With a career spanning five decades, jazz flutist Ali Ryerson has consistently ranked among the top flutists in the Downbeat Jazz Poll for well over a decade. Born in New York City, Ali grew up in a musical family. Her father, Art Ryerson, was a renowned jazz guitarist. Ali has carried on the family tradition, becoming an international touring/recording artist, with performances ranging from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, to the Blue Note (NYC and Japan), plus festival appearances worldwide. Ali has recorded and/or performed with jazz greats such as Red Rodney, Roy Haynes, Kenny Barron, Frank Wess, Hubert Laws, Stephane Grappelli, Art Farmer, Mike Mainieri, Joe Beck, and a guest appearance with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. She has also performed with classical artists Julius Baker and Luciano Pavarotti (when she was principal flutist with the Monterey Bay Orchestra). Ali was musical director of the Hudson River Regional Jazz Festival (2001-’04), Jazz Chair for the National Flute Association, and founder of the NFA Jazz Flute Big Band.

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Vanessa Racci is a touring Jazz vocalist who is equally comfortable singing straight-ahead Jazz as well as music that reflects her Italian heritage. Descended from Southern Italian immigrants, she grew up living with her Barese grandfather, who played Jazz and Italian classics throughout the house. This inspired her to combine her two loves of Jazz and Italian heritage in her first self-released album, Italiana Fresca, in 2017, produced by David Finck and arranged by Yaron Gershovsky of Manhattan Transfer. After debuting her music to a sold-out crowd at Birdland Jazz Club and touring it around the country 2017-2019, Vanessa was inspired to record her second album after visiting the Jazz and Italian American museums of New Orleans. Her sophomore album, Jazzy Italian (Zoho Jazz Label, 2022), celebrates Italian Americans who made their mark on Jazz from Louis Prima to Chick Corea. Produced and arranged by Grammy winner, Steven Feifke, Jazzy Italian made the top 10 Traditional Jazz albums of 2022 on the RMR jazz chart and is programmed on Siriusly Sinatra, NPR and network television in addition to 150+ radio stations globally. Her music also recently made the coveted Spotify playlist, Italian Dinner Party. .

www.VanessaRacci.com

Adam Birnbaum is emerging as one of the top young voices in jazz piano. Since receiving a graduate Artist’s Diploma in jazz studies from The Julliard School in 2003, he has become a presence on the New York City scene as a leader and sideman, performing in such venues as the Village Vanguard, the Blue Note, Birdland, the Jazz Standard and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola. He has also performed on many national and world stages, including the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, the Kennedy Center, the Montreal Jazz Festival, The Spoleto Festival, The Red Sea Jazz Festival, The Rockport Chamber Festival, NPR Jazz Christmas, and the Capetown Jazz Festival. As a leader, Birnbaum has released four albums under his name in Japan and the U.S. His first release, Ballade Pour Adeline, received a Gold Disk award from Swing Journal as one of the top albums of 2006. Adam’s U.S. debut Travels, released in 2009 under the Smalls record label, received enthusiastic reviews in Allmusic.com, All About Jazz and JazzTimes. Birnbaum’s recent release Three of A Mind, featuring bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Al Foster, was hailed as “an eloquent dispatch from the heart of the contemporary piano trio tradition” by the New York Times, and received an Editor’s Pick and four star review in Downbeat magazine.

www.AdamBirnbaum.com

Hailed “outstanding band” (Wall Street Journal) and “NYC darlings” (TimeOut), Svetlana's New York Collective is a group of determined jazz talents on a mission to uplift, energize… and spread the joy of what WPIX/11 News called “exuberant foot–stomping music that com¬bines New York swing with pop singer/songwriter sensibilities.” Svetlana and her band have released a chart topping Night at the Movies (debuted #1 on the US Billboard Traditional Jazz Charts / #2 on Jazz Album Charts) in 2019 and have headlined sold out release shows at Joe’s Pub (NYC), Blues Alley (Washington DC), Regatta Bar (Boston), Blue Note (NYC) and beyond. 2020 is seeing a new iteration of New York Collective “mobile unit”, a quartet-sized band with an emphasis on showcasing bandleader Svetlana’s artistry, exciting new original compositions and unique arrangements of material from her chart-topping record Night at the Movies - and beyond. A performance by Svetlana and the New York Swing Collective is a colorful carnival of sound, seamlessly moving from sophisticated retro¬spection to a joyfully rowdy party - delivering "great sounding, great looking, highly entertaining unique tight show - with big sound and deeply personal sincere connection with the audience!" (Festival Presenter, USA).

www.SvetlanaJazz.com

Jonathan Karrant was born in the heart of America at the foothills of the Ozarks in the old western town of Fort Smith, Arkansas east of the Arkansas River. Audiences have characterized Jonathan as a great interpreter of song, a storyteller, a singer who brings music and lyric alive. Some refer to Jonathan as an amazing song-stylist who sings from the American songbook, an entertainer of star quality. Others say he paints a picture, he presents a mood and captivates a room through song. Jazz Corner said “Karrant’s voice is romantic without being cloying, warm but not forced” and “that he sings standards with an emotional weight that make it seem as if he had written the songs himself”. He will tell you that he loves people, loves connecting with other musicians and with his audience, and loves sharing time with those who also love to celebrate life and music. Jonathan’s album “On and On” hit to number four in the jazz charts. The album features such songs as “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” and “Doodlin’”, as well as the title track, and was produced by Tyler Monks, with pianist Josh Nelson, bassist Rob Thorsen, guitarist Mark Shapiro, and drummer Duncan Moore. Jonathan was honored in the 2014 New York City Jazz Cabaret Honors and, in 2015, he was voted “Best Singer” for the Bravo San Diego Awards. Also, in 2015 Jonathan was asked to present two-time Grammy Award winner, Diane Schuur, with the proclamation of “Diane Schuur Day” in Palm Springs, Ca.

www.JonathanKarrant.com

Vocalist Alexis Cole is an accomplished jazz performer with a sophisticated, urbane style and warm, resonant voice, well suited to traditional standards and swing. Cole has performed with the likes of Fred Hersch, Bucky Pizzarelli, Don Braden and Matt Wilson. Although based in N.Y.C., she has played and taught in locales worldwide, including teaching at an affiliate of the Berklee College of Music in Ecuador and as a faculty member in the jazz voice programs at SUNY Purchase, William Paterson University and Western Connecticut State. From 2009 to 2015, Cole enlisted in the Army and was the vocalist with the West Point Band’s big band The Jazz Knights. Her 2021 release Sky Blossom: Songs From My Tour of Duty on Zoho, collated the arrangements written for her by Jazz Knights music director Scott Arcangel.

www.AlexisCole.com

Music has always been a major part of Dana’s life. Playing classical piano since the age of 6 and studying classical voice since the age of 13, she has gained a respect and understanding for all different types of music. Having a mother who loved jazz her whole life, Dana has been heavily influenced by jazz since she was young. At the age of 13 she began to take jazz piano lessons which furthered knowledge of the technical aspects of jazz. Dana has also studied at the Litchfield Jazz Festival Summer Institute where she had the opportunity to work with great teachers who helped her explore her style, as well as meeting great artists who have had a major impact on her career. As well as vocalists, instrumentalists have had a huge impact on her vocal style, making it pure and original yet true to the style of jazz. This year Dana was recognized by the NFAA Talent Search, placing in the top 10 percent nationally. At the 2006 Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival Dana was awarded Judge’s Choice for piano and vocal within her group. She also received the overall Outstanding Vocalist award.

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The recipient of the Creativity Award in Music from the Salem State Center for the Arts, Abrianna Madden makes her Connecticut debut. Abrianna hails from Salem Mass and is a recent graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Music. She has been the recipient of numerous scholarships while a student at SSU including the Tim Cook Scholarship, American Legion Scholarship, John Finnegan Scholarship, and the SSU Presidential Arts Scholarship. Abrianna has been a Dean's list student every semester. She has been involved in multiple student music ensembles including chamber singers and improv ensemble. Abrianna has performed at off campus at various events, including Salem's So Sweet. She looks forward to graduate studies in jazz performance.