Kavita Shah Quintet

Kavita Shah is an award-winning vocalist, composer, researcher, and educator who makes work in deep engagement with the jazz tradition, while also addressing and advancing its global sensibilities. A lifelong New Yorker of Indian origin hailed for possessing an “amazing dexterity for musical languages” (NPR), Shah incorporates her ethnographic research on Brazilian, West African, and Indian traditions into her original music. Her projects include “Visions” (2014), co-produced by Lionel Loueke, “Folk Songs of Naboréa” (2017, named a Top 10 Jazz Concert of the Year by Nate Chinen), “Interplay” (2018) in duo with François Moutin, which was nominated for France’s Victoires de la Musique for Jazz Album of the Year, and “Cape Verdean Blues” (2023), a "quietly riveting" (New York Times) and "gorgeous" (The Guardian) tribute to the music of Cesária Évora. Shah is currently working on a new record of original music for her jazz quintet chronicling the journey to her ancestral villages in rural India. Born in São Paulo - Brazil and currently living in New York, Vinicius is a guitarist and composer that explores the dialogue between modern jazz and Brazilian music, as registered on his debut album, Resiliência (2017). His second album in collaboration with spanish saxophonist Santi De la Rubia, featuring drummer Jorge Rossy and bassist Doug Weiss is expected to be released in the second semester of 2020. His career includes collaborations with saxophonist Seamus Blake (with whom he toured south America in 2019), grammy Award winner drummer Edu Ribeiro’s trio, accordionist Toninho Ferragutti (recording two albums including the Brazilian Music award winner “A Gata Café”), mexican singer Magos Herrera (touring and recording her latest album "Con Alma"), Zizi Possi (as a guitarist and musical director), Thiago Espirito Santo and many others. Vinicius was part of the Focus Year Program in Basel- Switzerland, where he had the opportunity to collaborate with artists such as Ambrose Akinmusire, Billy Childs, Dave Liebman, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Guillermo Klein, Mark Turner, Julian Lage, Norma Winstone, John Hollenbeck, Jim Black and others. With the Focus Year Band Vinicius won the 2019 Keep An Eye Award in Amsterdam. He has been performing extensively in Europe, Latin America and the U.S. in festivals such as Vienna Jazz (Austria), Offbeat (Switzerland), Riviera Maya Jazz (Caribe - Mexico) Portón del Jazz (Spain), Savassi Jazz (Brazil), Festival de Jazz de Buenos Aires (Argentina), Capão Jazz (Brazil), Jazz a la Calle (Uruguay). Vinicius has performed with his own project and as a collaborator in important venues such as Bimhuis (Amsterdam), National Sawdust (NY), Blue Note (NY), JazzForum (NY), Duc Des Lombards (Paris), Sunset Sunside (Paris), Hot Club de Lyon, B-Flat (Berlin), Zigzag(Berlin) Bird’s Eye (Basel), Porgy And Bess (Vienna), Washington D.C, San Francisco, Budapest Jazz Club, Lisboa, Zurich, Luzern, Kohln, London, Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Colombia, Paraguay and Chile. Pianist Julian Shore is known for his "deep maturity as a composer and bandleader" (DownBeat), and his work as both a versatile sideman, and experienced bandleader has JazzTimes calling him one of the “leaders of the young jazz piano scene.” Bandcamp glows “his melodies are fueled by a powerful blend of contemplation and exploration. It’s just as easy to immerse yourself in any single moment as it is to be swept away by the entire epic journey.” Originally from New Zealand, Matt Penman moved to the States in 1994 to attend Berklee College of Music, and to New York in 1995 where he maintains an international performing, recording and teaching schedule as one of jazz musics most in-demand musicians.He is an established member of the SFJazz Collective, an 8-piece composers collective devoted to presenting the original works of its members as well as arrangements by the band of a different jazz greats work every year. The Collective is in its sixth year and currently features Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas and Stefon Harris. He also performs regularly with John Scofield; in his trio-plus-horns formation, and in a quartet with Joe Lovano. He is also a member of Nils Wograms Root 70, a drummerless trio with Hayden Chisholm and John Taylor, and a new collaborative quartet featuring Joshua Redman. Other past collaborators include Kurt Rosenwinkel, Kenny Werner, Chris Cheek, Seamus Blake, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Guillermo Klein, Rebecca Martin, Nicholas Payton, Fred Hersch and Madeleine Peyroux.He has mentored in many workshops throughout Europe and in 2007 was an Artist in Residence at the Brubeck Institute in Stockton, California, and was on the faculty of the 2009 Banff Workshop for Creative and Improvised Music.His own projects include the 1998 co-led album Flipside on Naxos, then in 2001 The Unquiet, and 2008 Catch of the Day both on the Barcelona label Fresh Sound. He also features on about 85 CDs on various labels. VARUN DAS is an emerging star drummer, composer, and educator based in New Jersey/ New York. His music comes from the sophisticated rhythms of Indian classical music, the rich soul of Black American Music, and the energetic atmosphere of progressive rock. In addition to his work as a bandleader, Das is a notable Bollywood drummer and a nationally recognized sideman and studio artist especially in the jazz and fusion world. At the age of 13, he received his online Specialist in Drums Certificate from Berklee College of Music (2013) and is currently an undergraduate student at Manhattan School of Music (2018-2022) where he studies with prominent jazz drummers, John Riley and Kendrick Scott; he has also worked hands on with Paquito D’Rivera, Elio Villafranca, Miguel Zenon, Jim McNeely, and Harvie S. As one of the most in demand Bollywood drummers in the United States, Das has performed with Dr. KJ Yesudas, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Chinmayi Sripada, Jeffrey Iqbal, Shankar Tucker, Aima Baig, Anup Rubens, DSP, and many others. In August 2021, he became a core member of world renowned fusion band Red Baraat. Das was selected for several prestigious national jazz honors. Notably, in 2018, he was selected as the GRAMMY Jazz Band drummer (also Grammy Alumni band drummer in 2019, 2020 with pop star Bebe Rexha, and 2022). In 2019, he was recognized as a National YoungArts Foundation finalist in jazz percussion. He was recognized by DOWNBEAT Magazine as “Best/ Outstanding Soloist” in the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 in the college category of the annual student music awards. In 2021, Das released his debut EP entitled Solitude, consisting of 5 duets for vibraphone and piano. Additionally, his composition for five saxophones, “State of Mind” was chosen as the winner piece in both the All-Eastern and New Jersey All-State composition competitions in 2017. Through his music, Das communicates his outlook towards society and tells stories of individuals and places that have been of significant impact to him and his upbringing.