Portland, OR, native Lilla Naiman combines Blues, Soul, Jazz and Funk, to create a fusion of her own. Shortly after graduating from Berklee College of Music, she released her second self-produced album, The Awakening. Lilla’s single “Don't Stop The Music” charted at #34 on Billboard and was the top 10 song of the year on the UK charts. She has performed with an impressive array of artists, including Trombone Shorty, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Willie Nelson, Karl Denson, Bill Summers, and she has opened for artists such as Mos Def, Christian Scott, Ciara and has recorded with Esperanza Spalding, Talib Kweli and more. With her dynamic 5-piece band and soulful originals, she brings remarkable storytelling, musicianship, presence, energy, depth and talent to the stage.
Terry Robb is hailed as a blues guitar virtuoso and one of the finest acoustic guitarists on the international scene. The Oregon Music Hall of Famer has been praised by The Blues Foundation, Rolling Stone, Acoustic Guitar, Down Beat, Guitar Player, Vintage Guitar, Living Blues and Oprah’s O Magazine, extolling his talents as a finger-picker, singer, songwriter, arranger and producer. He's toured the country with Buddy Guy, Steve Miller, Robin Trower, and John Fahey, appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and had his work featured in Game of Thrones. His original tunes draw on influences as varied as country blues to Coltrane, ragtime to Hendrix, and Americana to American Primitivism. Adam Scramstad is an award winning Solo Acoustic Finger-style & Blues Musician. His debut solo album "No Sun Around Blues" climbed to #33 on the Roots Music Radio Blues Chart. Adam is also known for his work with Blues Guitar Legend Terry Robb as an acoustic duo.
Oregon Music Hall of Fame bluesman Norman Sylvester is a guitarist, singer, and composer beloved by fans and fellow musicians alike. For the past 40 years, the Norman Sylvester Band has performed throughout the Pacific Northwest & US, sharing the stage with BB King, Buddy Guy, James Cotton, Junior Wells, Otis Clay, Tower of Power, Blind Boys of Alabama, Peter Frampton, and others. Influenced by his Southern Baptist early years and the Gospel Quartet led by his father, Norman was born in 1945 in Bonita, Louisiana. In addition to his thousands of performances, Norman has mentored many young musicians in Northwest. He teaches “A History of American Music” in local schools. Norman has released 12 critically acclaimed recordings. His most recent - “Blues Stains on my Hands” – features 10 original songs and is a tribute to the Pioneers of early Blues.
Tim “Too Slim“ Langford is a monster guitarist and unabashed blues rocker whose influences run the gamut from Lightnin’ Hopkins, Freddy King, and Duane Allman, to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Robin Trower. His prolific career has now yielded an impressive 14 studio albums, 2 solo albums and several live CD’s on the Vizztone and Underworld Records labels. Too Slim and the Taildraggers are Langford on guitar, Zach Kasik on bass, and Chris Reiser on drums. Their contemporary Blues/Rock sound has been described as ‘Straight Whiskey Blues with a Southern Rock Beer Chaser.’ Their latest studio recording "The Remedy" debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top Blues Album Chart. Their recording "High Desert Heat" charted 11 times in the Billboard Top Blues Album Chart and was nominated for Best Blues/Rock album at the 2019 Blues Music awards. Tim “Too Slim" Langford has received Lifetime Achievement and Hall Of Fame awards by The Washington Blues Society, The Cascade Blues Society and the Inland Empire Blues Society, as well as more than 40 regional and national music awards. The band has also been featured on MTV’s series, "The Real World" and "Road Rules."
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Rivkah’s debut album "Dare to Hope" (PJCE Records) marked the arrival of an inspiring new voice in modern jazz. Moving effortlessly between beautiful melodies and gritty, angular rhythms, her music embodies defiant triumph and hope. A first-generation American raised by a single mother, Rivkah brings a message of hard-won optimism to every note. Taking a page from her hero, Roy Haynes, and paying homage to giants like Coltrane and Shorter, Rivkah is pushing jazz forward with a sound unapologetically all her own. Rivkah is a native Pacific Northwesterner. She has performed her original compositions at the Montavilla Jazz Festival and the PDX Jazz Festival. Her other projects include the Stumptown Sirens, Portland’s first all-female big band, which made its debut appearance at the PDX Jazz Festival in 2026 to a sold-out crowd. The Rivkah Ross Sextet performed sold-out Roy Haynes tribute sets at The 1905, Portland’s dedicated jazz club.
Claudia Villela’s voice gets all the attention, and it’s easy to understand why. Her glorious five-octave instrument is one of the wonders of jazz, lithe and startlingly beautiful in every register. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, she sings mostly in Portuguese, interpreting lyrics with keen emotional insight and supple rhythmic command. Claudia absorbed the sounds of Brazil all around her – Samba, Bossa Nova, Partido Alto, Choro, Baião, Maracatu – as well as traditional Jazz and classical music styles. Claudia Villela’s performances and improvisations have earned raving reviews from critics and spellbound sold out audiences at the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals and clubs.
Villela’s discography includes albums with Toots Thielemans, Kenny Werner, and Michael Brecker. Amongst Brazilian masters she’s collaborated with Toninho Horta, Romero Lubambo, Guinga, Airto, and Dori Caymmi. Hermeto Pascoal recently hailed her from the stage of the SFJAZZ Center as "a singularly adventurous artist."
“... Remarkable, beautiful, towering voice...” - New York Times
On Mardi Gras morning, your eyes may feast on the intricate and elaborate beadwork of the Black Masking Indians as they dance down the street, but the first thing you'll hear when they make their way toward you is the back line, known as "the rumble". Fronted by Big Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. of the Young Eagles Black Masking Indian tribe, the band seamlessly blends past, present, and future elements of New Orleans culture into their sound. Each member brings unique influences ranging from funk to hiphop to brass band, gospel, jazz, and classical. This results in a powerful synergy that captivates audiences with electrifying performances and call-and-response chanting rooted in Mardi Gras Indian traditions. The Rumble has received two GRAMMY nominations for Best Regional Roots Album for both their debut album, "Live at the Maple Leaf," and their first studio album "Stories From The Battlefield" in 2024 and 2025. The Rumble is more than a band — it’s an immersive celebration of New Orleans culture that bridges generations and invites audiences into the heart of its vibrant traditions.
Pianist and 7-time Latin Grammy-nominee Chuchito Valdés follows in the footsteps of his famed father Chucho Valdés and grandfather Bebo Valdés, and continues the legacy of great piano players from Cuba. Chuchito has recorded and performed with the world renown Cuban band, Irakere, which he led for 2 years. He performs at festivals, clubs and concert venues around the world, from Cuba and the Caribbean to North America, South America, and Europe. Chuchito is recognized as a master of Cuban music including Son, Danzon, Cuban Timba and Guaguanco. His original compositions and arrangements draw on classical harmonic and structural techniques. In his performances, Chuchito’s music is influenced by many styles including Afro-Cuban Latin Jazz, Bebop, Danzon, Cha-Cha-Cha, Son Montuno and much more.
“Chuchito Valdés displays the hell-bent intensity and daredevil technique. . .recognized worldwide as hallmarks of Cuban Jazz.” - Neil Tesser, The Reader (Chicago’s Art & Culture Guide) and author of The Playboy Guide to Jazz (photo by Lisa Hagen Glynn)
Clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer Paquito D’Rivera (El Paq-Man to his friends, colleagues, and fans) is the winner of 18 GRAMMY and Latin Grammy awards, and was the first artist to win in both classical and Latin Jazz categories. Among his numerous honors he has received the NEA Jazz Masters Award, National Medal of the Arts, and the Kennedy Center’s Living Jazz Legend Award. Most recently, he took home 2023 Latin Grammys in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category for Concerto Venezolano, written for trumpet player Pacho Flores, and Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album for "And I Missed You, Too!" - a reunion with Chucho Valdés. D’Rivera has recorded more than 40 solo albums including jazz, Bebop, Brazilian music, and Latin American styles, but he has also successfully ventured into classical music, as a soloist in recordings and concerts with the London, Warsaw, National (Washington, D.C.), and Puerto Rico symphony orchestras, among others. His chamber music composition, "Merengue" which he recorded with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition in 2004. His numerous commissions include music for Lincoln Center, the Library of Congress, National Symphony Orchestra, Turtle Island String Quartet, Ying String Quartet, and the Kennedy Center.
LaRhonda Steele, a Blues and gospel singer and songwriter, is recognized as one the region's best rhythm and blues vocalists. She has been dubbed "The First Lady of Portland Blues” — a title of leadership that she lives up to as she shares songs that carry forth directly from her soul and spiritual life-force. She fronts the LaRhonda Steele band, is music director of the Portland Interfaith Gospel Choir, and is music director of Portland Center for Spiritual Living. LaRhonda regularly lights up the stage at the Waterfront Blues Festival, Alberta Rose Theatre, and clubs around town. LaRhonda’s voice can be enjoyed on recordings of national and international artists including Gino Vannelli, Curtis Salgado, Lloyd Jones, Mary Flower, and Norman Sylvester, to name a few.
Brazilian-born pianist and composer Jasnam Daya Singh makes Vancouver, Washington his home. His impeccable technique and introspective playing endear him to audiences and musicians alike. Singh’s "Ekta: The Unity Project," was commissioned by Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble for the Montavilla Jazz Festival. It is a multi-movement suite that incorporates a wide-range of tributaries of the jazz stylistic river — Brazilian choro and samba, expansive European jazz and classical styles, and high-energy straight-ahead jazz. Since 1991, he has made constant appearances at the Monterey Jazz Festival. He has recorded and performed with jazz artists such as Paul McCandless, Ali Ryerson, Kenny Stahl, Claudia Villela, Charles Loos, and Alex Acuna. In 2009 his CD Live at Caramoor with Jovino Santos Neto received a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Album.
Three-time Latin Grammy nominee Jovino Santos Neto, a master pianist, composer and arranger, is one of the most important Brazilian musicians working today. Since moving to the US from his native Rio de Janeiro in 1993, Jovino Santos Neto has continued to tour the world with his Seattle-based Quinteto and Trio. He has recorded multiple CDs with his Quinteto, including "Canto do Rio," nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2004. As a piano soloist, he has worked with symphony orchestras, jazz big bands, chamber music groups, and in collaboration with musicians such as his mentor Brazilian jazz legend Hermeto Pascoal, Bill Frisell, Airto Moreira, Claudio Roditi, David Sanchez, Joe Locke, Anat Cohen and many more. Jovino’s compositions have been performed by the Seattle Symphony, NDR Big Band in Hamburg, Swiss Jazz Orchestra and by numerous jazz and chamber music groups. In 2012 he was inducted into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame and his Quinteto won as Best Northwest Acoustic Group in the Golden Ear Awards by Earshot Jazz in 2012, 2015 and 2018. His orchestration of Hermeto Pascoal’s "Suite Universal" was premiered in January 2019 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2022 Jovino toured the UK conducting the National Youth Jazz Orchestra with Hermeto Pascoal, and performing Pascoal's music.
Polyrhythmics originated in Seattle’s underground deep funk scene combining impossibly tight grooves with bold brass and hypnotic percussion that showcased elements of R&B, progressive jazz, and Afrobeat which defined the instrumental group’s early era sound.
Now on their thirteenth year as a recording project and touring ensemble, the band’s sound continues to evolve following six full length albums, several EPs and live releases. The virtuosic musicianship and musical conversation built on a relentless touring schedule of the previous decade has led them to a brand of psych-funk that fills a room with an impending mood where anything could happen - sometimes evoking their brighter and cinematic Fela-influences, but also a more sinister and darker turn toward a more progressive sonic palette.
For four decades, the GRAMMY®-nominated pianist, composer, and arranger David Benoit has reigned supreme as one the founding fathers of modern jazz. David’s career as a contemporary jazz pianist began in 1977 and includes 40 solo recordings. Many of these, including his 1987 GRP Records debut “Freedom at Midnight” and its Grammy nominated 1988 follow-up “Every Step Of The Way” are considered by jazz critics and audiences alike as influential classics in the genre. David has served as conductor of major symphony orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, London Symphony, Nuremberg Symphony, Philippine Philharmonic, and National Symphony Orchestra. Benoit’s most notable film score is "The Stars Fell on Henrietta," produced by Clint Eastwood. In collaboration with lyricist Mark Winkler, David completed his first Broadway musical, "Something’s Got To Give" about the life and times of Marilyn Monroe. David Benoit currently hosts a morning radio show on KKJZ 88.1 FM at Cal State University, continually tours & records, is composer in residence at Montalvo Arts, and is the Music Director & Conductor for the Asia America Symphony Association.
For 38 years, New York Voices — soprano Kim Nazarian, alto Lauren Kinhan, baritone Peter Eldridge, and tenor/saxophonist/music director Darmon Meader — have stood among the world’s premier jazz vocal ensembles. Dubbed “The Four and Only” by Paquito D’Rivera, the quartet combines four masterful solo artists into one exquisitely blended unit, renowned for their sophisticated arrangements, daring swing, and remarkable vocal precision. Since forming in the mid-1980s at Ithaca College, the group has toured internationally, released 11 landmark albums, and collaborated with jazz legends. Highlights include performances with the Count Basie Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, an epic holiday tour with the Boston Pops, and appearances with leading big bands and orchestras across Europe and North America. Their discography spans big band tributes like "Sing! Sing! Sing!," the acclaimed "New York Voices Sing the Songs of Paul Simon," holiday favorite "Let It Snow," and the eclectic albums "A Day Like This" and "Reminiscing in Tempo."
Beyond performance, New York Voices have shaped generations of singers through university teaching posts and their 18 year long-running Vocal Jazz Camp, mentoring aspiring artists in the art of ensemble singing, solo expression, songwriting, improvisation and more. Their influence extends worldwide through their workshops, masterclasses and international camps. Now, the group prepares to conclude its extraordinary run with a Grand Finale Tour across the U.S. and Europe, culminating in a farewell gala concert in New York City in January 2027.
New York Voices - Sing The Songs of Paul Simon: “New York Voices pull out a project so inspired it makes one wonder why no one has thought of doing jazz vocal renditions of Simon's most memorable tunes before...” – Billboard Magazine