Bassist Christian McBride was named artistic director of the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Summer Sessions (2000), co-director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem (2005) and creative chair for jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association (2005). He now serves as artistic advisor for jazz programming at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and as artistic director of the Newport Jazz Festival. From jazz to R&B to pop/rock to hip-hop/neo-soul to classical, McBride is a luminary with one hand ever reaching for new heights -- and the other extended in fellowship. McBride will be joined by Nicole Glover (sax), Ely Perlman (guitar), Mike King (piano) and Savannah Harris (drums).
Awarded a Grammy for Best New Artist in 2023, Samara Joy won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2019. She’s appeared on the TODAY show and released several viral video performances. With more than 200,000 TikTok followers, Joy is introducing jazz to a whole new generation. Her musical lineage stretches back to her paternal grandparents, Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, who performed with Philadelphia gospel group the Savettes, and runs through her father, Antonio McLendon, a singer, songwriter and producer who toured with gospel.