has taught at the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp, the Banff School and Rutgers University, as well as hosting master classes at many colleges and universities. In addition to concert touring, Kevin has begun presenting at conferences around the country not only as a musician but also as a motivational speaker to people of all ages. This marks his debut on The Jazz Cruise.
Robin Eubanks
The Eubanks Brothers
Robin Eubanks
The Eubanks Brothers
Robin Eubanks is one of the premier jazz trombonists of his generation. Whether performing with his groups, EB3 or Mental Images, or with the critically acclaimed Dave Holland Quintet and Big Band, Robin is an artist whose impact on audiences has proven powerful and lasting. Robin has recorded more than seven albums as a leader featuring his original music.
Robin was born to a very musical family: his brother, Kevin, was the music director for The Tonight Show and another brother, Duane, plays trumpet. Their mother has been a music educator for more than 30 years; and their uncle is the jazz pianist Ray Bryant. Robin began studying music at the age of eight and continued through college, when he graduated cum laud from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Following his graduation, the young trombonist moved to New York City where he began a career that has since yielded an amazing array of collaborations with such notable artists as Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Eddie Palmieri, Sun Ra, Barbra Streisand, The Rolling Stones and Talking Heads—just to name a few. He's won GRAMMY® for his performances on Michael Brecker's Wide Angles and Dave Holland's What Goes Around.
For the last several years, Robin has divided his rigorous performing schedule with the Mingus Big Band and his own groups with teaching at The Oberlin College Conservatory where he serves as a tenured Professor of Jazz Trombone. He has sailed numerous times on The Jazz Cruise as an All-Star but returns in 2025 to perform with his two brothers.
Emmet Cohen
Co-Host
Emmet Cohen
Co-Host
Multifaceted jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen is one of this generation’s pivotal artistic figures. Downbeat praised the "nimble touch, measured stride and warm harmonic vocabulary" he employs to communicate with other musicians and audiences at what he terms "the deepest level of humanity and individuality."
Leader of the "Emmet Cohen Trio," Cohen is an international jazz artist and clinician who inspires student performers of all ages to become, like himself, responsive to their audiences. He has appeared in the Newport, Monterey, and North Sea jazz festivals, among others, and at many famous music venues, including Rose Hall and the Kennedy Center. Cohen has also played in legendary nightspots, such as the Village Vanguard, the Blue Note, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Birdland, Jazz Standard, Ronnie Scott's, and Jazzhaus Montmartre. He is Hammond B-3 organist-in-residence at Harlem's SMOKE jazz club. A Suzuki piano student at age 3, Cohen holds jazz piano degrees from the Manhattan School of Music (M.M.) and the University of Miami (B.M.).
He was a finalist in both the American Pianists Association's Cole Porter Fellowship (2015, 2011) and the Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition (2011). Cohen has performed or collaborated with Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, Jimmy Heath, Tootie Heath, Houston Person, Christian McBride, Kurt Elling, Billy Hart, Herlin Riley, Lea DeLaria, and Bill T. Jones.
Charles McPherson
Charles McPherson
Charles McPherson, born in Joplin, Missouri in 1939, relocated to Detroit at the age of nine. Under the tutelage of the renowned pianist Barry Harris, McPherson commenced his professional jazz career at 19. In 1959, he moved to New York, immersing himself in the heart of the jazz scene. Joining Charles Mingus' band, McPherson contributed to Mingus' performances from 1960 to 1972, frequently collaborating with Harris, Lonnie Hillyer and George Coleman.
McPherson's diverse musical journey spans the globe, with performances at concerts and festivals worldwide, leading various groups from quartets to full orchestras. He toured extensively with jazz luminaries such as Barry Harris, Billy Eckstine, Wynton Marsalis and Dizzy Gillespie. In 2019, Lincoln Center featured him, celebrating his 80th birthday alongside Marsalis. McPherson's discography includes collaborations with Mingus, Harris, Art Farmer, and appearances in Clint Eastwood's film Bird.
Honored with the Don Redman Lifetime Achievement Award and an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, McPherson's prolific composition extends to his role as Resident Composer for the San Diego Ballet. His latest albums, Jazz Dance Suites and Reverance, have both received critical acclaim and topped international polls.
Throughout the pandemic, McPherson remained active online, participating in global music programs and festivals. A respected figure in jazz, he continues to influence as a performer, teacher, and composer, with former students achieving recognition in the jazz world. Subject to doctoral studies and ongoing interviews for a memoir, McPherson's legacy endures, characterized by his unwavering commitment to jazz excellence.
Kurt Elling
Kurt Elling
Renowned for his singular combination of robust swing and poetic insight, two-time GRAMMY® winner Kurt Elling has secured his place among the world’s foremost jazz vocalists. Declared “the standout male vocalist of our time” by The New York Times, Elling has garnered unprecedented accolades, including a 14-year run atop the DownBeat Critics Poll, a dozen GRAMMY® nominations, and eight Jazz Journalists Association awards for “Male Singer of the Year.”
Kurt has toured the world in a variety of contexts, including UNESCO-sponsored “International Jazz Day” performances in Havana, Cuba, in St. Petersburg, Russia, in Melbourne, Australia and in Washington DC. He has twice performed at the White House, including a performance in collaboration with the late Marvin Hamlisch and the National Symphony Orchestra for President Obama’s first State Dinner. He has served as Artist-In-Residence at the Monterey and Singapore Jazz Festivals.
In recent years, Kurt has been recording and performing with guitarist Charlie Hunter in their SuperBlue project. Before that he also collaborated as a co-leader with Branford Marsalis and his quartet on Upward Spiral and Danilo Perez on Secrets Are the Best Stories; the former was nominated for a GRAMMY® and the latter won a GRAMMY® for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2020. Influenced by Mark Murphy and Jon Hendricks, Kurt is also known not only for adapting instrumental compositions for vocals, but also for taking poetry and turning it into a stirring jazz tune.
The Jazz Cruise proudly counts Kurt among those very special performers who make the cruise special every year. We call them the Pillars of The Jazz Cruise.
Catherine Russell
Catherine Russell
Vocalist Catherine Russell is a native New Yorker and was born into musical royalty. Her father, the late Luis Russell, was a legendary pianist/composer/bandleader, and Louis Armstrong's long-time musical director. Her mother, the late Carline Ray, was a pioneering vocalist/guitarist/bassist who performed with International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Mary Lou Williams, and Sy Oliver. Catherine’s professional life began early. After graduating with honors from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she toured and recorded with Steely Dan, David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, among others, appearing on over 200 albums.
She began her own solo career in 2005 and would go on to release eight albums as a leader, two of which, Harlem On My Mind and Alone Together, earned GRAMMY® nominations for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Her latest album, Send For Me, received rave reviews in national media outlets, while she performed a concert for NPR Tiny Desk (Home).
A favorite on The Jazz Cruise, Catherine has been a hit at major jazz festivals including Monterey, Newport, North Sea, JazzAscona, Montreal, Bern, Tanglewood and at sold-out venues like The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Scullers in Boston, The Dakota in Minneapolis, Jazz at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in NYC, SFJAZZ in San Francisco and Pasadena Pops in Los Angeles.
In recent years, Catherine has been performing concerts with the John Pizzarelli Trio in a show called “Billie and Blue Eyes,” in which the two pay tribute to Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra.
Houston Person
Houston Person
Houston Person is a legend in jazz. After years as producer and house tenor for HighNote Records and touring with the late Etta Jones, Person is now known as a master of popular songs played in a relaxed, highly accessible style reminiscent of the great Ben Webster.
Houston’s appearances as sideman are legion, and include recordings with Etta Jones, Lena Horne, Lou Rawls, Dakota Staton, Horace Silver, Charles Earland, Joey DeFrancesco and many others. As a record producer, he has worked with many artists, including Etta Jones, Freddy Cole, Charles Brown, David ‘Fathead’ Newman, Dakota Staton and Ernie Andrews.
The Jazz Cruise knows him best as the most influential person in the history and development of the program. From the start (2001), Houston has been the heart and soul of the cruise, offering his music in a style that makes everyone happy. His grace and leadership have kept The Jazz Cruise on the right track for more than 20 years.
Ann Hampton Callaway Quartet
Ann Hampton Callaway Quartet
Ann Hampton Callaway is one of America’s most gifted artists in pop and jazz. A leading champion of the great American Songbook, she’s made her mark as a singer, pianist, composer, lyricist, arranger, actress, educator, TV host and producer. Voted by Broadwayworld.com as “Celebrity of the Year” and two years in a row as “Best Jazz Vocalist,” Ann is a born entertainer.
She is best known for Tony-nominated performance in the hit Broadway musical Swing! and for writing and singing the theme song to the hit TV series The Nanny. She made her feature film debut opposite Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon in the Robert De Niro film The Good Shepherd. Callaway is a Platinum Award selling writer whose songs are featured on seven of Barbra Streisand's recent CD's. She has recorded over 50 CDs as a soloist and guest and her latest critically-acclaimed CD, Fever: A Peggy Lee Celebration!,” has been in high rotation on Siriusly Sinatra.
Ann’s honors include The Theater World Award, 16 MAC Awards, several Bistro Awards, The Mabel Mercer Award, The Johnny Mercer Award for Songwriting, The Blanton Peale Award for Positive Thinking and her induction into The Women Songwriters Hall of Fame. Her new record Finding Beauty, Originals Volume 1, was recently released via Shanachie Entertainment.
Bill Charlap
Bill Charlap
GRAMMY® award-winning pianist Bill Charlap has performed with many of the leading artists of our time including Phil Woods, Tony Bennett, Gerry Mulligan, Wynton Marsalis, Freddy Cole and Houston Person. Born in New York City, Bill began playing the piano at age three. His father was Broadway composer Moose Charlap, and his mother is singer Sandy Stewart, who toured with Benny Goodman, and was a regular on The Perry Como Show.
In 1997, Bill formed his trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, now recognized as one of the leading groups in jazz. In 2000, he was signed to Blue Note Records and received two GRAMMY® Award nominations, for Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein and The Bill Charlap Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard. He is known for his interpretations of American popular song. In 2016, Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap: The Silver Lining, The Songs of Jerome Kern, was awarded a GRAMMY® for Best Traditional Pop Album.
For 20 years, Bill worked as Artistic Director of New York City’s Jazz in July Festival at 92Y. He has produced concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Chicago Symphony Center and the Hollywood Bowl. Bill is married to renowned jazz pianist and composer Renee Rosnes, and the two artists often collaborate in a duo piano setting. In 2010, Charlap and Rosnes released Double Portrait (Blue Note). Bill is currently the Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey.
John Pizzarelli
John Pizzarelli
John Pizzarelli, world-renowned guitarist and singer, is a premier contemporary interpreter of the Great American Songbook, with a repertoire that includes Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra and The Beatles. He has been hailed by The Boston Globe for “reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and repopularizing jazz.” The Toronto Star pegged him as “the genial genius of the guitar.” A walking history of American popular history, John has performed and recorded with a wide variety of icons in American music, including George Shearing, Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Frigo, Sir Paul McCartney, Michael McDonald and various orchestras.
John’s “formal” musical education was held on the road with his famous father, the legendary Bucky Pizzarelli. The teaching produced great results, accelerating John’s ascendancy in the music world. John has created musical tributes to both Nat King Cole and, more recently, Pat Metheny. He’s recorded more than 30 albums as a leader, including his latest, Stage and Screen, featuring compositions from various films and musicals.
In 2020, John collaborated with the singer-songwriter James Taylor for his album American Standard, featuring songs from the Great American Songbook. In addition to working with Catherine Russell in a show they call “Billie and Blue Eyes”—a tribute to Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra—John performs regularly with his wife, vocalist Jessica Molaskey, with whom he hosts the popular radio show “Radio Deluxe” and appears in an annual residency at the Café Carlyle in NYC. He appears regularly at Birdland and will be hosting late-night shows at Birdland at Sea during The Jazz Cruise ’25.
Jeff Hamilton
Jeff Hamilton
Drummer Jeff Hamilton has been honing his big band skills since the tender age of 8, earning him a presence on the stage with legends like Ella Fitzgerald, the Count Basie Orchestra, Rosemary Clooney, Monty Alexander, and Diana Krall. Featured in nearly 200 recordings – including 16 GRAMMY® Award-winning titles – with the likes of Natalie Cole, Barbra Streisand, Mel Torme and Herb Ellis, Jeff also teaches, arranges, and composes for the drums. Mentored by legends such as Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown, Jeff in turn has been a teacher and inspiration to multiple generations of young musicians.
Jeff is also the co-leader of the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra (the GRAMMY® -nominated big band that provides backup for Diana Krall). The Jeff Hamilton Trio featuring Tamir Hendelman and John Hamar, has been a pillar of The Jazz Cruise for nearly two decades. For years, Jeff has served as the untitled co-producer of The Jazz Cruise aiding our staff with insights and ideas that have made The Jazz Cruise so special.
One needs to arrive at a Jeff Hamilton event early enough to secure a seat as virtually every drummer on the ship will be there to watch and admire.
Arturo Sandoval
Arturo Sandoval
Born in Artemisa, Cuba in 1949, Arturo Sandoval, mentored by jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie, has become a global jazz trumpet and flugelhorn virtuoso. He's also recognized for his classical talent, piano skills, and composition. Sandoval, a charismatic live performer, has graced the Oscars, GRAMMY® Awards, and Billboard Awards, clinching 10 GRAMMY® Awards and 6 Billboard Awards while being nominated 19 times. He even received an Emmy for the score of HBO's For Love or Country, a film about his life starring Andy Garcia. His recent GRAMMY®-winning albums, Dear Diz and Tango, are internationally available.
Arturo's newest release, Eternamente Manzanero, pays tribute to Mexican musician Armando Manzanero. He's the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2013) and authored a book about his bond with Dizzy Gillespie, titled The Man Who Changed My Life. As a founding member of Irakere, a GRAMMY®-winning group, he blended jazz, classical, rock, and Cuban music. In 1981, he formed his band and gained global acclaim.
Arturo’s classical expertise is evident in his trumpet concerto and performances with prestigious symphonies. He recorded John Williams' Trumpet Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra. His work spans collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman and more. He's played with John Williams and Tony Bennett, contributed to film scores and also composed ballet and theater music. His journey from Cuba and his artistic feats motivate him to share his musical passion. Beyond his virtuosic technical abilities and high notes, Arturo's diversity in jazz, Latin, and classical music showcases his brilliance, making him a multifaceted musical luminary.
Clint Holmes
Clint Holmes
Captivating and versatile, Clint Holmes reigns as a musical chameleon. With an electrifying stage presence and a voice that resonates powerfully, he mesmerizes audiences, painting each performance as a unique masterpiece. From topping the charts with "Playground In My Mind" to receiving a GRAMMY® nomination for his 2017 album Rendezvous, Clint's 40+ year career showcases his remarkable talent.
Raised in a musical household by an African-American jazz musician and a classically-trained British opera singer, Clint embodies the best of both worlds. Las Vegas has embraced him as an institution, where he headlined his own theater at Harrah's for seven years and received numerous accolades, including "Casino Entertainer of the Year” and “Best Singer“ three times.
His appearances in New York City include performing at such iconic venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Cafe Carlyle, and 54 Below, and winning Broadway World Awards for his Nat King Cole tribute at Birdland. As a composer, his works have graced prestigious theaters like the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey and The Royal George Theater in Chicago. Clint was also Joan Rivers’s sidekick on The Late Show and later hosted his own Emmy award-winning talk show New York At Night.
Not just an entertainer, Clint is an advocate for worthy causes, championing organizations such as JDRF and the American Cancer Society. His dedication to mentoring young musicians through the Jazz Outreach Initiative and Artists 4 Kids reflects his enduring passion for music and mentorship. Clint Holmes is an extraordinary artist whose unique blend of talent, charisma, and generosity has made him a true musical icon.
Randy Brecker
Randy Brecker
Jazz trumpeter and composer Randy Brecker has shaped the sound of jazz, R&B and rock for more than four decades. His trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from James Taylor and Bruce Springsteen to Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, Jaco Pastorius and Frank Zappa. His 19 GRAMMY® nominations and seven awards are testament to his talent.
Born in 1945 in Philadelphia, Randy’s musical talent was nurtured from an early age. He attended Indiana University from 1963-66 and later moved to New York where he landed gigs with such prominent bands as Clark Terry’s Big Bad Band, the Duke Pearson Big Band and the Thad Jones Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. After performing and touring with Horace Silver, Randy and his brother, tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker, formed their own group that had immeasurable impact and influence, they released six albums and garnered seven GRAMMY® nominations between 1975 and 1981. Their eponymous first record, which Randy wrote, arranged, and produced, featured his now classic composition Some Skunk Funk. Randy would go on to release numerous acclaimed albums as a leader, and his recent co-led recording with Eric Marienthal, Double Dealin’, which earned them a GRAMMY Award in 2020. He also co-leads the Brecker Brothers Reunion Band with his wife, saxophonist Ada Rovatti, another all-star on The Jazz Cruise.
Without apology, we hold Randy in the highest possible regard as a musician and a person. He’s been a vital part of The Jazz Cruise since the beginning.
Shelly Berg
Artistic Director
Shelly Berg
Artistic Director
Shelly Berg is the dynamic Artistic Director of The Jazz Cruise and has once again helped to curate an amazing line-up of performances for the cruise, as well as being a gifted member of our All Stars. A Steinway piano artist and a five-time GRAMMMY®-nominated arranger and orchestrator, Shelly has performed and recorded with a wide range of artists including Kurt Elling, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Niki Haris, Arturo Sandoval, Gloria Estefan, Stevie Wonder, Seal, Ledisi, Pharrell Williams, Renée Fleming and James Galway. His Film orchestration work includes Warner Bros. Almost Heroes and For Your Consideration, Fox’s Men of Honor and the NBC mini-series The ’60s. He has written for the Royal Philharmonic, the American Symphony and orchestras worldwide.
An award-winning educator with over 40 years of leadership in higher education, Shelly Berg is the Dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. He previously held the McCoy/Sample endowed professorship of jazz studies in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California where he taught for 16 years. He is a past president of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE), and was named 2003 Educator of the Year by the Los Angeles Jazz Society. In 2002, Shelly was the recipient of the IAJE Lawrence Berk Leadership Award. He also hosted “Generation Next” on Sirius XM Real Jazz, currently serves as artistic advisor for Jazz Roots at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, and is on the board of SFJAZZ.
John Clayton
BIG BAND DIRECTOR
John Clayton
BIG BAND DIRECTOR
Bassist, Composer, Arranger and Producer, John Clayton is a busy man. He is a GRAMMY® winner with nine additional nominations and has written and/or recorded with artists such as Milt Jackson, Diana Krall, Paul McCartney, Regina Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gladys Knight, Queen Latifah, McCoy Tyner, YoYo Ma and Charles Aznavour, to name only a few. John was the principal bassist in the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (The Netherlands) from 1980-1984.
In 1986, John co-founded the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and rekindled The Clayton Brothers Quintet. In addition to his individual clinics and workshops, he was the Artist Director of Jazz for Centrum, The Port Townsend Jazz Festival, and the Vail Jazz Workshop. It is John’s arrangement of the “Star Spangled Banner” that helped propel Whitney Houston in her 1990 performance at the Super Bowl (the recording went platinum). His recordings with the Clayton Brothers, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Milt Jackson, Monty Alexander, Count Basie and others are plentiful.
John feels “I’ve been guided by a village of musicians who helped me understand the humility that goes along with playing music at the highest level you can. Ray Brown used to tell me to ‘Just learn how to play the bass!’ If you take care of the music, it will take care of you.”
Eric Marienthal
Music Director
Eric Marienthal
Music Director
The Jazz Cruise Music Director Eric Marienthal has won two GRAMMY® Awards and has been nominated eight times as a member of the Chick Corea Elektric Band, Jeff Lorber Fusion and Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. Having performed in over 80 countries and played on hundreds of recordings, films and TV shows, Eric also has recorded 15 solo recordings including his latest entitled Double Dealin’ with his friend Randy Brecker. Eric's recordings have produced several top 10 radio singles including three tunes that reached #1 on its respective chart.
Eric is the recipient of the Berklee College of Music Distinguished Alumnus Award for outstanding achievements in contemporary music. Eric was also named one of the top 3 alto saxophonists in Jazziz Magazine's Readers Poll along with Phil Woods and David Sanborn. For the past 22 years Eric has organized an annual charity concert for the High Hopes Head Injury Program in Tustin, CA. These concerts have raised awareness for this great organization and have raised over 2 million dollars.
For the past few years, Eric has applied his vast knowledge and experience in the world of jazz to being the Music Director for all of Signature Jazz Cruises’ sailings. In that challenging role, Eric is charged with curating the performances, schedules and support for hundreds of the top musicians in the world. His ability to perform this task with skill and professionalism has made the quality of the programming on those sailings among the very best in the world.
Wycliffe Gordon
Wycliffe Gordon
Musical ambassador and interpreter of the music, Wycliffe Gordon is one of the world’s most renowned and award-winning jazz trombonists touring today. Wycliffe is a former member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Named “Trombonist of the Year” by Jazz Journalists Association for an unprecedented 15th time, DownBeat Critics Poll has named Wycliffe “Best Trombone” six times, and he has been the recipient of the Louie Award, the International Trombone Award and the “Satchmo” Award, amongst many others.
Wycliffe tours as a soloist and regularly with his quintet headlining at legendary jazz venues and festivals. He’s released more than 20 albums as a leader and eight more as a co-leader. He’s performed with an impressive list of artists including David Sanborn, Dianne Reeves, Anat Cohen, Arturo Sandoval, Doc Severinsen, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Tommy Flanagan, Shirley Horn, Joe Henderson and Branford Marsalis.
A respected educator and mentor, Wycliffe is the director of Jazz Studies at Augusta University in Georgia and he presents master classes, clinics, workshops, children’s concerts and lectures to students from elementary schools to universities all over the world. He’s been an artist-in-residence or taught at prestigious educational institutions such as the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Michigan State University, Peabody Conservatory, Temple University and Arizona State University.
Wycliffe has sailed on more Jazz Cruises programs than any other musician. He has performed in every configuration imaginable and is the guardian of The Jazz Cruise Gospel Hour, one of the most cherished and beloved elements of The Jazz Cruise.
Ken Peplowski
Ken Peplowski
In addition to recording over 70 of his own albums, master clarinetist (and saxophonist) Ken Peplowski has worked and recorded with Mel Torme, Leon Redbone, Charlie Byrd, Peggy Lee, George Shearing, Madonna, Hank Jones, Dave Frishberg, Rosemary Clooney, Tom Harrell, James Moody, Cedar Walton, Houston Person, Steve Allen, Bill Charlap, Woody Allen, Marianne Faithfull, Isaac Delgado & Erich Kunzel. (“Although not all at once” says the very clever musician. He travels at least half of every year, playing clubs, concert halls, colleges, and pops concerts. He has headlined the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, the Blue Note, and Dizzy’s Club amongst many other venues.
Ken also does many workshops for students of all ages. That longtime “student” is currently the artistic director of the Sarasota Jazz Festival, the Newport Beach Jazz Party, Oregon Jazz Festival, and the jazz director of the Siletz Bay Music Festival. Ken was the recipient of the Sarasota Jazz Festival’s “Satchmo” award”; Ken was also the guest of honor at a “Highlights In Jazz” concert in NYC saluting him for “his matchless musical achievements”. He was the 2015 recipient of HotHouse Magazine’s “Fans’ Decision Jazz Award” on clarinet. Ken Peplowski has also been bestowed the 2018 “Creative Arts Prize In Recognition Of Outstanding Contribution In The Field Of The Creative Arts” by the Polish American Historical Association.
Ken’s contribution to The Jazz Cruise over the years is among the most influential and important of any musician. He performs at more different shows than anyone, curates and hosts the Welcome Show, and provides levity and fun wherever he goes.
James Morrison
James Morrison
Perhaps best known as a trumpet virtuoso, James Morrison is, by anybody’s standard, a virtuoso in the true sense of the word. His showmanship extends to playing tuba, trombone, saxophone, clarinet, double bass, guitar and piano during his stellar career. James has been appointed a member of The Order of Australia, has won countless awards and has been inducted into the Australian Jazz Hall of Fame. James is recognized as one of the finest jazz players Australia has ever produced.
He has played alongside the best jazz musicians of our time, including Ray Brown, Dave Brubeck, Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea, and Wynton Marsalis. He’s performed at the world’s major jazz festivals, including Montreux, North Sea, Nice and the Hollywood Bowl, as well as at jazz clubs like Birdland, The Blue Note and Village Vanguard in New York, the New Morning in Paris, the Tokyo Blue Note and Ronnie Scott’s in London.
James Morrison’s career has included much more than just jazz. He has recorded with The London Symphony Orchestra, rock legends INXS and the European Brass Ensemble, performed at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, written the opening fanfare for the Olympic Games, played for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and for US Presidents Bush and Clinton. He has played classical trumpet at the Kremlin, broken a Guinness record conducting the world’s largest orchestra, and in 2016 was a guest of President Obama at the White House.
Did we mention that he’s also a pilot, rally driver, sailor, author and even an inventor? But not a cruise ship captain…yet.
Benny Benack III
Benny Benack III
Emmy-nominated trumpeter and singer Benny Benack III has proven to be that rarest of talents: not only a fiery trumpet player with a stirring command of the postbop trumpet vernacular in the vein of Kenny Dorham and Freddie Hubbard, but also a singer with a naturally expressive delivery in the post-Sinatra mold, performing standards and his own astute songs with a thrilling sense of showmanship. This duel-threat ability was recognized by the 2022 DownBeat Critics Poll where he appeared as not only the #2 Rising Star Male Vocalist, but a top Rising Star Trumpeter as well. His superb intonation and bracing virtuosity enable him to handle astounding feats of originally composed vocalese. On top of it all, he’s a highly capable pianist as well.
Alongside his global touring as a straight-ahead/contemporary bandleader, Benny has appeared as a trumpet soloist in more commercial circles alongside Josh Groban, Ann Hampton Callaway and more. He’s been featured at Birdland, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Mezzrow, The Carlyle and other leading NYC venues. He has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where he frequently performed in the House Band.
Third in a generational line of Pittsburgh jazz notables, Benny follows in the footsteps of his trumpeter/bandleader grandfather, Benny Benack, Sr. and his father Benny Benack, Jr., a saxophonist/clarinetist who gave the young Benny his first professional experience. Benny III returns to Pittsburgh often to perform, saluting his family forebears and the jazz heritage as a whole, nonetheless staking his own bold and highly individual artistic claim.
Niki Haris
Niki Haris
Niki Haris is a multi-talented singer, dancer, actress and choreographer. Daughter of GRAMMY® Award-nominated jazz pianist Gene Harris, Niki may be best known as “The BIG VOICE” behind Madonna for over 18 years. Her vocal collaborations read like a “Who’s Who” of the music business. Niki has been a musician on The Jazz Cruise for many years.
Sullivan Fortner
Sullivan Fortner
Sullivan Fortner was born and raised in New Orleans. He started playing the piano from the age of four. His mother was the choir director of a Baptist church; he began playing the organ there at the age of seven. After studies at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Sullivan went on to obtain a bachelor's degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music.
For more than a decade, Sullivan Fortner has been stretching deep-rooted talents as a pianist, composer, band leader and uncompromising individualist. The GRAMMY®-Award-winning artist received international praise as both key player and producer for his collaborative work on The Window, alongside Cecile McLorin Salvant with whom he frequently tours and records. As a solo leader, he has released four recordings to critical acclaim: Moments Preserved, Aria, Tea For Two and Solo Game.
In addition to his associations with such diverse voices as Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles and John Scofield, Sullivan’s frequent and longtime collaborators have included Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Tivon Pennicott, Peter Bernstein, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Fred Hersch and the late Roy Hargrove. Recent collaborations include GRAMMY®-nominated releases Dear Love (Empress Legacy) and Generations from leaders Jazzmeia Horn and The Baylor Project, respectively.
Sullivan’s accolades include the 2015 Cole Porter Fellowship awarded by the American Pianists Association, Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship, the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists and the prestigious Shifting Foundation Grant for artistic career development.
Ted Rosenthal
Ted Rosenthal
Ted Rosenthal is one of the leading jazz pianist/composers of his generation. He has performed worldwide as soloist, with his trio, and with many jazz greats including Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Phil Woods, and James Moody. Winner of the Thelonious Monk International Competition, Rosenthal has released 15 critically acclaimed CDs as a leader. His album Rhapsody in Gershwin reached #1 on iTunes and Amazon. Rosenthal has been a featured soloist with major orchestras including the Detroit Symphony and Phoenix Symphony.
Rosenthal was artistic director of Jazz at the Riverdale Y and Jazz at Dicapo Theatre, both in New York City. He has also performed with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and Jon Faddis and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. In addition, Rosenthal has been the pianist of choice for many top jazz vocalists including Helen Merrill, Ann Hampton Callaway, Kurt Elling and Barbara Cook. He appeared on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on National Public Radio and performed with David Sanborn on NBC's Night Music.
An active composer, Rosenthal’s jazz opera, Dear Erich, was commissioned and premiered by New York City Opera in 2019. The recipient of three NEA grants, Rosenthal has also been commissioned by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony and Dallas Black Dance Theatre. An author and active in jazz education, Ted is on the faculties of The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music. Ted will be performing as a member of Ann Hampton Callaway’s group and in other shows.
Renee Rosnes
Renee Rosnes
Renee Rosnes is one of the premier jazz pianists and composers of her generation. Upon moving to New York City from Vancouver, Canada, she quickly established a reputation of high regard, touring and recording with such masters as Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, J.J. Johnson, James Moody, and legendary bassist Ron Carter. She was a charter member of the all-star ensemble, the SFJAZZ Collective, with whom she toured for six years.
Renee has released 17 recordings as a leader and has appeared on many others as a sideman. In 2016, Written in the Rocks (Smoke Sessions) was named one of ten Best Jazz Albums of the Year by The Chicago Tribune, one of the Best Albums in all genres of music by The Nation, and was awarded a 2017 Canadian Juno (her fifth Juno award). JazzTimes wrote, “Ms. Rosnes delivers conceptual heft, suspenseful compositions and mesmerizing performances,” and DownBeat praised it as “an exceptional achievement” stating “Rosnes is a virtuoso composer.” The band’s most recent session, Beloved of the Sky (2018) draws inspiration for the title track from Canadian painter Emily Carr, and features Chris Potter, Steve Nelson, Peter Washington and Lenny White.
Renee has produced concerts at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and the 92nd Street Y in New York City. She is also the music director for the all-star group (featuring trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover, bassist Noriko Ueda and drummer Allison Miller) with whom she will perform on The Jazz Cruise.
Isaiah J. Thompson
Isaiah J. Thompson
Isaiah J. Thompson is the winner of the prestigious 2023 American Pianists Awards and the Cole Porter Fellowship in Jazz of the American Pianists Association. Originally from West Orange, New Jersey, the pianist, bandleader and composer began studying at The Calderone School of Music from an early age. Soon after, Isaiah continued his studies with Jazz House Kids and NJPAC Jazz For Teens and was later admitted to The Juilliard School graduating with both his Bachelor’s in 2019 and Master’s of Music degrees in 2020. Isaiah has performed with major artists, including Ron Carter, John Pizzarelli, Christian McBride, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Steve Turre and Buster Williams. His recording debut was featured on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records’ Handful of Keys album with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, and he has since released multiple recordings as a leader, including the critically acclaimed album, The Power of the Spirit, released in 2023.
He worked on the Golden Globe nominated soundtrack for Motherless Brooklyn, was named a Steinway Artist and has been awarded other accolades including the 2018 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, and second place in the 2018 Thelonious Monk Competition. As a performer, Isaiah tries to emit love, spirit and respect and convey his personal experiences through his artistry and his everlasting love of jazz. Isaiah will be appearing on The Jazz Cruise with the John Pizzarelli Trio with whom he’s toured and recorded for the last few years.
Mathis Picard
Mathis Picard
Mathis Picard is a pianist, composer and producer in the international music scene. Based in New York City and from France & Madagascar, Mathis honors his multi-cultural background by merging musical influences and elevating sonic synchronicity. Named a “rising star” by The Scotsmen paper, Mathis is an ASCAP Next Generation of Songwriters Recipient, a member of the Montreux Jazz Foundation, and a Juilliard Alumni under the mentorship of Kenny Barron. His band The Sound Orchestra has performed all over The United States. Their debut genre-bending EP World Unity came out in 2020 on Outside In which put him on the map as “a fascinating name to follow in any context” (All About Jazz).
Mathis has shared the stage with artists such as Braxton Cook, Ron Carter, Lillias White, Lee Ritenour, Wynton Marsalis, Veronica Swift, Etienne Charles and more. Rooted in the tradition of live acoustic performance and deemed as “one to watch” by Jazzwise magazine, Mathis also shines as a solo pianist, playing solo sets for NY Fashion Week, Little Island, Umbria Jazz Festival, and is featured on several records. Long awaited, Mathis presented his first solo piano album titled Live at the Museum. Recorded with a live audience at the National Jazz Museum of Harlem in New York City, Live at the Museum is a sonic journey through which Mathis explores the museum of his own life in music, honoring and spotlighting his roots in jazz, classical and electronic music. Mathis will perform on The Jazz Cruise with Cyrille Aimee.
Lewis Nash
Lewis Nash
Lewis Nash is one of jazz’s most recorded musicians, appearing on over 500 recordings including 10 GRAMMY® winners and numerous GRAMMY® nominees. Nash has the distinction of being the only musician in jazz history featured on the winners in both the “Best Jazz Vocal” and “Best Jazz Instrumental” album categories in two separate years: the 2004 GRAMMY® s with Nancy Wilson and McCoy Tyner, and again in 2010 with Dee Dee Bridgewater and James Moody.
A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Lewis first gained international recognition as a member of vocalist Betty Carter’s trio. In the years to follow, Nash toured, recorded and performed with many of jazz’s most celebrated icons, including Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, JJ Johnson, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Stan Getz, Benny Golson, Art Farmer, Gerry Mulligan, Hank Jones, Horace Silver, McCoy Tyner, Ray Brown, Milt Jackson and many more.
In 2012, The Nash, a jazz education center and performance venue named in Lewis’s honor, was established in his home town of Phoenix. It has been a focal point of the city’s jazz activity since its inception.
Lewis is in great demand for his educational expertise as well as his drumming skills, and presents clinics, masterclasses and workshops at institutions worldwide. He has been a member of the faculty of the annual Vail Jazz Workshop for the past 20 years. In 2017, Nash joined the jazz studies faculty at Arizona State University, where he was named the Bob and Gretchen Ravenscroft Professor of Practice in Jazz. (TJCHOF)
Herlin Riley
Herlin Riley
A native of New Orleans, Herlin Riley started on the drums when he was three. He played trumpet through high school, but he went back to drums in college. After graduating, he spent three years as a member of a band led by Ahmad Jamal. In the ensuing years, he worked often with Wynton Marsalis as a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and of Marsalis's small groups and appears on more than two dozen of the trumpeter’s albums. Riley played a large part in developing the drum parts for Wynton Marsalis's Pulitzer Prize-winning album, Blood on the Fields. He has also worked with George Benson, Harry Connick, Jr., and Marcus Roberts. As a leader, Herlin has released four albums: Watch What You’re Doing; Cream of the Crescent; New Direction; and Perpetual Optimism.
He's also co-led a group with fellow Crescent City drummers Jason Marsalis and Shannon Powell, the New Orleans Groovemasters, that celebrates the music of New Orleans—past, present and future—with a fiery sound that evokes second lines of that city, as well as funk, R&B and jazz.
Tim Horner
Tim Horner
Tim Horner is a native son of Roanoke Va. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1979 Tim moved to Brooklyn New York in 1980. Since moving to New York, Tim has shared the stages of so many of New York's major venues such as The Village Vanguard, Birdland, The Blue Note, Lincoln Center and Dizzy's Coca Cola. The artists he has worked these venues with span a large cross section of jazz history performing with people such as Hank Jones, Clifford Jordan, Pepper Adams, Joe Locke, Randy Brecker, Vic Juris, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, The Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Frank Kimbrough, Roseanna Vitro, Ann Hampton Calloway, Mark Murphy, Joe Williams, Dick Oatts, Red Rodney, Mark Sherman, Ted Rosenthal, Bill Cunliffe and Rufus Reid. In this span of five decades, he has also recorded over 250 recordings as a sideman and three of his own personal projects of original compositions, including The Head of the Circle. Since 2000 he has been a five-time Jazz Ambassador for the US State Dept. concertizing and teaching in over 20 countries throughout the world.
Music has the power to transport us to another time and place. Tim Horner loves to harness that power with a broad audience of fellow music lovers and passionate musicians alike. Ever since a young age, Tim has found great joy and satisfaction in making music and sharing it with fans and people all over the world. He will once again sail on The Jazz Cruise as a member of Ann Hampton Callaway’s group and as an All-Star.
Kenny Washington
Kenny Washington
Respected for his accomplishments both on and off the bandstand, Kenny Washington is a jazz legend. The Brooklyn-born, Staten Island-bred drummer studied with Dizzy Gillespie drummer Rudy Collins and attended the LaGuardia High School for Music and Art and has played behind Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Ahmad Jamal, Johnny Griffin, Clark Terry, George Cables, Lionel Hampton, Sonny Stitt, James Spaulding, Phil Woods, Bobby Watson, Curtis Lundy and Tommy Flanagan. Kenny was part of one of the legendary vocalist Betty Carter’s most acclaimed groups that also featured Curtis Lundy on bass and John Hicks on piano, an ensemble that was showcased on her critically acclaimed album The Audience with Betty Carter, recorded at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.
Fans of The Jazz Cruise know him best for his years with the Bill Charlap Trio with whom he’s worked for more than 20 years and with whom he’s recorded numerous albums, including two nominated for GRAMMY awards. The trio is considered one of the greatest working piano trios in contemporary jazz. Kenny returns to perform with Bill and bassist Peter Washington (no relation) on The Jazz Cruise ‘24. A prolific freelancer with an enormous discography, Washington loves jazz history and has written liner notes for and/or helped prepare classic jazz re-releases by Art Blakey and Count Basie, among others. He has also taught jazz drumming at the New School in New York City and he worked as an announcer at the New Jersey jazz radio station WBGO.
Michael Karn
Michael Karn
Born and raised in Rochester NY, Mike Karn was an accomplished saxophonist with recordings as a leader, until 2007 when he began to seriously pursue the bass and within a couple of years was working with some of New York’s best musicians, including tenor great Lew Tabakin and with jazz vocal legend Jon Hendricks. In 2010 Mike began playing with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (VJO) and quickly established himself as that famous big band’s first call sub. In addition to numerous Monday nights at the Village Vanguard, Mike has traveled with the VJO throughout the U.S. and the world. Mike has played with Jimmy Heath and his brother and fellow NEA Jazz Master Albert “Tootie” Heath on numerous occasions including engagements at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Blue Note, the Village Vanguard, and the Chicago Jazz Festival.
In 2015, Mike had the opportunity to travel to Japan with yet another jazz legend, vocalist/pianist Freddy Cole. In 2018, Mike returned to Asia with Freddy, playing again at the Cotton Club as well as the Blue Note in Beijing. In 2015, Mike joined the band of guitarist/vocalist John Pizzarelli and since then has appeared with the guitarist/vocalist throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as tours of Japan, Brazil and multiple trips to Europe. He is also featured on many of John’s recent albums including, most recently, Stage and Screen. Of course, Mike will return to The Jazz Cruise with John and pianist Isaiah J. Thompson.
Martin Wind
Martin Wind
Bassist and composer Martin Wind was born in Flensburg, Germany in 1968 and has been living in the New York City area since 1996. He earned a diploma as Orchestra Musician at the Cologne Conservatory and completed his Master’s degree in jazz composition and performance at NYU. In 1995 Martin came in third at the International Thelonious Monk Bass Competition in Washington, D.C., and in 1996 he won the first Cognac Hennessy/Blue Note Jazz Search in Germany. In 2000 he was the first jazz musician to win the Cultural Award of his home state Schleswig-Holstein.
Martin has released more than 20 albums as leader/co-leader including his recent recording My Astorian Queen in celebration of the 25th anniversary of his move to New York City. Martin has recorded and/or performed with Monty Alexander, Pat Metheny, Clark Terry, Slide Hampton, Toots Thielemans, Buddy DeFranco Michael and Randy Brecker, Eddie Daniels, Phil Woods, Johnny Griffin, Bucky Pizzarelli, Frank Wess, James Moody, Hank Jones, Ann Hampton Callaway, Anat Cohen, Benny Green, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and others. Since 2015 he's been part of the Kennedy Center Honors Gala, backing up world stars such as James Taylor, Reneé Fleming, John Legend, Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Herbie Hancock and others. In 2018 he premiered his bass concerto “Legacy” with his hometown orchestra; he has also written the sonata “Into the Light” for bass and piano, plus many arrangements and original compositions for bass ensemble and about 100 jazz tunes and concert pieces. He returns to The Jazz Cruise as a member of Ann Hampton Callaway’s group.
Peter Washington
Peter Washington
Raised in the Bay area, bassist Peter Washington attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he performed with the San Francisco Youth Symphony and the UC Symphony Orchestra. His growing interest in jazz led him to play with John Handy, Bobby Hutcherson, and other Bay Area luminaries. In 1986 he joined Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers and moved to New York City.
Peter has played with the Bill Charlap Trio since the mid ‘90s. He was a founding member of the collective sextet One for All and is a visiting artist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2008, Washington played with The Blue Note 7, an all-star septet formed in honor of Blue Note Records’ 70th Anniversary. His more than 400 recordings speak to a constant demand for his talents, including performing with longtime colleague Bill Charlap on this cruise.
Rodney Whitaker
Rodney Whitaker
Internationally renowned bassist Rodney Whitaker currently holds the titles of Professor of Jazz Bass and Director of Jazz Studies at Michigan State University, where he has built one of the leading jazz degree programs and performing faculty in the United States of America. He is considered one of the leading performers and teachers of the jazz double bass in the United States.
Rodney first came to prominence in the jazz world as a member of the Harrison-Blanchard Quintet, which was followed by a seven-year tenure with the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, with whom he toured and also recorded numerous critically acclaimed albums. Rodney has performed and toured with over 100 noted jazz artists over the past 25+ years, including Jimmy Heath, Cyrus Chestnut, Dianne Reeves, Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall, Jon Faddis, Donald Harrison, Terence Blanchard, Wycliffe Gordon, Benny Golson, Regina Carter, Pat Metheny, Joshua Redman, Chick Corea, Kenny Garrett and Ingrid Jensen, as well as late greats like Roy Hargrove, Dizzy Gillespie, Betty Carter, Jon Hendricks, Hank Jones and many others.
Featured on more than 100 recordings as both a sideman and a leader, Rodney also co-leads a band with drummer Carl Allen with whom he’s released the albums Work to Do and Get Ready on Mack Avenue. Rodney’s most recent recording, Outrospection, featured the music of composer Gregg Hill, a longtime guest of The Jazz Cruise and other Jazz Cruises sailings. Rodney is a bona fide all-star both on and off the ship.
Nicki Parrott
Nicki Parrott
Born in Newcastle, Australia, Nicki Parrott started her musical training at age four with the piano and flute. Nicki switched to double bass at the age of 15. After graduating high school, she moved to Sydney to study jazz at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music where she was granted funds by the Arts Council to study in New York with Rufus Reid.
Nicki was bassist and vocalist for the legendary Les Paul for over 10 years. As part of the Les Paul Trio, Nicki worked side-by-side with guitar greats from Paul McCartney, Steve Miller to fellow Aussie, Tommy Emmanuel. Paul said about Nicki that, “She has that special gift you cannot buy in a music store.” In addition, she performed in several Broadway shows and at most of the world's top jazz venues and festivals including The Jazz Cruise and sold-out performances at Birdland and Dizzy’s in NYC.
Nicki recently returned home to Australia where she still tours the globe and records. Her newest release, Feelin’ Groovy (Arbors), is a retrospective and reimagining of songs from the 60s and features an all-Australian band, a first for the label. Nicki has performed with such jazz greats as Randy Brecker, Clark Terry, Bucky Pizzarelli, Dick Hyman, Michel Legrand, Houston Person and Arif Mardin. JazzTimes wrote about her that, “Nicki brings clear articulation, beautiful tone, a sense of rhythmic assuredness and a touch of allure to inventive arrangements.”
She has recorded over two dozen vocal records for Venus Records, Arbors Records and Ooroo Records.
Adi Meyerson
Adi Meyerson
Adi Meyerson was born in San Francisco, CA and at the age two, relocated with her family to Jerusalem, Israel where she grew up. In August 2012 she moved to New York to continue her studies at The New School and later on at Manhattan School of Music for her Master’s degree. She studied with notable musicians such as Ron Carter, Reggie Workman, Bob Cranshaw, Miguel Zenon, Jim McNeely, Dave Liebman and many others.
Since moving to New York, she has played as a side woman with artists such as Charli Persip, Bria Skonberg, Joel Frahm, Svetlana & the NY collective and others in venues around the NYC area, as well as all over the US. As a bandleader and composer on the NYC jazz scene, Adi has earned a reputation as an up-and-coming young talent. In 2017, she released her debut recording, Where We Stand, with her nine original compositions.
With her band Adi has headlined the Make Some Noise Music Festival, Center City Jazz Festival in Philadelphia, the International Guatemala Jazz Festival and BRIC Jazz Fest. Adi has performed all over the US, Latin America and Canada with her trio and as a sidewoman. Adi is a recipient of the 2020 NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with The New York Foundation for the Arts.
Bijon Watson
Bijon Watson
GRAMMY® Award-winning trumpeter Bijon Watson’s recording, live, and touring credits are vast and the short list includes: Natalie Cole, Michael Bublé, Kurt Elling, Harry Connick, Jr., Diana Krall, Dianne Reeves, Stevie Wonder, Rosemary Clooney, Nancy Wilson and Joe Williams. Bijon plays lead trumpet for the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, John Daversa Progressive Big Band, and John Beasley’s Monkestra. When a jazz big band or orchestra needs a lead trumpeter, Bijon gets the call. In 2022, as co-leader with Steven Feifke, Bijon can be heard not only on lead trumpet but as a featured soloist with their GRAMMY® Award-winning Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra for Best Jazz Big Band Album.
On television, Bijon has performed on episodes of American Idol, The Voice, and The Tonight Show, as well as Grammy Awards shows, The BET Music Awards and Dancing With The Stars. His film appearances include appearing in the award-winning film La La Land and recording on several soundtracks with studios such as Paramount, Fox, and Disney, including Epic, Despicable Me 2 and The Secret Life of Pets.
As a classically trained musician, Bijon has had the opportunity to perform as a guest with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Los Angeles Opera, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony. A dedicated educator, Bijon is a sought-after clinician who gives master classes and clinics to colleges, and high schools throughout the United States, and Europe. Bijon rejoins The Jazz Cruise as an All-Star and essential member of Anita’s Big Band.
Bria Skonberg
Bria Skonberg
Described by The Wall Street Journal as “one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation” and “the shining hope of hot jazz” by The New York Times, Bria Skonberg has been at the forefront of a revival of classic American music as both a performer and educator, programming concerts and workshops for students of all ages.
Originally from the small town of Chilliwack, British Columbia, Bria studied jazz and performance at Capilano University in Vancouver while balancing a full road schedule with two bands. After graduating she traveled extensively, performing in China, Japan and throughout Europe as a featured artist. Seeking new challenges, Bria moved to New York city in September of 2010.
A bandleader since her teens, Bria has performed festivals and stages the world over, including New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, and over a hundred more. In 2016 Bria released her debut LP on Sony Masterworks which won a Canadian JUNO award and made the Top 5 on Billboard jazz charts; her music has over 10 million streams on Spotify. A six-time DownBeat Rising Star, further accolades include the Jazz at Lincoln Center Swing Award, Best Vocal and Best Trumpet from Hot House Jazz Magazine and Outstanding Jazz Artist at the Bistro Awards. She has released seven albums as a leader.
With her own signature sound of trumpet playing and smoky vocals, Bria captivated our guests during her first two sailings on The Jazz Cruise and we’re thrilled to welcome her back.
Bruce Harris
Bruce Harris
Bruce Harris is a trumpet player who fearlessly explores the boundaries of contemporary music within the vibrant jazz scene of New York City. A Bronx native, he spent his formative years in the thriving musical landscape of ‘80s New York City. Growing up amidst the epicenter of the Hip-hop era, he was also exposed to bebop. Harris pursued his education in jazz performance at the Conservatory of Music in SUNY Purchase College, where he successfully obtained both a Bachelor's and Master's degree.
Bruce has established a professional career defined by his contagious joy, unwavering passion and youthful energy. He has performed at some of New York's most prestigious jazz and music venues, including Smalls, Smoke Jazz Club, Dizzy's Club, Ginny's Supper Club, Minton's and Rockwood Music Hall. Bruce’s talents have also graced national television, with appearances on CBS's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and NBC's The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Throughout his career, Bruce has had the privilege of sharing the stage with an illustrious roster of legendary artists, including Wynton Marsalis & the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Dave Brubeck, Billy Taylor, The Count Basie Orchestra, Barry Harris, Roy Hargrove, Tony Bennett, Harry Connick Jr. and many more.
Bruce has released two albums as a leader: Beginnings on Posi-tone and Soundview on Cellar Live. He also co-led a recording, The Lighting of the Lamp, with saxophonist Grant Stewart. Bruce continues to be a prominent figure in the vibrant music scene of New York City. This is his debut on The Jazz Cruise.
Terell Stafford
Terell Stafford
Terell Stafford has been hailed as “one of the great players of our time, a fabulous trumpet player” by the late piano legend McCoy Tyner. Recognized as an incredibly gifted and versatile player, he combines a deep love of melody with his own brand of spirited and adventurous lyricism. Since the mid-1990’s, Terell has performed with groups such as Benny Golson’s Sextet, McCoy Tyner’s Sextet, Kenny Barron Quintet, Frank Wess Quintet, Jimmy Heath Quintet and Big Band, Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Alumni Band. Stafford with the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Terell performed on Diana Krall’s GRAMMY-nominated From This Moment On (2006). John Clayton invited Terell to perform with the Clayton Brothers Quintet and Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
Terell is a member of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and they were awarded a GRAMMY in 2009 for their recording Live at the Village Vanguard. Stafford can be heard on over 130 albums including his own BrotherLee Love - Celebrating Lee Morgan, which received a 47th Annual NAACP Image Award nomination. Terell is the Director of Jazz Studies and Chair of Instrumental Studies at Temple University, founder and band leader of the Terell Stafford Quintet, and Managing and Artistic Director of the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia (JOP). Terell is renowned in the jazz world as an educator, performer and leader and has received countless award nominations and accolades. He has sailed on The Jazz Cruise numerous times, both as a member of the Clayton Brothers Quintet and as an All-Star.
Sean Jones
Sean Jones
Trumpeter Sean Jones is a musical chameleon, comfortable in any musical setting no matter the role or genre. After a six-month stint with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis offered him a permanent position as lead trumpeter of the ensemble, a post he held from 2004 until 2010. In 2015, Mr. Jones was tapped to become a member of the SJAZZ Collective. During this time, he has managed to keep a core group of talented musicians together under his leadership, forming the foundation for groups that have produced and released eight recordings on Mack Avenue Records.
Sean has been prominently featured in recordings and performances with many major figures in jazz, including Illinois Jacquet, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Gerald Wilson and Marcus Miller. He was selected by Miller, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter for their A Tribute to Miles tour in 2011. He has also performed with the Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Youngstown symphony orchestras, as well as Soulful Symphony in Baltimore and a chamber group at the Salt Bay Chamberfest.
Sean is an internationally recognized educator. He was president of the Jazz Education Network and has also taught at Duquesne University and at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, while regularly offering master classes and clinics all around the world. He currently holds the Richard and Elizabeth Case Chair in Jazz Studies at The John Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute in Baltimore. Sean also serves as the artistic Director for the NYO JAZZ Program of Carnegie Hall.
Camille Thurman
Camille Thurman
As a composer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and unique interpreter of the jazz tradition, Camille Thurman has quickly become one of the standard bearers for the form, making a considerable and dynamic contribution to the legacy of jazz while paying tribute to its heroes. Fluid and powerful on the tenor saxophone and highly inventive as a vocalist, she also plays bass, clarinet, flute and piccolo. Her rich sax sound has been compared to Joe Henderson and Dexter Gordon, while her vocal approach—including an impressive scatting ability—has been classified alongside those of Ella Fitzgerald and Betty Carter.
In a few short years, Thurman has shared stages with such jazz luminaries as George Coleman, Roy Haynes, Dianne Reeves, Wynton Marsalis, The, Kenny Barron, Buster Williams, Charles Tolliver, Jack DeJohnette and Terri Lyne Carrington, among others. The New York City native has already amassed several distinctive honors for her musicianship: runner up in the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition, two-time winner of the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award and a winner of the Fulbright Scholars Cultural Ambassador Grant, The Chamber Music of America Performance Plus Grant and the Jazz Coalition Composers Grant.
Thurman also has four full-length recordings as a leader to her credit. Thurman toured internationally with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Thurman leads her band and is also a featured artist with the Darrell Green Trio. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, and numerous respected international jazz festivals and venues. This will be her maiden voyage on The Jazz Cruise.
Dick Oatts
Dick Oatts
Born and raised in the state of Iowa, Dick Oatts was brought up in a musical family. He was introduced to the saxophone by his father Jack Oatts, a respected jazz educator and saxophonist. After high school, Dick attended Drake University and in 1972 he began his professional career in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Shortly after moving to NYC in 1977, he joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. Since then, he has toured, recorded, and performed as a sideman in small groups with Jerry Bergonzi, Joe Lovano, Dom Salvador, Vic Juris, Terell Stafford, Ray Mantilla, Jon Faddis, Fred Hersch and several others.
His big band and large ensemble experience includes Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Jon Faddis Jazz Band, Tito Puente and many others. Dick has been a featured artist with the Metropole Orchestra, WDR Big Band, Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, Danish Radio Big Band, Norboten Radio Big Band, High Coast Jazz Orchestra, Mats Holmquist/Dick Oatts Orchestra, and others. Dick has accompanied such vocalists as Joe Williams, Sara Vaughn. Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, Neena Freelon, and Milton Nascimento. As a Steeplechase recording artist, Dick has recorded 10 solo CDs and five co-led CDs.
For the past 35 years, Dick has appeared at college jazz festivals as a soloist and clinician throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Mid-East, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and Taiwan. Dick is a professor at the Boyer School of Music and Dance at Temple University and has been an "Artist in Residence" at the Amsterdam Conservatory since 1998.
Godwin Louis
Godwin Louis
Godwin Louis was born in Harlem, New York and began playing saxophone at age nine. Godwin grew up in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Port au Prince, Haiti. Godwin was a finalist in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Saxophone Competition. He has performed around the globe, including Mali, Senegal, Togo, France, Finland, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, Azerbaijan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Venezuela, Colombia, South Korea, Indonesia and Australia. Godwin is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute for Jazz Performance. Godwin has studied and performed with Herbie Hancock, Clark Terry, Roger Dickerson, Ron Carter, Al Foster, Jack Dejohnette, Jimmy Heath, Billy Preston, Patti Labelle, Toni Braxton, Babyface, Madonna, Gloria Estefan, Barry Harris, Howard Shore, David Baker, Mulatu Astakte, Mahmoud Ahmed, Wynton Marsalis, and Terence Blanchard just to name a few.
In addition, Godwin has performed as a sideman, guest soloist and has conducted clinics and master classes worldwide. As a composer, Godwin has received the Jerome Foundation Emerging Artist Grant, and the Jazz Gallery's "New Works Commission.” As an educator, humanitarian and ambassador, Godwin has traveled from Benin to China to help promote cross-cultural understanding and introduce thousands to America’s indigenous art form, through public concerts, master classes, and jam sessions. Godwin is the founder of Experience Ayiti, a nonprofit educational, multidisciplinary arts organization. Godwin’s debut album as a leader, entitled Global, was released in February 2019. This is Godwin’s debut sailing on The Jazz Cruise.
Gary Smulyan
Gary Smulyan
Gary Smulyan is recognized as a major voice on the baritone saxophone. Gradually establishing himself as a young player, Gary was asked to share the stage and the recording studio with an impressive group of jazz luminaries including Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Chick Corea and Tito Puente, as well as R&B/blues and soul icons Ray Charles, B.B. King and Diana Ross.
In addition to performing and recording in support of a myriad of people, Gary has a distinguished discography as a leader, with over 10 recordings under his own name. In addition to his work with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Gary remains close with Joe Lovano, working with him in his nine-piece Nonet; then there was the Dave Holland Octet and the seminal bassist’s Big Band. Gary has also enjoyed stints in the cooperative Three Baritone Saxophone Band, as well as working with powerhouse tenor saxophonist George Coleman in his octet and the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band that, similar to the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, is comprised of some of the world’s best players.
Gary is a four-time winner of the DownBeat Critics and Readers Polls and a multiple winner of numerous other official polls including the Jazz Journalists Award for Baritone Saxophonist of the Year. He is a six-time GRAMMY®-award winner for his work with B.B. King, Lovano, Holland and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Over the years on The Jazz Cruise, Gary has filled the baritone saxophone chair in Anita’s Big Band, as well as hosted jam sessions and performed in All-Star groupings.
Ada Rovatti
Ada Rovatti
After studying at Berklee College of Music, Italian born saxophonist, composer and arranger Ada Rovatti moved to Paris before landing in New York City. She performed and recorded with artists such as John McLaughlin, Mike Stern, James Moody, Aretha Franklin, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Heath, Patti Austin, Joe Bonamassa and many more.
Ada was part of the GRAMMY-winning CD by Randy Brecker –34th N Lex and on the acclaimed CD of John McLaughlin Industrial Zen and also appeared in the movie Mona Lisa Smile featuring Julia Roberts. As a band leader she has released seven CDS.
Steve Kovalcheck
Steve Kovalcheck
Guitarist/composer/educator Steve Kovalcheck has a diverse musical background. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, Kovalcheck grew up in a rich musical environment. While his roots are in hard rock, he became interested in jazz in his late teens, and has gone on to work with well known artists including Jeff Hamilton, Joey DeFrancesco, Terrell Stafford, Grammy Award winner Howard Levy, Jeff Coffin, Pat Bianchi, Lewis Nash, Danny Gottlieb, Adam Nussbaum, Chris Potter, Nicholas Payton, and Ingrid Jensen, to name a few. Outside of the jazz world, Kovalcheck has worked with artists and producers including Robinella and the C.C. String Band, Carrie Rodriguez, Tommy Sims, Charles “Wigg” Walker, Russ Titelman, Don Williams, and many others. While Kovalcheck’s main focus has been on jazz guitar and jazz education, he maintains an active involvement in rock, blues, funk, country, and bluegrass styles on the guitar.
While having worked professionally in Nashville and New York, Kovalcheck has called Colorado home since 2007. He is active as a performer in Colorado, across the U.S., and internationally, having performed in China, Sweden, France, and Romania. While in Colorado, Kovalcheck serves on the faculty for the DownBeat award-winning jazz studies department at the University of Northern Colorado where he teaches jazz guitar, jazz improvisation, small jazz ensembles, and jazz composition. He is also active giving clinics nationally and internationally.
Kovalcheck recently released Ghost Orchid, a quartet recording of all original music performed by some of Colorado’s finest jazz musicians; Paul Romaine on drums, Peter Sommer on tenor sax, and Ken Walker on bass. Kovalcheck also has a number of creative projects to look out for in the coming months. These projects include a new trio recording that is a step in a different artistic direction. This recording, Nine Mile Hill, is a musical homage to Kovalcheck’s roots in Nashville. Blending country, blues, rock, and jazz influences, this recording features the drummer Danny Gottlieb (Pat Metheny Group, Gary Burton, Mahavishnu Orchestra) and bassist Jon Hamar (Jeff Hamilton trio/Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra). Kovalcheck also participated in a collective recording with bassist Jon Hamar and pianist Dawn Clement, release date pending. He also recently recorded with the Ari Hoenig and the Ben Markley Big Band, an album that was released in June of 2022.
Vincent Gardner
Vincent Gardner
Vincent Gardner, winner of the 2014 DownBeat “Rising Star” Critics Poll for Trombone (and 2014 DownBeat “Rising Star” Critics Poll Nominee for Male Vocalist) was born in Chicago, Illinois. After moving to Brooklyn in 1996, Vincent subsequently performed with several notable ensembles and musicians, including The Count Basie Orchestra, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Illinois Jacquet, The Saturday Night Live Band, Matchbox 20, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath and Frank Foster. As a bandleader, Gardner has released four albums under the Steeple Chase record label. He performs with his own groups frequently, in addition to being the lead trombonist for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Gardner also performs often with his brother, trumpeter Derrick Gardner and his ensemble, The Jazz Prophets.
Over the course of his affiliation with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, he has contributed many arrangements and commissioned works for various performances of that ensemble. In 2009 he was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center to compose a work entitled The Jesse B. Semple Suite, which featured his original compositions intertwined with the short stories of author Langston Hughes featuring his character Jesse B. Semple. In the 2011-2012 season of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Vincent Gardner was the musical director for the critically-acclaimed program Bird With Strings which featured Charles McPherson and Wessell “Warmdaddy” Anderson on alto saxophones. In 2013 Vincent Gardner was appointed Director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra, and actively engages in working with young musicians internationally as part of that initiative.
Mariel Bildsten
Mariel Bildsten
Downbeat Magazine called trombonist Mariel Bildsten “irrepressibly spontaneous” and her 2023 release Steppin’ Out! exploded onto the scene as an exciting follow-up to Backbone, her 2020 debut. Mariel headlines jazz festivals, plays around the country and performs regularly in New York City, in the US and internationally. A frequent member of the Mingus Big Band, Mariel has performed alongside Jennifer Hudson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roy Hargrove, Wycliffe Gordon, Brian Lynch, Cyrus Chestnut, Frank Lacy, Jon Batiste, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jennifer Hudson, Roy Hargrove and many others. A passionate and popular educator, Mariel guides students through masterclass group instruction, workshops, and clinics, as well as leading educational shows in public schools through Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Juliane Gralle
Juliane Gralle
Born and raised in Germany, Juliane Gralle moved to The Netherlands to receive her degrees at the Conservatory of Amsterdam until she eventually made her way to Los Angeles in the summer of 2012, where she could be found on trombones (bass, tenor and contrabass) and tuba. Playing concerts on open air stages as well as jazz clubs, theatres, concert halls and exclusive studios are her home. Juliane has played with artists ranging from Quincy Jones, Jeff Hamilton and John Clayton to Lady Gaga, Adele and the Dirty Projectors as well as recording in the famous LA studios for TV, films and award shows.
Akiko Tsuruga
Akiko Tsuruga
Raised in Osaka, Japan, Akiko Tsuruga began studying the organ at the age of three, at the famed Yamaha Music School. After discovering her passion for jazz very early on in her musical journey, Akiko launched her career immediately after graduating from the Osaka College of Music. While living and playing in Osaka, she had many opportunities to perform with world-renowned jazz musicians from the United States. Meeting Grady Tate, in particular, was a life-changing event for Akiko.
After landing in the mecca for jazz, New York City, it didn’t take long for Akiko to make her mark. It was during these early years that she had the great pleasure of sitting in, playing gigs and eventually recording with jazz greats such as Frank Wess, Jimmy Cobb, Grady Tate and other top NY musicians. Her reputation ultimately drew the attention of Lou Donaldson as he chose her in 2006 as his quartet’s organist.
But it was the meeting of organ legend Dr. Lonnie Smith that proved to have the greatest impact on Akiko’s musical development and career. He became an important mentor to Akiko and she considers him her greatest influence. She flourished and continued to be a constant draw on the NY jazz scene.
Akiko has ten albums as a leader to her credit in both the U.S. and Japan. Her debut album in the U.S., “Sweety and Funky,” was selected as a “Best album of 2007” in DOWNBEAT Magazine. Her albums have constantly placed in the top ten on the National Radio Jazz Chart. Akiko also received “Swing Journal Rising Star Award” (Japan) in 2010, “Hot House Magazine (NYC) Best Organist” in 2017 and the DOWNBEAT Magazine Critics Poll 2020 Rising Star Organ.
Akiko’s newest excitement is a trio project that features a jazz celebrity drummer, Jeff Hamilton, and a superb rising guitarist, Steve Kovalcheck. This thrilling trio has been touring around the U.S. and Europe.
Ben Williams
Ben Williams
Ben Williams has steadily become one of the most acclaimed and versatile bassists in modern jazz, winning the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2009 and the Downbeat Magazine’s Critic’s Poll Rising Star Award in 2013 and 2015. His first two albums as a leader - State of Art and Coming of Age - where highly praised, but, as gripping as those albums are, they don’t prepare you for Williams’ newest album, I am a Man. Williams imbued his love for modern R&B and hip-hop and his socio-political awareness subtly on State of Art and Coming of Age. But on I am a Man, he brings them to the fore with mesmerizing vocal-centric songs that will surely raise his profile higher in modern soul and rap circles.
John Allred
John Allred
Trombonist John Allred has made a significant mark in the world of music. His roots are deeply entwined with jazz, as he is the son of the renowned jazz trombonist, Bill Allred. After experience in the vibrant music scene of the Los Angeles music scene, John was invited to join Woody Herman and the Young Thundering Herd, marking a significant milestone in his career.
He later relocated to Orlando, Florida, where he continued to contribute his trombone skills to jazz performances and studio recordings. His talents led to an invitation to join the Harry Connick Jr. Big Band, with whom he not only toured extensively but also contributed to numerous studio recordings and television appearances. During this period, John Allred remained actively engaged in his father's jazz ensemble and participated in various production shows.
In 1999, Allred moved to the bustling music hub of New York City. There, he shared his talents with esteemed groups like the Toshiko Akiyoshi Big Band, the Woody Herman Orchestra and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. His dedication and artistry have firmly established him as a respected figure in the world of jazz, contributing his unique voice to the rich tapestry of American music.
John may have inherited the gift of playing jazz on a ship. It seems his grandfather, also named John, was a jazz pianist and banjoist who played on the steamboats of the Strecklus Line that sailed on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. A fixture of Anita’s Big Band and a frequent All-Star, John has carried on the family tradition.
Dan Wilson
Dan Wilson
Growing up in Akron, Ohio, Dan Wilson spent the majority of his youth within the church community, where his musical path began. Traces of his major guitar influences – including Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Joe Pass and George Benson to name a few – can be discerned through his playing, but his musical identity has been shaped by everything from gospel and blues to traditional jazz, hip-hop and horn players like Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.
After graduating from Hiram College, Wilson made his recording debut with pianist Joe McBride and performed to worldwide acclaim with Joey DeFrancesco and Christian McBride’s Tip City, eventually recording his debut as a leader in To Whom It May Concern.
Wilson has had the honor of sharing the stage with jazz greats including Eric Marienthal, Russell Malone, Les McCann, René Marie, Jeff Hamilton, David Sanborn and Dave Stryker. He also teaches jazz guitar and music theory through private lessons.
Wilson’s career took him on an exploratory journey into foundations laid down by the guitar/organ tradition, eventually leading to an invitation to perform with jazz great Joey DeFrancesco’s trio quartet, with which Wilson went on to earn a GRAMMY® Award nomination with for DeFrancesco’s Project Freedom album (Mack Avenue Records, 2017). This collaboration allowed the guitarist to insert his own dialect into the musical prowess and respect that DeFrancesco had earned throughout his journey.
Wilson had been playing with DeFrancesco for a few years when he met bassist, composer, arranger, Christian McBride. From there, Wilson went on to tour with McBride’s trio Tip City, eventually leading McBride to serve as producer on Vessels of Wood and Earth and release the album on his newly formed imprint Brother Mister Productions through Mack Avenue Music Group.
The album was released on April 23, 2021 and is available on all platforms.
Brandon Goldberg
Brandon Goldberg
Brandon Goldberg has been playing piano and making music since he was three years old. Critics have praised his “unassailable technique, advanced harmonic understanding, a deep sense of swing and, most impressively, a clarity and plethora of ideas executed to near[1]perfection.” – Downbeat Magazine
Goldberg has performed at leading jazz festivals across the country including the Newport Jazz Festival, San Francisco (SFJazz), PDX Jazz, Litchfield, Twin Cities, and Caramoor. He has played in New York’s most prominent jazz clubs including Dizzy’s Club, Mezzrow, and Birdland Theater as well as The Side Door in Old Lyme, and the Keystone Korner in Baltimore.
Goldberg is a 2024 YoungArts Winner with Distinction, a semifinalist in the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition and youngest recipient of the 2022 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award.
Most recently, Goldberg appeared on Good Morning America and Live with Kelly and Mark accompanying Katharine McPhee performing songs from her new album with David Foster called Christmas Songs.
Goldberg celebrated the release of his third album, Brandon Goldberg Trio Live at Dizzy’s, at the Kravis Center on March 22, 2024. This album, recorded with Ben Wolfe on bass and Aaron Kimmel on drums, presenting the trio’s modernized take on the music of the great piano trios of the 1950s and 1960s, while still giving respect to the pianists and traditions of those by whom Goldberg was inspired, including Ahmad Jamal, Red Garland, Oscar Peterson, and Sonny Clark
Goldberg has released two other albums as a leader. In Good Time, released in fall 2021 features the late, great drummer Ralph Peterson, Jr., with Stacy Dillard on saxophones, Josh Evans on trumpet and Luques Curtis on bass. In Good Time showcases five original compositions and five standards, garnering rave reviews from London Jazz News and four stars from Downbeat Magazine, All About Jazz, and Jazzwise.
His debut album, LET’S PLAY!, released in 2019, features Ben Wolfe on bass, Donald Edwards on drums and special guest Marcus Strickland on tenor saxophone. The album has three original compositions and six standards and reached top seven on the Jazz Week charts and also earned four stars from Downbeat Magazine. Both albums were recognized as Top Albums of the year in 2021 and 2019, respectively.
Goldberg has also written original music for television and his compositions were featured in the first season of Lawmen: Bass Reeves, episodes four and six.
In his hometown of Miami, Florida, Goldberg has been a featured performer at the South Beach Jazz Festival, Jazz Roots Series at the Adrienne Arsht Center, the Miami International Piano Festival, FAENA Summer Jazz Series, and the Miami Symphony Orchestra.
In 2018 and 2019, The Miami Symphony Orchestra commissioned Goldberg to write two original compositions for piano and orchestra, “Surroundings” and “Rhapsody in f minor”, which were both performed live and recorded by MISO and received high praise and accolades.
Goldberg has participated in the prestigious Vail Jazz Workshop, National Youth Symphony (NYO Jazz) and Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. He worked with great jazz leaders like John Clayton, Sean Jones and Gerald Clayton.
Goldberg was a featured performer at TEDxYouthMiami, TEDxBocaRaton and TEDxCoconutGrove conferences. He also works closely with the Jazz Foundation of America (JFA) and performed at their annual Gala – A Great Night in Harlem at the famous Apollo Theater where he presented McCoy Tyner with his Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
At a young age, Goldberg had poignant break-through moments on national television in Seasons 1 and 2 of NBC’s Little Big Shots, The Steve Harvey Show and the Harry Connick, Jr. Show.
Philip Norris
Philip Norris
Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Philip Norris currently resides in New York City pursuing his degree in Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School. Philip first began his path in music on the Piano and Horn before his passion developed for the bass at the age of 13. Growing up in North Carolina he was a part of The Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble and received The Ella Fitzgerald Outstanding Soloist Award at the Essentially Ellington Competition in 2016.
Other accolades include the NAfME All-National Jazz ensemble, Jazz Band of America and a YoungArts National Finalist in 2016. Since moving to New York, Philip has played in various parts of the world including Switzerland, Bolivia and Russia. He has also played with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Ulysses Owens Jr., Harold Mabern, Joe Farnsworth, Eric Alexander, Jeff Hamilton, Helen Sung, Catherine Russell, Kenny Washington, Elio Vilafranca, Igor Butman and many more. Philip is currently playing in New York City and abroad with many of these artists as he continues his studies at The Juilliard School.
Kyle Poole
Kyle Poole
Hailed by Jazz Speaks as a "young prodigious drummer," Los Angeles native Kyle Poole has been residing in New York City since 2011 and continues to impress wherever his drums take him next. Along with his band of fellow NY jazz upstarts aptly titled Poole & the Gang, Kyle has performed in New York's most esteemed jazz clubs, notably Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola & SMOKE Jazz, culminating in a weekly residency at Small's Jazz Club lasting nearly 3 years.
One of Poole's chief missions is to expand jazz's audience by incorporating all dance styles of music, reaching back to ragtime and bebop, while forging ahead all the way to funk, hip-hop & beyond. With the constant fluctuation of genre, rhythm and harmony, Poole & the Gang connects these musical dots in a uniquely improvised fashion, while audiences worldwide are delighted to simply "go with the flow."