Javon Jackson
Jazz tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson first became known as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers from 1987 until Blakey's death in 1990. He went on to release 22 recordings as a bandleader and has toured and recorded with jazz legends such as Elvin Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Charlie Haden, Betty Carter, Cedar Walton, Ron Carter, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Stanley Turrentine, and Ben E. King. Jackson is the Artistic Director for Jazz in the Valley and currently Director of the Jackie McLean Institute at the Hartt School of Music.

Lisa Fischer
The Grammy and Academy Award-winning (for the documentary 50 Feet from Stardom) is a powerhouse vocalist with the ability to embrace every vocal possibility. She carries traces of the legendary musicians with whom she has collaborated over four decades, Ms. Fischer is a constellation in her own right, singing songs with “amazing power, energy, and projection,” as described by Keith Richards after 26 years of musicmaking with Ms. Fischer in the Rolling Stones.

Alex Blake
Bassist Alex Blake, born in Panama City, Panama, has a revolutionary playing style and technique distinctly his own. Some have called him “an entire rhythm section” for his combination of innovative strumming, rapid lyrical notations, and percussive slaps on his bass. Over a career spanning more than forty years, he has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Sun Ra, Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Stan Getz, Harry Belafonte, the Manhattan Transfer, and as a long-time member of NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston’s African Rhythms. In demand for recordings, festivals, concerts, and clubs both nationally and internationally, Alex leads The Alex Blake Collective and continues to dazzle audiences with energetic and inventive themes that celebrate the limitless potential and timeless legacy of jazz.

Chief Baba Neil Clarke
A master percussionist of legendary status, Chief Baba Neil Clarke was born in the spring of 1951 and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Involved with traditional African drumming and the percussive arts for more than half a century, he performed regularly with and has had long term musical relationships with artists such as Randy Weston, Harry Belafonte, Dianne Reeves, Miriam Makeba, and many others. He continues to perform for audiences and communities both ritually and on stage. He has been cited and received numerous awards in recognition of his work. Most recently in June 2026 with his induction into the Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame by the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium. In 2019 - 2020 Chief Clarke was a Scholar-in- Residence at the prestigious Schomburg Center in NYC. In 2016 he received both a "Jazz Impact Award" from the CBJC and a Chieftaincy title in Osogbo, Nigeria in recognition of his lifelong commitment the study and exploration of African percussion. With this presentation of his “Westonalia: The Trio” project, Clarke continues to abstract, contemporize, and interweave global African drum resonances as sonic pathways in the context of the compositions of his longtime mentor Dr. Randy Weston.

Sharp Radway
Sharp Radway is a pianist, composer, arranger, and author. A native of Hartford, Connecticut, and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. A protégé of Dr. Randy Weston, he is a formidable and seasoned bandleader, heading various groups of his own while remaining in demand throughout the country and abroad. Sharp has worked with several jazz luminaries and forefathers of the genre, including Yusef Lateef, Benny Golson, Slide Hampton, Curtis Fuller, Louis Hayes, Candido Camero, Steve Turre, Randy Brecker, Nicolas Payton, and many others. He served as music director, pianist, and arranger for The Celebration of Lionel Hampton Big Band and The New York City Ska Orchestra. In addition to being a seasoned performer, composer, and arranger, Sharp is the author of Musicianship 101 (What They Don't Tell You In School), founder and director of The Sharp Radway Gospel Chorale, and continues to teach, lecture, and conduct seminars while performing at leading venues and festivals throughout the United States and abroad.

Zaccai Curtis
Grammy Award-winning pianist, composer, producer, and educator Zaccai Curtis leads his own groups, the Zaccai Curtis Quintet and Sonido Solar, and is recognized as a leading voice in contemporary jazz and Latin jazz. Together with his brother Luques, he co-founded TRRcollective, a collaborative record label supporting independent artists, and has produced acclaimed recordings including the Grammy-nominated Entre Colegas by Andy González. Since moving to New York City in 2005, Curtis has performed with renowned artists including Christian Scott, Donald Harrison, Cindy Blackman Santana, Eddie Palmieri, Lakecia Benjamin, and Brian Lynch. A three-time ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award winner, he is a prolific composer, arranger, and educator, currently teaching at the University of Hartford's Jackie McLean Jazz Studies Division and authoring instructional texts for Jazz and Latin Jazz studies.

Luques Curtis
Luques Curtis is one of the leading bassists in contemporary jazz and Afro-Latin music. He has toured and recorded with artists including Eddie Palmieri, Gary Burton, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Ralph Peterson, Sean Jones, and Orrin Evans. As a co-founder of the Truth Revolution Recording Collective, Curtis has helped support and promote independent jazz artists while maintaining an active international career as a performer, composer, and educator.