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JD Walter

A product of the Anglican Boy choir system, the American Boy choir school in Princeton, NJ, and The University of North Texas, Walter has become a pioneer of improvisation and electronic innovations in the world of jazz. His recording career spans 20 years and his purist progressive approach to jazz music has been recognized worldwide.

Walter’s recordings include, “Sirens in the C-House,” “Clear Day,” “Dedicated to You,” “2Bass, a Face and a Little Skin,” “Live in Portugal,” “Live at the 55 Bar,” “One Step Away,” and Guest appearances on over 100 recordings.

His new release “Dressed in a Song” produced by Walter and Grammy-winning producer and A&R executive Al Pryor, features piano and vocal duets and trios, including Jim Ridl, Orrin Evans, Jean-Michel Pilc, Marc Cary, Taylor Eigsti, Julius Rodriguez, Ben Wolfe, Obed Calvaire, and Becca Stevens.

Walter has performed at American jazz clubs and festivals in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Central America as well as over 80 tours in Russia. He has headlined at Dizzy’s Lincoln Center, The Jazz Standard, The Blue Note, and The Jazz Gallery, among other venues.

He has recorded and shared the stage with legendary artists, ranging from Dave Liebman, Billy Hart, Tom Harrell, Eddie Gomez, Bob Dorough, Nicholas Payton, Ben Monder, Sean Jones, Jean-Michel Pilc, Bill Evans, Mark Murphy, Greg Hutchinson, Ari Hoenig, Jim Ridl, Orrin Evans, Seamus Blake, Igor Butman, Nasheet Waits, Eric Revis, and Christian McBride.

Charenee Wade

1st Runner-Up in the 2010 Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition, the award-winning and critically acclaimed vocalist, arranger, educator and composer from New York City has excited audiences all over the world including Spain, UK, Italy, France, China, Korea, Israel, Africa, Switzerland and Denmark with her ingenuity and vibrancy through her artistry. Recipient of the 2017 Jazz at Lincoln Center Millennial Swing Award, Wade has worked with notable artists including Wynton Marsalis, Terri Lyne Carrington, Christian McBride, Winard Harper, Eric Reed, Jacky Terrason, Curtis Lundy, Robert Glasper, and Kyle Abraham (MacArthur Genius Awardee).

In her early years, Wade was selected as one of four artists for the Dianne Reeves Young Artist Workshop at Carnegie Hall as well as Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead Program where she would be mentored by Carmen Lundy & Curtis Fuller and perform her original music at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. An alumni of the famed Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Wade completed her Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in Music Performance at the Manhattan School of Music.

Wade’s latest CD, Offering: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, is a powerful re-interpretation of the poet’s musical

library, which features notable artists including Lonnie Plaxico, Marcus Miller, Stefon Harris, Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Christian McBride (spoken word).

Wade has performed at some of the top venues including Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Jazz Standard, The Apollo and has performed at major festivals worldwide including Montreux, the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Istanbul Jazz Festival, Spoleto, Savannah Music, Jazz En Tete, Princeton Jazz Festival and Bern Jazz Festival.

Wade is a passionate educator who has taught masterclasses and private lessons at various conservatories and universities including the Aaron Copland School of Music, Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University and University of Texas. She also has taught clinics and jazz camps in the U.S. and all over the world, including the NJPAC, New Orleans, UK, Israel, Croatia, Spain, Austrailia, and Taiwan.

Gian Slater

Gian is a prolific vocalist and composer based in Melbourne, Australia with an approach that incorporates wordless singing and improvisation, songwriting; electronics and extended vocal techniques; new music and contemporary composition and collaborations with theatre and dance practitioners. She has released eight albums of her original music, and has featured on many projects and recordings for acclaimed Australian and American artists such as Ben Monder, Kate McGarry, Theo Bleckmann, Jo Lawry, Linda Oh, Matthew Sheens, Andrew Ford, Paul Grabowsky, Lior, Andrea Keller, Christopher Hale, Monash Art Ensemble, Australian Art Orchestra, Tony Gould, Jamie Oehlers, Ben Hauptmann, Luke Howard, Flinders Quartet, Natalie Bartsch and Emma Stephenson.

She has been a multiple finalist in the prestigious Freedman Fellowship, Melbourne Music Prize and Bell Awards. She was the recipient of the MJFF Apra Composers Commission, Creative Australia Fellowship and the PBS Young Elder of Jazz and recently won a Green Room Award in composition for theatre production Song For a Weary Throat by Rawcus Theatre and Invenio Singers.

Gian formed her vocal ensemble, Invenio Singers in 2010 featuring Australia’s best contemporary and improvising singers who are known for their singular aesthetic and performance approach. They have self-produced seven of Slater’s large scale works, released two albums and have collaborated with Barney McAll, Lior, Chamber Made Opera, Robert Jarvis, Rubiks Collective, Linda Oh, Alpha60 and Rawcus Theatre Company.

Gian’s current solo project, Stars Without Makeup features Australian legends Barney McAll and Simon Barker alongside Gian’s improvisation led pop material. The new album will be released early 2021.

Gian is also a long-time passionate educator and lecturer in Voice, Jazz and Improvisation at Melbourne and Monash Universities.

Emily Braden

With a new album currently in the works, Emily Braden is electrifying NYC and international audiences with her fresh, soulful sound and striking stage presence.  Winner of New York City’s ‘Best of the Best’ Jazzmobile Vocal Competition, this Idaho-born, Harlem-based vocalist keeps her feet firmly planted in the jazz tradition while fearlessly exploring the range and nuance of the human voice. Her original music, co-created with producer and pianist Misha Piatigorsky, blends heavy grooves and carefully-crafted lyrics with soaring vocals, always leaving room for off-the-cuff bilingual improvisations. Inspired by personal and collective loss over recent years, Braden’s sophomore album “Cannon & Sparrow,” will be released in the fall of 2020 — “in dedication to the devastated.”  Before the COVID-19 global pandemic, Braden toured regularly and could be seen every first Friday at NYC’s famed 55 Bar. See her live and she’ll make you a believer. No two shows are the same.  “Strength of Love,” the first single off of Braden’s upcoming album will be available on all digital platforms on Friday, June 5th, 2020. Please stay visit www.emilybraden.com for all updates.