About Origins

Burlington Discover Jazz Festival curator Anthony Tidd was honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work exploring the creative music of the African Diaspora. On the festival’s opening night, Anthony will present a unique, one of a kind show, that aligns with his work and curatorial vision. This extraordinary show, "Origins," will offer a powerful lens for the audience to explore the historical and contemporary links between the diverse cultures of the African diaspora. Over the centuries, these cultures have been at the forefront of musical innovation, giving birth to a wide array of genres, including Ragtime, Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Folk, Country, Soul, Rhythm and Blues, Rock 'n' Roll, Funk, Disco, Hip-hop, House, Dance, Electronica, Salsa, Samba, Bossa Nova, Calypso, Soca, Zouk, Reggae, Reggaeton, Afrobeat, and many more.

For one night only, and exclusively at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, Anthony will present an unforgettable evening of exciting music, breath taking visuals, and insightful storytelling, spanning multiple genres and generations. Backed by a phenomenal seven-piece band musically directed by Anthony, and seven special guests, this amazing cast will bring the Flynn Main Stage to life with song, narration and imagery, set to explore the many threads which comprise the vast universe of jazz.

This special, not to be missed, event will feature performances by Fred Wesley, Camille Thurman, Cedric Burnside, Sa-Roc, Duke Amayo, Melvis Santa, Julian and Bobby Hackney Sr., Orrin Evans, Damion Reid, Clay Sears, Greg Osby, Jonathan Finlayson, and Kalia Vandever.

Fred Wesley

Bandleader and trombonist Fred Wesley became one of music’s most-sampled artists by helping make 1970s-era hits as music director, composer and arranger for James Brown. He later helped take funk to the next level working with George Clinton and Bootsy Collins. Also a veteran of Count Basie’s Orchestra and cohort of Maceo Parker and Pee Wee Ellis, he now works with his own jazz-funk band the New JBs, and scores of other artists across a broad musical spectrum. Featured in numerous documentaries about James Brown and funk music, he also is author of “Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Side Man” (Duke University Press).

camille Thurman

As a composer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and unique interpreter of the jazz tradition, Camille Thurman is quickly becoming 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.

cedric Burnside

Cedric Burnside went on the road at age 13, drumming for his grandfather, the pioneering bluesman R.L. Burnside. He won a Grammy in 2021 for his album I Be Trying. Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor's Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.

SA-ROC

Sa-Roc is arguably one of the most vibrant MCs in the world today. Her crisp articulation, fiery delivery, and her elevated and insightful lyricism has often placed her within the same conversation of some of Hip Hop’s most notable artists. Once dubbed by Okayplayer as “one of the most formidable microphone mavens in the game,” Sa-Roc is an artist for a socially conscious generation. Her Rhymesayers debut album, The Sharecropper’s Daughter, the title of which pays homage to her father’s experience growing up sharecropping tobacco, is in Sa-Roc’s own words “a sonic reflection on the generational inheritance of trauma and triumph that shapes our humanity and influences the way we see the world.”

Duke Amayo

Amayo means: “If you don’t go, you never know!” As the former frontman and Spirit of Antibalas for over two decades, he is credited for bringing Afrobeat to a global audience, leading it to become a genre of itself. As a Grammy-nominated musician & composer of the Antibalas ‘Fu Chronicles’ ‘Best Global Music Album of the Year’, he returns with the next chapter to continue to captivate audiences with his infectious rhythms and uplifting melodies. His solo album debut, Lion Awakes, released on January 17, 2025, offers medicinal words and songs, layered in a new sound with fresh angles to deepen the experience of this timeless music, mesmerizing stage presence and creative spirit that continues to push boundaries, leaving an indelible mark on the global music scene.

Melvis Santa

Accomplished singer, pianist, composer and percussionist Melvis Santa was born and raised in an eclectic neighborhood of Havana, Cuba within a multicultural family. Her creative practice and vision integrate life experiences into her music and center the female perspective on Afro-Cuban culture. Well known in Cuba since she was fourteen, Melvis formed the all-female vocal quartet Sexto Sentido, dubbed by Chucho Valdés “the best vocal quartet of the last 30 years.” In 2010 joined the seminal timba-funk fusion band Interactivo as a lead vocalist, recording and touring worldwide. Later, Melvis spread wings and formed her own group, Santa Habana, also the title of her first album as a bandleader, which obtained a 2012 Cubadisco Nomination, “the Cuban Grammy” awards.

Julian and Bobby Hackney Sr

The legacy of Bobby Hackney, his music and career spanning from Detroit Michigan to New England, and throughout America and the entire world, is etched in the history of Rock music starting with the legendary band “DEATH” from Detroit Michigan in 1975, where and when Bobby, along with his two brothers formed a Rock band and recorded music at Detroit’s legendary United Sound Recording Studio, which almost 40 years later gained world-wide recognition as Rock music that pre-dated the “Punk Sound” by five years. Bobby is also known as a stellar Reggae Musician and in 1986 conceived the concept for the now-legendary “Vermont Reggae Festival” which in it’s Zenith in 1990, drew an estimated 40 thousand people to Burlington Vermont’s Northbeach Park. Bobby Hackney is a songwriter of a vast variety of styles, Rock, Reggae, Blues, Children’s Songs, Gospel Songs, and instrumentals.

Orrin Evans

During his kaleidoscopic quarter-century as a professional jazz musician, pianist Orrin Evans has become the model of a fiercely independent artist who pushes the envelope in all directions. Never supported by a major label, Evans has ascended to top-of-the-pyramid stature on his instrument, as affirmed by his #1-ranking as “Rising Star Pianist” in the 2018 DownBeat Critics Poll. Grammy nominations for the Smoke Sessions albums The Intangible Between and Presence, by Evans’ raucous, risk-friendly Captain Black Big Band, stamp his bona fides as a bandleader and composer. In addition to CBBB, Evans’ multifarious leader and collaborative projects include the Eubanks Evans Experience (a duo with eminent guitarist Kevin Eubanks); the Brazilian unit Terreno Comum; Evans’ working trio with bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Mark Whitfield, Jr.; and Tar Baby (a collective trio of 20 years standing with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Nasheet Waits). One of Tar Baby’s two 2022 releases will be released on Evans’ imprint, Imani Records, which he founded in 2001 and relaunched in 2018.

Damion Reid

Grammy nominated artist Damion Reid hails from West Covina, California and moved to Boston, Massachusetts to attend the New England Conservatory of Music. There, he received the prestigious Alan Dawson Scholarship. He then was accepted into the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at the University of Southern California. Soon finding himself trekking to New York City to attend The New School. He then began performing and touring alongside Greg Osby, Terence Blanchard, Robert Glasper, Bunky Green, Steve Coleman, Steve Lehman, Jacky Terrasson, Ravi Coltrane, Reggie Workman, Mile Okazaki, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Robert Hurst, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jason Moran, Mark Shim, Ben Monder, Liberty Ellman, and many others.

Clay Sears

Born in Philadelphia and having attended the High School for Creative and Performing Arts in the mid 80s, Clay learned his craft alongside Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Joey DeFrancesco, Christian McBride, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Boyz II Men. This collection of people would springboard Sears into the industry as Philadelphia became a hub for the record business in the mid 1990s through the 2000s working in studios such as Stonecreek, Axis, and The Studio where artists like Jill Scott, The Roots, D’Angelo, Common, and Erykah Badu would record frequently. Clay would go on to tour with Common, Pharrell Williams, Jill Scott, Janet Jackson, Jay Z, Rihanna, Ed Sheeran, and Queen Latifah before joining Stevie Wonder’s band. Over the years Clay has also worked on many television and film projects including The Greatest Showman, In the Heights, Respect, Vivo, Tick Tick Boom, The Super Bowl, The Oscars, The Grammys, and as a member of the house band on That’s My Jam with Jimmy Fallon. Sears was nominated for an Emmy for a song he cowrote for Mickey Guyton for her appearance on Sesame Street.

Greg Osby

Saxophonist, composer, producer, educator and curator Greg Osby has been a formidable presence on the international music scene as a leader of his own ensembles and as a guest artist with other acclaimed groups for the past 39 years. Highly regarded for his insightful and innovative approach to composition and performance, Osby is an inspired voice among the ranks of improvising musicians. He has earned numerous awards and critical acclaim for his recorded works and passionate live appearances and has been recognized by The New York Times as one of the "most provocative musical thinkers of his generation".

Jonathan Finlayson

Trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Jonathan Finlayson was born and raised in Oakland, California. After an invaluable mentorship with trumpeter and composer Robert Porter, Jonathan joined Steve Coleman's Five Elements. While recording and touring internationally with The Five Elements, he completed his BFA at The New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music in 2005.

As a unique voice in the New York Creative Music Community, Finalyson went on to perform and record in a variety of ensembles led by Muhal Richard Abrams, Henry Threadgill, Craig Harris, Ravi Coltrane, Mary Halvorson, Steve Lehman, Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn among others.

Kalia Vandever

Kalia Vandever is a Grammy Award Winning trombonist and composer living in Brooklyn, NY. Her approach to the trombone is distinctive and defined by her sonorous tone and lyrical improvisational voice. She leans into the challenges of the instrument and allows patience and melody guide her process.

In her compositional practice, Kalia draws from her love of songs and improvisation, creating a landscape of sounds that resonate in the body and hold the listener. She released her debut ensemble album, "In Bloom" in 2019 which has been described as "the rise of an exciting voice for the music" (Seton Hawkins, Hot House Jazz Magazine). Her sophomore album, Regrowth released in May, 2022 on New Amsterdam Records and "confirms her strengths as a composer and bandleader with a distinctly contemporary point of view." (Nate Chinen, WBGO Jazz) Her debut solo album,We Fell In Turn featuring her works for trombone, voice and electronics released on AKP Records in March, 2023.

Ursula rucker

Poet, recording artist, songwriter, activist and revolutionary Ma’at Mama, Ursula Rucker is a certified veteran of the global music and poetry scene. A skilled writer and dynamic performer, Rucker’s rich and textured voice is one of the world’s great, living instruments.

At the close of 2022, Ursula had the distinct honor of being selected for the Philadelphia Cultural Treasures Fellowship, recognizing her continued commitment to the advancement of art, and artist advocacy, and an endorsement from her community that her legacy is essential to the cultural fabric of Philadelphia.

Origins: Sounds and Stories of the African Diaspora

With performances by Fred Wesley, Camille Thurman, Cedric Burnside, Sa-Roc, Duke Amayo, Melvis Santa, Julian and Bobby Hackney Sr., Orrin Evans, Damion Reid, Clay Sears, Greg Osby, Jonathan Finlayson, and Kalia Vandever.