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).

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 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 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.”

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.

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.