Pianist Julian Shore is known for his “deep maturity as a composer and bandleader” (DownBeat) and has been called “a pianist/composer who beyond the obvious elegance of his playing, has a clear sense of the bigger artistic picture” (Peter Hum, Ottowa Citizen). His work as both a versatile sideman and experienced bandleader has JazzTimes calling him one of the “leaders of the young Jazz piano scene.”

Pianist/composer Carmen Staaf is a rising force in the NYC and global music scenes. She has performed and recorded with some of the most influential and important musicians of our era. Currently, she is the pianist and Musical Director for NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater. Her past major performances have included the Playboy Jazz Festival in a two-piano setting with the legendary Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and the Kennedy Center alongside Kenny Barron and Fred Hersch. She has been heard at the Village Vanguard, Blue Note, SFJazz and major jazz festivals around the world including the Newport, Monterey, Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals, among many others.