Composer Hannah Baiardi started playing piano and writing her first songs when she was three.  Hannah has become an adept composer, arranger, lyricist and bandleader. She has made it her mission to break barriers between genres and debunk musical stereotypes. Trying to find a happy medium between pop, R&B and Contemporary Jazz.

Daniel Hersog of Canada is a noted young jazz trumpeter, composer and arranger who has toured North America leading large ensembles with such notable musicians Noah Preminger and Frank Carlberg. His debut release as a composer is "Night Devoid of Stars" featuring a 16-piece orchestra.

Melissa Walker is not only an acclaimed jazz vocalist/recording artist, she is the President & Founder of Jazz House Kids, a nationally-renowned arts education and performance organization. Jazz House Kids uses jazz as an effective teaching tool to help young people gain an “artistic edge” through programs at the Jazz House in Montclair, NJ, in schools and in the community.

Delfeayo Marsalis is one of the top trombonists, composers and producers in jazz today. Known for his “technical excellence, inventive mind and frequent touches of humor…” (Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times), he is “…one of the best, most imaginative and musical of the trombonists of his generation.” (Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner.) In January 2011, Delfeayo and the Marsalis family (father Ellis and brothers Branford, Wynton and Jason) earned the nation’s highest jazz honor – a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award.

Elaine Hayes has had a passion for music since her first piano lesson at age seven and has, by her description, "spent a dozen years studying big band 'girl singers' and women in jazz." She has a doctorate in musicology from the University of Pennsylvania; taught multi-media courses in jazz, classical, and world music; spoken at national and international conferences; and discussed Sarah Vaughan on local and national radio, including NPR. Her most recent project: a biography of the vocalist Sarah Vaughan, titled Queen of Bebop: The Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughan, was published by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins, in 2017.

Deborah Benner and Michael Bard are two members of Trio Caliente, who’s wide ranging sound incorporates salsa, reggaeton, Gypsy rumba and Bossa nova with a spicy addition of powerful R&B vocal groove. They’ve played around the world as goodwill ambassadors but their backgrounds will surprise you.

Lydia Liebman is an accomplished media and music industry professional with experience deeply rooted in jazz as a publicist, concert promoter, radio host, musician, producer and journalist. She currently runs Lydia Liebman Promotions, a boutique public relations agency and consulting firm based in NYC.

Wayne Escoffery is a 2014 Downbeat Critics Poll winner and Grammy Award winning tenor saxophonist who has recorded and performed internationally with the Who’s Who in jazz including Ron Carter, Ben Riley, Abdulah Ibrahim, Eddie Henderson, Rufus Reid, Wallace Roney, Herbie Hancock and more. Wayne’s new critically acclaimed album “Humble Warrior” features the return of Escoffery’s stellar quartet featuring pianist David Kikoski, bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and drummer Ralph Peterson.

Her Twitter handle is “globaljazzqueen.” Her name is Monifa Brown. She is one of the most respected on air jazz personalities, and her “Saturday Afternoon Jazz” show on WBGO NY has a worldwide following.

Scott Yanow is one of the most respected jazz journalists, reviewers and historians in the world of jazz. He has written more than 20,000 reviews, has 11 books currently in print and writes for six jazz publications including Downbeat, Jazziz and Syncopated Times.