New Orleans-born Branford Marsalis is an award-winning saxophonist, band leader, featured classical soloist, and a film and Broadway composer. In the process, he has become a multi award-winning artist with three Grammys, a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as a Jazz Master and an avatar of contemporary artistic excellence.
The Branford Marsalis Quartet, formed in 1986, remains his primary means of expression. In its virtually uninterrupted three-plus decades of existence, the Quartet has established a rare breadth of stylistic range and has long been recognized as the standard to which other ensembles of its kind must be measured. This spring the Quartet makes its Blue Note Records debut with the March 28 release of Belonging, a full album interpretation of Keith Jarrett’s 1974 ECM album of the same name. But Branford has not confined his music to the jazz quartet context. He recently composed a classical suite commissioned by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. A frequent soloist with classical ensembles, Branford has become increasingly sought after as a featured soloist with acclaimed orchestras around the world, performing works by composers such as Copeland, Debussy, Glazunov, Ibert, John Williams, Mahler, Milhaud, Rorem, Vaughan Williams and Villa-Lobos. And his legendary guest performances with the Grateful Dead and collaborations with Sting have made him a fan favorite in the pop arena.
Branford’s screen credits as a composer include original music for: Rustin starring Colman Domingo, the History Channel’s documentary Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom starring Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks starring Oprah Winfrey, and Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues. He received a 2021 EMMY nomination for the original music he composed and produced for Tulsa Burning in the Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score) category. His work on Broadway has garnered a Drama Desk Award and a Tony nomination for the acclaimed revival of Fences. He recently arranged and orchestrated the music for a new Broadway production on Louis Armstrong, A Wonderful World. His previous Broadway efforts include music for the revivals of Children of a Lesser God and A Raisin in the Sun, as well as The Mountaintop, which starred Angela Basset and Samuel L. Jackson.

KDTU has electrified audiences around the world for over 25 years from the fields of Naeba in Japan at the infamous Fuji Rock Festival to the hallowed stage of Madison Square Garden where they previously joined the Dave Matthews Band and The Godfather of Soul, James Brown. From performing as Sexual Chocolate (Karl was in the original band in the movie Coming To America and its sequel) at the Outside Lands Music festival in San Francisco, to being the first late night act at the inaugural Bonnaroo festival, KDTU have been a dominating force in music for the past 25 years.
All-night, sold-out concerts during Jazzfest in New Orleans have featured sit ins by everyone from Lenny Kravitz & Steve Winwood (with whom Karl has recorded and toured) to avant garde luminaries Marc Ribot & Boyfriend. Chuck Leavell and Bernard Fowler (Karl’s bandmates in The Rolling Stones where Karl replaced the great Bobby Keys as saxophonist in 2014) have joined onstage and on record, as have Lukas Nelson, John Oates, Michael Franti, Warren Haynes, Ivan Neville, Anders Osborne, Big Daddy Kane, Roy Hargrove, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Joshua Redman, Marcus King, and Bernie Worrell, among others.
Touring the country with the Allman Brothers, My Morning Jacket, D'Angelo, The Roots, Public Enemy, Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead, Parliament Funkadelic, Slightly Stoopid, Widespread Panic, very few concert goers have been untouched by the Tiny Universe live. In addition to KDTU, Karl Denson aka “Diesel” is a founding member of the seminal groove act The Greyboy Allstars.

Declared “the coolest rock star in the world right now,” by UNCUT magazine, Arooj Aftab has earned her position at the vanguard of creative music for her embrace of risk and nonconformity. In 2024, she released her fourth solo album, Night Reign (Verve), to universal acclaim, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Jazz Album, while the song “Raat Ki Rani” was tabbed for Best Global Music Performance. Night Reign’s predecessor, Vulture Prince, ushered Aftab into the cultural zeitgeist, including a place on President Barack Obama’s Summer 2021 playlist. Recognition for the record propelled her to a Best New Artist Grammy nomination in 2022 and a win for the song “Mohabbat.” Over the last few years, she has delivered “rapturous performances” at major venues and international festivals including Primavera, Glastonbury and Coachella. She has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NPR’s Tiny Desk, Later with Jools Holland, Brodie and Mahogany sessions. Aftab has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Financial Times, The Quietus, and Time, to name a few.

Pedrito Martinez…is a source of rhythmic delight and inspiration… an incomparable performer… a traditional Afro-Cuban music superstar – The New York Times
Pedro Pablo “Pedrito” Martínez was born in Havana, Cuba, Sept 12, 1973 in the Cayo Hueso neighborhood, where rumba is played all day long, and began his musical career at the age of 11, with a foundation in the rumba and Afro Cuban Yoruba traditions.
Since settling in New York City in the fall of 1998, Pedrito has recorded or performed with, Paul Simon, Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D’Rivera, Bruce Springsteen, Ruben Blades, Eddie Palmieri, Dave Matthews, and Sting, and has contributed to over 75 albums.
A consummate master of Afro-Cuban folkloric music and the batá drum he is also the world’s first-call rumbero—playing, singing, and dancing with dozens of Cuban rumba groups.

“Keyon Harrold is the future of the trumpet”- Downbeat Magazine
An inventive, multidisciplinary, genre-fluid artist; trumpeter and vocalist; a composer, arranger, and platinum music producer; bandleader and major recording artist (The Mugician-Sony "The Mugician") and currently with Concord Jazz
“Keyon Harrold Is Equal Parts Music” - Billboard
Musically, Harrold lives by the notion that the only thing that identifies a genre is its beat. That belief has allowed harrold to tear down the walls of the genre to roam music freely. There are only 12 notes, so he pours his soul into every musical situation, be it performing live, recording, or composing for television and film.
“Keyon Harrold carries a natural swagger that is not misplaced: he’s a compelling communicator and commanding trumpeter.” The magic of his performance is the accomplishment of a quintet that resonates as both accomplished and raw, the seeking of new challenges...” -Love Supreme Festival.
Harrold’s career is a spectrum of greatness. From touring and recording with Jay-z and Cirque Du Soleil to being signed by legendary Rapper Nas (Mass Appeal) and writing the theme song for The Queen Latifah’s Show.
Harrold is a first-call artist with feature credits with Keith Richards, Black Pumas, Mac Miller (Stay), and Nas (The Jarreau of Rap) and Harrold’s latest collaboration with UK crooner Samm Henshaw ( Still Broke).
Keyon is a frequent collaborator with YEBBA, Robert Glasper, Maxwell, Common, PJ Morton, and Gregory Porter.
Harrold is the new Artistic Advisor for Jazz St.Louis
He is an activist for social justice and equality.
Look for New Original Music and content from Keyon 2022.
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Lady J Huston is one of the most spectacular entertainers on the music scene. She is renowned for her captivating vocals, trumpet, & mesmerizing stage presence. The Lady J Huston Show is an electrifying blend of Las Vegas pizzazz with the sass of St. Louis blues, classic soul, & jazz, where the multi-talented band members show off too. She is widely lauded for touring with blues legend Albert King as performer & music director. Lady J won the 2023 Blues Blast Magazine “New Artist Debut Album” for her multidimensional "Groove Me Baby" CD that showcases her skills as a songwriter, arranger, & a plethora of career honors.
For more info, visit https://ladyjhuston.com
All socials: @ladyjhuston
For font selection, the "J" is clearer with non-script. If script, full loops on the top & bottom lessens confusion with similar characters.