BRIC JazzFest

GRAMMY Award-winning artist Bilal returns to the spotlight following the success of his two album releases in 2024.  

Bilal: Live at Glasshaus  is a mid-career retrospective featuring Questlove, Common, Robert Glasper, and Burniss Travis. The live record presented Bilal within an ensemble of luminaries to reimagine standouts from his classic repertoire, shining a spotlight on his ever-evolving artistry that asserts, in 2024, he is at the height of his powers, eternally honing his craft and finding new edges in his voice.Itis a powerful reminder of Bilal’s dynamic vocal abilities and songwriting mastery. 

That was followed with his first album of new music in eight years titled Adjust Brightness, which marks a new chapter for Bilal. The album features 11 brand-new tracks that will take listeners on his most daring musical journey yet. Adjust Brightness represents a bold step forward in Bilal’s already innovative sound, blending his deep love of soul, funk, and jazz with futuristic, electronic, and abstract elements. This album is a giant step forward, as Bilal merges his organic, soulful roots with experimental electronic influences inspired by artists like Aphex Twin and Stereolab.  Listeners can expect an immersive sonic experience that defies genre conventions, as Bilal continues to evolve and refine his unique style.

Mohini Dey is a renowned bass guitarist, arranger, producer & vocalist who has gained international recognition for her extraordinary talent and versatility. With her unique style and impeccable technique, she has collaborated with numerous renowned artists and performed on prestigious stages around the world. She is a 29-year-old bass guitarist from Mumbai, India.

She has been described as the “Most Successful Musician UNDER30” By ForbesIndia. She has been working professionally in the music industry for the past 20 years meaning that she started working professionally when she was only 9 years old. She is the only female bassist to rank within the 'Top 10 Bassists in the 21st Century' on Music Radar. She has over 20 million views collectively on YouTube, over 800K followers on Instagram and 243K subscribers on YouTube & 211K followers on Facebook.

She is currently the bassist for Willow Smith. She has worked with artists like Steve Vai, Zakir Hussain, Quincy Jones, Vinnie Colauita, Stanley Clarke, Jordan Rudess, Mike Stern, Dean Brown, A R Rahman, Sivamani, Marco Minneman, Gary Willis, Dave Weckl, Tony Macalpine, Stu Hamm, Plini, Louiz Banks, Guthrie Govan, Ranjit Barot, Chad Wackerman, Chad Smith, Simon Phillips, Prasanna, Gergo Borlai, Victor Wooten, Federico Malaman, Darwin, Niladri Kumar, Stu Hamm, Sivamani, Bumblefoot, etc many more artists.
Some Indian singers & directors that she has worked with are Salim
Sulaiman, Clinton Cerejo, Neeti Mohan, Amit Trivedi, Benny Dayal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, Arijit Singh, Shalmali Kholgade, Sonu Kakkar, Shilpa Rao, Vishal-Shekar, Gurdasman, etc She has also been featured in magazines like Vogue, ForbesIndiaUnder30, NoTreble, RadarMusic, Bass Professor, Bass Magazine, BassQuaterly, Rollingstone, JazzInIndia, ParentCircle, RadioAndMusic, Platform, Femina, Hindu, NewIndianExpress, Verve and many other articles in newspapers like DNA, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Mid-Day, Mumbai Mirror, The Times of India, Bombay Times, etc.

She has played on Jimmy Fallon Show & Tiny Desk NPR with Willow Smith.

She has also done promotional work for companies like Bacardi, Jockey, Levi's, MTV channel, HDFC Bank, Titan, JBL, MarkBass, Mayones Basses, SIT strings, GruvGear, Jimmy’s, Moises, Voodoolabs, TCElectronics, ElectroHarmonix, LathonBassWear, Laney, Dunlop, Flipkart, ErgoStraps, LEDDereckStraps, etc.

She has performed in festivals like the Hollywood Bowl Blue Note, San Jose Jazz Festival, Timisoara Jazz Festival 2022, Enter Enea Jazz Festival 2022, Elephanta Music Festival 2013, Chennai's Global Music Festival 2012, Goa's International Jazz Festival 2015, Delhi's International Jazz Festival 2013, South Asian Music Festival 2013, SAPTRANG 2013, Damru Festival 2014/2015, International Jazz Day (Mumbai), Kalaghoda Fest 2016, Lugano Jazz Estival 2018, Garana Jazz Festival 2018, Delhi Jazz Festival 2018, etc. She has been part of TV Shows like MTV Unplugged S1 & S2, Coke Studio S2 & S3, Jammin, etc. She endorses Markbass Amps, Mayones Basses, Boss Pedals, TC electronic Pedals, Dunlop pedals, Darkglass pedals, Providence Cables, Electro-Harmonix pedals, Darkglass Electronics, Voodoolabs, GruvGear, Laney pedals, SIT Strings and LathonBassWear.

Mexican American composer, pianist, and bandleader Arturo O'Farrill stands as a towering figure in contemporary music, renowned for his genre-defying virtuosity, leadership, and unwavering commitment to social justice through music. O’Farrill bridges the gap between traditional Latin rhythms, modern jazz, and contemporary composition, continually pushing the boundaries of the art form while maintaining a profound connection to his roots. O'Farrill is a passionate educator and advocate for social and political justice, using his platform to champion diversity and unity. As founder and artistic director of both the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) and Belongó (formerly known as the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance), he plays a pivotal role in nurturing cultural dialogue through the transformative power of music.

O’Farrill is a 6-time GRAMMY winner and 2-time Latin GRAMMY winner. Hailed by DownBeat as "one of our greatest living pianists,” he has released nearly 25 albums as a solo artist, collaborator, and with ALJO. His compositions have been performed by Dr. Cornel West, pianist Lara Downes, the San Francisco Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and many others, and he has received commissions from Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Philadelphia Music Project, The Apollo Theater, and more. He has also been appointed to key positions and residencies, most recently the Bill Evans Fellow at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. In 2007, O'Farrill founded the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, now known as Belongó. A non-profit institution, it’s dedicated to performing, educating about, and preserving the music of all of the Americas, emanating from African and indigenous roots, through the entry point of jazz.

Belongó produces the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra's annual performance season and manages the Orchestra's weekly engagement at NYC’s Birdland. Its educational programs include the Afro Latin Jazz Academy of Music (ALJAM), an in-school residency program serving public schools in New York City; the Fat Cats, a pre-professional youth orchestra that prepares the next generation of musicians; and the Global Rhythms in Our Tribe (G.R.I.O.T.), a music program that connects youth with rhythms and storytelling from global cultures as a way to engage them in anti-violence activities. Belongó will serve as the cultural partner for Timbale Terrace, a 340-unit affordable housing project in East Harlem. Two floors of the building will house Casa Belongó—a permanent cultural hub for music education, performance, and community engagement set to break ground in 2026.

Born in Mexico City and raised in New York City, O'Farrill's musical journey is deeply rooted in a legacy of innovation and cultural fusion. His father, Chico O'Farrill, was an influential composer, arranger, and conductor who played a crucial role in integrating Afro Cuban rhythms into jazz during the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1980s, Arturo joined the Carla Bley Big Band, before going on to collaborate with Dizzy Gillespie, Harry Belafonte, Lester Bowie, Steve Turre, Tito Puente, Wynton Marsalis, and more. In 1995, he was named pianist and music director of the Chico O'Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, an ensemble he would go on to lead following his father's death in 2001. O'Farrill is based in New York City where he lives with his wife, classical pianist Alison Deane. Their sons, Zack and Adam, are also musicians and frequent collaborators.

When the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Braxton Cook first started working on the album that would become Not Everyone Can Go, his life was going through a number of transitions that he just couldn’t ignore. Last year, Cook spent lots of time on the road — in Europe and Asia, along with two United States tours. “I was just very busy, and trying to juggle that with family, it was a lot to manage,” Cook said. In a moment of self-reflection, he looked back on the past year, noticed a theme emerging, and came to this conclusion: It was OK to let go of things that weren’t serving him any longer. Transitions were natural as he stepped into fatherhood. “It was only pushing me more in that direction of understanding,” he continued. “There’s grief that comes along with having to let certain things go to make time for the things I truly value.”

One can hear Cook breaking through on Not Everyone Can Go, a mix of jazz and R&B that feels indebted to similar hybrids of yesteryear. Musically, the album conjures images of bright evening sunshine, when the temperature begins to cool. Not quite Quiet Storm, instead, Not Everyone Can Go dabbles between the margins, which won’t surprise those who’ve followed Cook to this point. Across albums like Somewhere In Between, No Doubt and Who Are You When No One Is Watching?, he’s made a career of blurring the lines between genres, landing on a sound that isn’t one thing, in particular. While that’s made his music tough to pin down, that also makes it all the more intriguing. That you can’t label it just R&B or just jazz lends to the music’s attraction.

The making of the album also represents a breakthrough for Cook. It was the most collaborative process of his career where he further integrated into his musical network in Los Angeles. Vocal features include NNAVY (“Weekend”) and Marie Dahlstrom (“All My Life”), and additional producers include Bubele on “Bad,” Austin Brown of Hablot Brown on “We’ve Come So Far”, and bassist Kaveh Ragestar (Kneebody) on “All My Life.” Musically, he and his bandmates would improvise and let the energy flow however it needed. One can hear this free-flow on the album’s instrumental tracks — “Zodiac,”“Kingdom Come,”“My Sun” (featuring Elijah Cook), and “Josh’s Tune.”

Lyrically, parts of the album address Cook’s realization that life will get better, that even though it’s challenging right now, “the future is bright,” as he sings on the track “My Everything,” the album’s first single. “It’s about a man who continued to selfishly follow his own dreams at the sake of missing the big picture,” Cook said. “And I’m telling myself, ‘We’re going to work through a rough patch here, but things will turn around.” To emphasize that creative focus, Not Everyone Can Go follows the trek of conflict, from where a romantic relationship is going through challenges to when the couple makes it to the other side. The album soundtracks that journey without placing blame on one person or the other. Rather, Cook assesses his own role in the disconnect, as if doing the necessary self work to show up fully for his significant other. “I put ‘My Everything’ near the beginning to establish the conflict,” he said. “Then we work our way through it. By the time we get to ‘We’ve Come So Far,’ it’s a moment of gratitude and a breath in the record — a pop song that’s like, ‘Wait a second, we’re going to be alright.’”

The album’s second half incorporates love songs about the rediscovery of affection. The track “Bad,” which takes sonic cues from late-‘90s R&B, with its slow, body-rolling pace and lush electric keys, finds Cook singing about dating his partner with renewed romance. The same goes for “All My Life.” Here, the singer sounds transfixed, akin to the time when you see your partner again, after the storm has passed and the connection feels fresh once more. These songs speak to the kind of cycle found in most relationships, when the day-to-day gets shaky and serious decisions need to be made. But where some decide to part ways in search of someone new, Cook, through these songs, opts to fight for love. Because the partnership is too genuine and there’s a lot of history at stake. “The last part of the album is the action for me,” Cook said. “It’s the act of rebuilding these relationships the way that I want and the way that I see them, and that's what those love songs are about. ‘Bad’ is very much about taking my wife back out on a date. As if we were just courting each other all over again.”

Ultimately, though, Not Everyone Can Go is about embracing change, that when seasons arrive where moves are inevitable, you have to lean into them. “Be who you are, obviously,” Cook said. “But with that, some things will shift and it's okay.

“I think the whole world,” he continued, “there's a lot to be up in arms about, a lot to be stressed about, a lot to be scared about. But this particular record, it's a reminder to myself and others to take stock in what it is you do have and be grateful for breath in your lungs. It's like, ‘Man, I'm alive.’ I got breath in my lungs. I got up today. I have two beautiful kids. And I'm like, it's going to be alright.”

Marcus Gilmore is a multi-Grammy award winning drummer, composer, producer, and educator.

The New York based musician has been recognized with numerous awards, residencies, and fellowships – including becoming a 2018 – 2019 Protege in the Rolex Arts Initiative.
Gilmore, in all his playing, integrates a unique style where he is musically expanding rhythm, while supporting the great musicians with whom he plays.

He has had the distinct privilege of performing/recording with Mulatu Astatke, Chick Corea, Pharoah Sanders, Savion Glover, Pat Metheny, Ambrose Akinmusire, Ravi Coltrane, Common, Flying Lotus, Robert Glasper, Natalie Cole, Steve Coleman, Zakir Hussain, Vijay Iyer, Derrick Hodge, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, Thundercat, Brad Mehldau, Cassandra Wilson, Nicholas Payton, Jill Scott, Talib Kweli, Queen Latifah, Norah Jones, Sanford Biggers, Black Thought, The Cadillacs, Bilal, Terence Blanchard, Roy Hargrove, Terrace Martin, Taylor Mcferrin, and Fred Armisen.

Marcus was featured on the cover of Modern Drummer Magazine for their June 2019 issue. He was chosen as a primary artist to contribute to the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, for the 2020 Oscar Award Winning Disney-Pixar film, “Soul”. He was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra to write his first Orchestral work which debuted in 2020 with members of the Cape Town Philharmonic.

In June 2023, Marcus premiered his full composition with the American Composers Orchestra, in NYC.

In Dec 2025, Gimore's debut album as bandleader, Journey to the New: Live at the Village Vanguard received the number one position on The New York Times Best Jazz Albums of 2025 list.

In 2026, he premiered his first solo performance at Carnegie Hall in honor of Zakir Hussain.

With 25 years as a professional musician and performances in over 60 countries throughout his career – Marcus is just getting started. His latest projects include: the release of his critically acclaimed album “Journey to the New”, his innovative Marcus Gilmore Solo, Trio, and Quintet engagements, and the continued exploration of percussion with new sound compositions and rhythms thrilling music audiences worldwide.

Tyreek McDole is a multi-award-winning Haitian-American vocalist from Central Florida whose soulful baritone and deeply reflective artistry are making waves across the New York and international music scenes. Rooted in the belief that music is one of the highest forms of communication, McDole approaches performance as a space for healing, reflection, and collective dreaming — treating each concert as both offering and ritual.

He first gained national recognition at the 2018 Essentially Ellington Competition at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he received the Outstanding Vocalist Award presented by Wynton Marsalis. In 2023, he won first place at the prestigious Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, becoming only the second male winner in the competition’s history and joining the ranks of standout vocalists such as Samara Joy.

Since then, McDole has shared the stage with Jeff Goldblum, Rodney Whitaker, Theo Croker, Maurice Brown, Joey Alexander, Terri Lyne Carrington, Nicholas Payton, and Nick Jonas, among many others, and has appeared at leading venues and festivals worldwide.

A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he developed his craft under the mentorship of master artists such as Gary Bartz, Sullivan Fortner and Weedie Braimah, grounding his sound in the lineage of Black American Music while pushing its language forward.

His critically acclaimed debut album, Open Up Your Senses, blends original compositions with freedom songs, spirituals, and works that speak to justice, unity, and ancestral memory. The record reached #1 on JazzWeek charts, earned four stars from DownBeat, and has been praised for its emotional depth and spiritual resonance.

With a voice steeped in warmth, gravity, and soul, McDole creates performances that are both intimate and expansive — honoring tradition while inviting listeners toward reflection, healing, and shared imagination.

This is not simply a concert, but a healing space — a ritual and an invitation to open your senses.

He wishes you peace, love, and light.

Kobe-born, Brooklyn-based trumpeter Takuya Kuroda is dedicated, and his eighth studio record, Everyday is proof of that. Since the release of his soulful seventh effort, 2022’s Midnight Crisp –– a record praised by PopMatters as a “future classic” –– Kuroda has not missed a beat. In his desire to achieve the “perfect blend of production and organic performance” the 45-year-old musician has continued to throw himself into his practice daily, nearly thirty years into his musical life. Everyday builds on and dives ever deeper into the hip hop and neo-soul elements of his previous work. It is a deliciously rhythmic enterprise and a triumph of genre-blending modern jazz. Kuroda’s playing is sure-footed and pure –– whether on the horn, synth, or Rhodes–– and he virtuosically dances among infectious rhythms of his own creation.

Kuroda’s twenty-one years in the United States have been fruitful. After studying composition at The New School, he threw himself into work, playing with DJ Premier’s Badder Band and Akoya Afrobeat and recording as a sideman and bandleader for records on the likes of Blue Note and Concord. But as Kuroda himself says, “the only way to make the music that I want to make is to work hard, every day.” And so we have Everyday, a title which reflects, as Kuroda puts it, “that simple message.”

There is a certain duality to the title that taps into something profound about this music. “Everyday” of course means both daily and commonplace. While Kuroda’s music is anything but average, there is something about the intrinsic and embedded nature of the day-to-day, the incidental rhythms of life, that is reflected and seductively expounded on here. Kuroda describes the process of recording Everyday like this: “Make tracks at home, bring them to the studio, add or replace sounds, invite musicians, repeat the process to polish the track –– as I hear it.” There is both a no nonsense work ethic here and also a sort of embeddedness, an everydayness, that Kuroda achieves through this practice which perhaps cannot be accessed if one simply waits to get to the studio to begin work. Kuroda builds, tweaks, plays and polishes until what’s coming through the speakers matches what’s been playing in his head everyday. This is exactly what ensures Kuroda’s skillful synthesis of influences which Dean Van Nguyen noted while reviewing 2020’s Fly Moon Die Soon for Pitchfork. One is left with that sense that Kuroda has been tapping it all out everywhere he goes, drumming his fingers on the diner counter, shuffling his feet along the pathway in the park, manifesting the rhythms of his mind. “Groove,” Kuroda says, “is the foundation for all the tracks on Everyday.”

And atop that strong foundation, brought to life by the energy of David Frazier’s drumming, Kuroda’s shimmering lyricism dances all over Everyday. His trumpet playing pops and weaves and rings on the title track and his melodies are, as he puts it, “singable” –– profoundly so on the album closer, “Curiosity,” on which Kuroda trades trumpet for flugelhorn. Before that, “Bad Bye” is a glittering and classic sounding neo soul effort, featuring a stunning performance from vocalist FiJa. It’s as though Kuroda plucked this track from a dream of Mama’s Gun –– but, unmistakably, it’s Kuroda’s dream and so the song is Kuroda’s, entirely. Likewise with “Iron Giraffe,” in which Kuroda makes space for tenor saxophonist Craig Hill to weave a contemporary reverie of Night Music.

Everyday is hyperaware of a panoply of old ideas and a pantheon of old gods but as Kuroda engages these tropes and personalities day in and day out, he turns it all around in a style that’s undeniably cool and personal. As Pitchfork put it, “Kuroda’s skill is not drawing influence from so many different forms, it’s radiating joy in doing so.” And as Kuroda puts it, “I’m still learning everyday and trying to express myself more clearly in the form of music that I love.” It’s this sterling dedication that makes Takuya Kuroda and Everyday anything but commonplace.

Salin is a Thai-born, Canada-based drummer, Juno nominated producer and composer. Her current music explores the enchanting sounds of Northeast Thailand and marries it with the 70’s psychedelia of West Africa, all through the lens of modern soulful production, in which she coined this new genre “Afro Isan Soul.” Through her music, she ponders themes of identity, spirituality, and humanity, all paired with a dose of fun to create a unique sonic journey for her listeners.

With recent appearances on Chanel’s Summer Tour in Bangkok, Winter Jazz Festival and her run of headline shows in the US, including a sold out night at Lodge Room in LA and opening for Yussef Dayes in Central Park. She recently released her album ‘Rammana’ which was created with both local Thai and Canadian musicians, bringing together elements of East and West. This album has received wide acclaim and Salin recently featured on BBC 6Music and a KEXP live performance. A forthcoming Maida Vale recording and European wide tour cements Salin as an exciting new prospect in modern world Jazz.

Sparklmami is a Texas-born, Chicago-based musician and visual artist. Her songwriting draws from her confessional subconscious, exploring themes of perception and identity over her band’s improvisational mix of experimental soul, Mexican bolero, and jazz funk.

Her much anticipated debut record In This Body – featuring the acclaimed singles “Fajas” and “running” – invites listeners into a lush world of reverie, nostalgia, and possibility. It’s a sound that pulls from myriad places: the glimmering, verdant jazz made in 1970s Brazil, the open-hearted Mexican boleros she grew up listening to at home, the whimsy of Indian singer Runa Laila, and of course the improvisations and ideas of her bandmates.

Brooklyn based Jazz chanteuse Laura Anglade is originally from the village of Brousse-le-Château in the south of France, though she grew up in the US and spent several years living in Canada. Laura’s performances are a reflection of her roots: rich in simplicity, an appreciation for the past and finding wonder in ordinary moments. Laura brings clarity and depth to interpretations shaped by the legendary voices of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Horn, Carmen McRae, Michel Legrand and Barbra Streisand, among others. Her 2022 release “Venez Donc Chez Moi” earned a Juno nomination and in 2023 she was awarded the Prix Opus for Jazz Concert of the Year.

An international touring artist, Laura has headlined jazz festivals across the US, Canada, Mexico, UK and Europe, captivating audiences through her innate storytelling. Her conversational style bridges the gap between singer and listener, making each performance intimate and personal. Her artistry has brought her to renowned stages including Paris L’ Olympia, London’s Royal Festival Hall, New York's Town Hall, and a regular at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. She has also toured in support of acclaimed artists like Melody Gardot and Gregory Porter.

Laura’s third album, “Get Out of Town” (Nettwerk Music Group), was released on May 23, 2025 to tremendous praise and she has seen her audience grow exponentially. Laura was featured on Stephen Colbert's “Late Show Me Music” series, where she performed her version of the beloved Rodgers & Hart standard, “Manhattan”. She continues to tour and will be performing in January 2026 at Winter Jazz Fest in New York City.

Grammy Nominee singer, creative pianist, composer, percussionist and activist Melvis Santa is a young guru, a multidisciplinary artist who makes a point of integrating the Black diaspora with her Cuban heritage, Afro Cuban traditions and American jazz influence she continues to digest since her arrival to New York City.

Born and raised in La Habana, Cuba, Melvis came to performance at an early age. Classically trained on piano and voice, she made a splash at 14 by founding the all-female collective and JoJazz winner ensemble Sexto Sentido, deemed by Chucho Valdés “the best Cuban vocal quartet of the past 30 years.” Currently based in New York, Melvis continues to make a mark as a performer and educator, adding to the Afro-Cuban jazz movement set forth by her ancestors. She received the BKCM’s Jazz Leaders Fellowship Award. The New York Times defined her style as possessing 70`s soul underpinnings, yet belonging to the Afro Cuban musical traditions.

Melvis guest-lectured at NYU, Fordham Univ. and conducted artist-in-residence programs at UArts, Tulane, Boulder Univ. and Chicago Jazz Philharmonic as well as in Europe, Australia and Latinoamerica. Her work as a bandleader features Ashedi (Afro-Cuban traditions) Ellas-Son (all-female Latin jazz group), La Rumba de Santa (Cuban rumba), and most recently, Jazz Orishas, a multi-dimensional ensemble featuring her original compositions. These bands have showcased in NYC’s iconic venues like Birdland, Minton’s, Lincoln Center, Zinc Bar, The Jazz Gallery, National Jazz Museum in Harlem, and BRIC Jazz Festival.

Collaborations includes Kenny Garrett Sextet, Charles Tolliver, Andy Bey, Ravi Coltrane, Steve Coleman, Arturo O’Farrill & ALJA, Chucho Valdes, Mayra Caridad Valdés, Xiomara Laugart, David Virelles, Roman Diaz, Pedrito Martinez, Brooklyn Raga Massive, Gilles Peterson, Buena Vista Social Club, Rumberos de Cuba, and Muñequitos de Matanzas.