2019
FODAY MUSA SUSO
Foday Musa Suso is an internationally recognized musician and a Mandingo griot from the West African nation of Gambia. Griots are the oral historians and musicians of the Mandingo people, who live in several West African nations. The history of empires and kingdoms, tribal conflicts, cultural heroes, and family lineage are all part of a griot's traditional repertoire.
Foday is a direct descendent of Jali Madi Wlen Suso, the griot who invented the kora over four centuries ago. He began to play his father's kora even before he could hold the instrument on his own.
After many years of rigorous study, in 1974 Foday spent 3 years teaching the kora at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Legon, Ghana. In 1977, he moved to Chicago and became the first kora player to establish himself in the United States. He formed The Mandingo Griot Society with 3 American musicians, playing a fusion of traditional and jazz that is now known as "world music". Since 1977, he has performed as a soloist and with other musicians throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America.
TRØN & DVD
TRØN & DVD are a hip-hop duo (brothers Norvin and Darian Van Dunk) from Nyack, NY who have been making mixtapes, EPs, and solo albums since 2009. They released their debut label album, Afraid of the Dark in 2017 on Kiam Records and their followup is due later this year. They’ve shared stages with everyone from Open Mike Eagle to Twenty One Pilots and they’ve played music festivals all over the country including Neon Desert, Bamboozle, Vans Warped Tour and CMJ Music Marathon.
KIRA METCALF
Brooklyn-based singer and poet, Kira Metcalf, has crafted a sound all her own at the intersection of the unexpected and hauntingly familiar. A product of her classical cellist mother and folk guitarist father, Kira fuses indie elements with jazz-inspired vocal ease and the grit of true 90’s Grunge. Kira learned to sing by backing up her older siblings but began to hone her own sound at 13, amidst the turmoil of losing her mother to breast cancer. She quickly developed a style that could stand up to her cutting lyrics and equally potent voice.
WILLIE MARTINEZ LA FAMILIA SEXTET
La Familia Sextet is an ensemble that features the original compositions and arrangements of drummer, percussionist and vocalist Willie Martinez, as well as those of his talented cast of musicians. Willie has been a familiar face in New York City’s eclectic music scene for well over thirty years. As well as being one of the most sought after drummers on the Latin Jazz scene today and a master percussionist, he has yet another secret weapon: Willie is also a highly gifted vocalist!
Willie's considerable rhythmic and vocal talents have been featured with groups performing everything from Gothic Funk at the quintessentially New York rock club CBGB’s to Afro Cuban jazz on the venerable stage of the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. He has recorded and shared the stage with a wide variety of artists representing a Who’s Who in the American music industry, including Latin legends Bebo Valdes, Ray Santos, Chico O’Farrill, and Hilton Ruíz; jazz greats TK Blue, Benny Powell, George Cables, and Arthur Blythe; and pop vocal divas Brandy, Faith Hill, and Jewel.
ANNIE AND THE NATURAL WONDER BAND
Annie and Safari Bob Grilli started the Natural Wonder Band 30 years ago to entertain and educate young families about the environment – the wonders of Nature. Since that time they have appeared on stages all over their beloved planet in Europe, Scandinavia, the Caribbean and even, Brooklyn, to mention a few. Over ¾ of a million people have gone on a musical safari with the Natural Wonder Band.
Annie has sung the National Anthem at Shea Stadium 3 times and her preschool music program is used by many schools and organizations in the United States. Some of the places Annie and the Natural Wonder Band have been happy to perform at are: the United Nations, Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, the Central Park Zoo, the Bronx Zoo, the New York Aquarium, Prospect Park Zoo, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, the Beardsley Zoo, the Mystic Marinelife Aquarium, the Maritime Aquarium, as well as schools, towns, and libraries across the United States. Their music is used by universities and organizations such as: United Nations Environmental Programme, 4 H, Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society, American Red Cross, American Heart Association, Beneath the Seas, Environmental Protection Agency, University of Kansas, and Princeton University.
2018
ELK CITY
Elk City’s soundscapes encompass galaxies while retaining intimate and introspective thoughts and feelings, like epic adventures under the skin. Everybody’s Insecure, the group’s fifth album, was released by Bar/None Records on March 16, 2018.
Collaboration is at the core of every great band, and Elk City’s lead vocalist Renée LoBue and drummer/producer Ray Ketchem are two people ready to strap themselves into wet suits, climb into the immersion tank and get the job done. This pair is ably abetted by guitarist Sean Eden (Luna) and extraordinary keyboardist Carl Baggaley. Elk City has just welcomed guitarist Chris Robertson and bassist Richard Baluyut (Versus) into their line-up.
Renée and Ray originally met through musician’s wanted ad. Their first band, Melting Hopefuls, released a single, album and EP, then broke up when a deal with Mercury Records fell apart when the label’s management abruptly changed, with their label debut already in the can.
Rather than falter, LoBue and Ketchem set out to re-build their band. They found a new guitarist and co-lead vocalist and forged a new sound with a new name: Elk City. They signed with a French imprint, released the albums status and Hold Tight The Ropes and supported them with incessant European touring, playing venues large and small with groups like The National, The Walkmen and Luna; this is when they first met future bandmate Eden. After a major shake-up in personnel, they released two more albums, New Believers (their best seller to date) and House of Tongues and returned abroad for yet more extensive touring.
DANIELLE SHERI
Danielle Sheri is a Rockland County native and singer/songwriter rooted in soul, blues, funk and r&b. Her eclectic style and voice is powerful, yet smooth and elegant.
Steve Osso will leave your ears buzzing with delight. He is a multi-talented instrumentalist with tasty guitar licks and grooves.
FAT BOI’S BRASS BAND
Fat Boi's Brass Band is a seven piece, New Orleans style street band that brings the Mardi Gras, and the Tuba, wherever they go. With their bodies based in Orangeburg, NY and their hearts in New Orleans, LA, Fat Boi's Brass Band aims to bring the musical tradition and party atmosphere of NOLA to whatever sidewalk, bar, pier or park they decide to play in.
2017
TIPSY OXCART
Tipsy Oxcart plays electric, sweaty, bumpin' Balkan music, channeling the spirit of 36 hour weddings to keep the crowds dancing until the sun comes up. Serving up originals and fresh, upbeat arrangements of urban dance tunes, the band deviously infuses the sounds of South-Eastern Europe with elements of jazz, funk, and more. A party with Tipsy Oxcart is guaranteed to shake the dance floor all night long!
MAVERICK
E. Samson, & Stan Michael combine Funk, Soul, and Hip Hop to bring your favorite throwbacks, current hits and original songs to the stage! With an eccentric live band who produce magic through instruments to the gifted and always charasmatic vocalists, these young artists guarantee to entertain! Follow them at @mattsaxon1 @music_product @thestanmichael
ANNA VELEVA
Soprano Anna Veleva has received international acclaim as one of today's most gifted and versatile opera stars.
She has been recognized internationally for her opera and concert performances.
Highlights include the lead soprano roles in Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata, Rigoletto, La Bohème, Carmen, The Magic Flute and The Barber of Seville produced by Columbia Artists Management.
Mrs. Veleva has performed at major venues such as Carnegie Hall- Stern Auditorium, J.F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Sofia National Opera House and Plovdiv Opera in Bulgaria.
The media has hailed her as "The New Opera Hope".
2016
UNDERGROUND HORNS
“we are cooking audio gumbo…our special recipe includes some funk, jazz, hip hop mixed with brass band traditions spiced up with African and other world rhythms… MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE!"
Underground Horns is a Brooklyn based brass band playing Afro Funk New Orleans Latin grooves and beyond. AllAboutJazz called their 2009 debut record FUNK MONK "kick-ass dance music…that brushes up against psychedelia…with shots of funky brass juice."
Their second album BIG BEAT (2010) was reviewed by Ken Waxman in The New York Jazz Record calling them "an unapologetic party band with brains...with tonal inflections from the Big Easy, central Africa, the Maghreb and the Baltic states" and on their third record ALMOST BLUE (2014) they were "expanding the sonic range while never leaving the groove behind." (Sam Spokony, The Villager)
Underground Horns performed internationally in Brazil, Egypt and Germany, stateside at the Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival, NYC Winter Jazz Festival, Dizzy's (Jazz at Lincoln Center) and various Jam Band Festivals, sharing the bill with Rebirth Brass Band, Big Sam's Funky Nation and B.B. King.
In the big city they make people dance in subway stations, parks and at their club dates at nublu, the Blue Note and Brooklyn Bowl, among others. They also have been playing as a marching band, namely at the spectacular NYC Village Halloween Parade. www.UndergroundHorns.com
BLIND BOY PAXTON
Although only in his 20s, Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton has earned a reputation for transporting audiences back to the 1920's and making them wish they could stay there for good. Paxton may be one of the greatest multi-instrumentalists that you have not heard of. Yet. And time is getting short, fast.
This young musician sings and plays banjo, guitar, piano, fiddle, harmonica, Cajun accordion, and the bones (percussion). Paxton has an eerie ability to transform traditional jazz, blues, folk, and country into the here and now, and make it real. In addition, he mesmerizes audiences with his humor and storytelling.
He's a world class talent and a uniquely colorful character who has been on the cover of Living Blues Magazine and the Village Voice, and has been interviewed on FOX News. Paxton's sound is influenced by the likes of Fats Waller and "Blind" Lemon Jefferson. According to Will Friedwald in the Wall Street Journal, Paxton is "virtually the only music-maker of his generation—playing guitar, banjo, piano and violin, among other implements—to fully assimilate the blues idiom of the 1920s and ‘30s." www.BlindBoyPaxton.com
THE FOXFIRES
is an Indie Rock/Seagaze band from Nyack, NY. They have been writing music and playing shows extensively since late 2013 from NY, CT, RI, NJ, DE, PA, NC, VA, MD, and NYC sharing the stage with acts such as Sparks the Rescue, Rookie of the Year, Hawthorne Heights, Pentimento, Have Mercy, This Good Robot (with former Patent Pending frontman, Michael Ragosta), Former Misfits lead vocalist Michale Graves, as well as hundreds of others. March 16th 2016 saw their debut on Mainstream radio on 107.1 The Peak in New York and New Jersey. About a month later in April of 2016, The Foxfires made their way to 92.7 and 96.9 WRRV radio in the Hudson Valley NY. And in May, into a rotation on WLOY radio in Maryland and 99.3 WXRY in South Carolina and Black Diamond Radio in Scotland. After almost three years, two EPs, and one double single, they are in the studio recording their first full length album with Grammy Award Winning Producer, Ted Young-responsible for records such as Blonde Redhead’s “23”, Taking Back Sunday’s “Where You Want To Be”, Hawthorne Heights’ “If Only You Were Lonely”, Sonic Youth’s “The Eternal”, and Kurt Vile’s “Smoke Ring for My Halo” and “Walkin on a Pretty Daze” and his work re-mastering The Rolling Stone’s seminal albums. Their music is likened to artists such as Wilco, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, The 1975, Two Door Cinema Club, Built To Spill, and Milo Green. Visit: www.thefoxfires.com and on Instagram: TheFoxfires
THREE PINTS SHY
Founded in 2003, THREE PINTS SHY has become a raucous pub band, updating and reinvigorating the Celtic music so beloved all around the world. Stemming from the traditions of Tommy Makem and The Clancy Brothers, THREE PINTS SHY first
appeared at the New York Renaissance Festival in Tuxedo, NY. Our group members are David Anthony, Jonathan Siregar, Robbie Taylor and David Mikofsky.
Preferring the enjoyment of music and drinking, the group is influenced by all Irish drinking songs. THREE PINTS SHY performs with a high-energy style, creating an appeal to a younger audience, creating a fanatical audience reaction that grows with every song. But they are not beyond the touching ballads of the Emerald Isle, enamoring their fans with their gentle harmonies. www.ThreePintsShy.com
2015
JAMIE BLOCK
Is a New York-based singer-songwriter known for ramshackle, critical-darling, genre-bending antifolk music.
In 1996, Block self-released Lead Me Not Into Penn Station which, according to the Alternative Press, “practices the alchemy of melodious discord: pretty enough to draw you in, rough enough to keep you listening.” Block then opened for The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Bob Mould, and They Might Be Giants.
In 1998, Glen Ballard (who’d just produced Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill) signed Block as the first artist to his Capitol imprint Java Records, and released Block’s next album, Timing is Everything, that year.
His return to recording came a few years later, when WFUV deejay Claudia Marshall began regularly spinning his music and demanding on-air that the folksinger-in-pinstripes phone home. This plea led to The Last Single Guy, released in 2006. Allmusic.com described it this way: “like a bedside book, this album can be played in one sitting, but so much better to dip in and out of it over time, letting one’s mood determine one’s favorites for the day.” It also appeared on Ms. Marshall’s “Best of the Year” list.
Block’s latest release, 2013’s Whitecaps On The Hudson, presents deranged Byronic songs in loose, even organic attire. Call it antifolk or steamfolk or folkcore: pure-of-heart love songs run into unabashed pop melodies and collide with haunting spoken-word invocations. JamieBlock.com
PABLO MAYOR URBANO QUINTET
Pablo Mayor revisits the genre of Latin jazz (after his initial CD Aviso with Andy Gonzalez on bass) with a new intimate version of his renowned Folklore Urbano Orchestra. The Quintet presents a similar rhythm section that drives his powerhouse orchestra--- David Hertzberg, bass, Nestor Gómez and Jonathan Gómez, percussion, Franco Pinna, drums, and Pablo Mayor on piano. The group sheds new light on Pablo’s original compositions and arrangements of Colombian standards with more space for extended improvisations allowed by this jazz format. It is not, however, what one might expect from a typical Latin Jazz ensemble. In the signature style of Pablo Mayor, the folkloric aspect---the inherent groove---is the utmost priority, propelled by New York City’s (and Colombia’s) best-kept secret---virtuoso percussionists Nestor Gómez from Barranquilla, Colombia, and Jonathan Gómez from Bogotá, Colombia, with Franco Pinna’s mastery of applying Colombian rhythms to the drum set and Dave swinging on the bass. Pablo himself presents a fresh approach to the piano with his original Colombian method of piano playing which combines an in-depth study of Colombian rhythms with a long history of playing swinging Colombian salsa and charanga with maestro Eddy Zervigon and Orquesta Broadway.
MR. BREAKDOWN
is the next generation of the New-Funk movement. Known for their hard hitting, booty shakin' sound, the soulful crew from Nyack, NY released their latest EP, The Purple Bag, in 2014. Mr. Breakdown brings a different flavor to each track - paying homage to some of the all-time great funk-a-teers with nods to James Brown, Prince & The Meters to name a few.
Born and raised in Rockland County, Mike Kemmlein (guitar/vocals), Joe "Mamma” Carpentieri (drums/vocals) and Dave Reiss (bass/vocals) are the rhythm section and main songwriters of Mr. Breakdown. After over ten years of playing together in other incarnations, the childhood friends formed the band in 2008. Matt Wayne (sax/vocals) and Yan Falmagne (keyboards) complete the picture and fill in the funky sound with color and creativity.
Since it's formation, the band has been a staple of the NYC music scene. Upon releasing its debut album Shake Daddy Jupiter in 2012, Breakdown has regularly brought its high-energy show throughout the Northeast. In 2014, they embarked on a tour supporting The Purple Bag from North Carolina to Vermont. This summer, Mr. Breakdown is throwing funky dance parties in and around NYC.
The Purple Bag EP is available on iTunes at http://bit.ly/1gZYirR
For more information, please visit: www.MrBreakdown.com
MARIO THE MAGICIAN
His live performance (for ages 4-10 and their families) is uplifting, inventive, highly interactive, and ridiculously funny. Part retro, part rock and roll, Mario is an artist and inventor who creates his own props. He is known for his dedication to the Maker Movement and his clever and refreshing integration of DIY electronics and robotics into his performance, without ever sacrificing comedy and that old-school slapstick vibe. It's "vintage meets the future." Mario's old world vibe and physical comedy style are reminiscent of heroes like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, but he puts a thoroughly modern spin on everything he does.
Mario has appeared at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Sesame Street (the episode airs again July 23, 2015!), World Maker Faire New York, the American Museum of Natural History, and FAO Schwarz, among many other wonderful locations.