John Scofield is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in the band of Miles Davis, and has toured and recorded with many prominent jazz artists, including saxophonists Eddie Harris, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson and Joe Lovano; keyboardists George Duke, Joey DeFrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Larry Goldings and Robert Glasper; fellow guitarists Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Pat Martino and Bill Frisell; bassists Marc Johnson and Jaco Pastorius; and drummers Billy Cobham and Dennis Chambers. Outside the world of jazz, he has collaborated with Phil Lesh, Mavis Staples, John Mayer, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Gov't Mule.
Rawkus Records was an American hip hop record label, owned by James Murdoch, known for starting the careers of many rappers. Rawkus started in 1995 with releases in hip-hop, drum and bass and fun-dustrial.
George Spivey, known professionally as DJ Scratch, is an American hip hop DJ and producer from Brooklyn, New York.
Quality is the first studio album by American rapper Talib Kweli. The album was released on November 19, 2002, by Rawkus Records. It received wide critical acclaim and had some commercial appeal from the song "Get By", produced by Kanye West. Kludge magazine included it on their list of best albums of 2002.
Hi-Teknology²: The Chip is a sequel album to Hip hop producer Hi-Tek's first album, Hi-Teknology. Born as Tony Cottrell, He had spent most of his time in the low key hip-hop scene of Cincinnati, Ohio who eventually ran into Mood in 1992. Working with them kickstarted his career and affiliated himself with many MCs. He is best known for his collaboration with Talib Kweli on the album Reflection Eternal. He rose in popularity with the underground hip-hop scene and has worked alongside many talented even Grammy-nominated artists such as 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes. Although working with many talented artists and having a huge impact working with Rawkus Records Collective, it was time for him to show off his own unique abilities which led to his three solo albums. The release of his sequel album Hi-Teknology gained quick recognition and was soon to be sought after by many up-and-coming artists to produce their own albums.
Robert Andre Glasper is an American pianist, record producer, songwriter, and musical arranger. His music embodies numerous musical genres, primarily centered around jazz. To date, Glasper has won five Grammy Awards and received eleven nominations across eight categories.
Ledisi Anibade Young, better known simply as Ledisi, is an American R&B and jazz recording artist, songwriter, music producer, author and actress. Her name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba.
Fyre Dept is the production team of Adam Deitch and Eric Krasno.
Soulive is a funk/jazz trio that originated in Woodstock, New York. The band consists of Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums) and Neal Evans. Although they originated as a trio, the band has worked extensively with different horn sections, which have included Sam Kininger (saxophone) from 2000 to 2003, Rashawn Ross (trumpet), and Ryan Zoidis (saxophone) from 2003 to 2006. The band also worked with vocalist Toussaint Yeshua from 2006 to 2007. Soulive has toured in the original trio lineup of Eric Krasno, Alan Evans, and Neal Evans.
Bajah + The Dry Eye Crew are a hip hop crew, originating in Sierra Leone, Africa, and currently living in New York City. The group are superstars in their native country, filling the national stadium for headline performances, and are currently working on their international debut album. The Crew consists of Bajah, A-Klass, and Dovy Dovy in the United States, who join with the Jungle Leaders when performing in Sierra Leone.
Turn Me Loose is the fourth studio album by American singer Ledisi. It was released by Verve Records on August 18, 2009 in the United States. It was recorded after Ledisi's experience with the writer's block, which she able to overcome it, after finding inspiration by listening on the Buddy Miles's album Them Changes (1970). In contrast to her previous work with jazz and soul influences, the album features a prominent funk sound.
D. (Derick) Prosper began his career as a poet on the NPS National Poetry Slam circuit. He won several regional competitions and featured on the 1994 Providence Poetry Slam Team. D. Prosper was the youngest poet featured on the tour. He ranked fourth in the nation at the NPS finals in Asheville, North Carolina. Prosper was also featured in respected publication Fast Folk Music Magazine. He eventually earned a coveted spot on the 1994 Lollapalooza Tour D. Prosper's love of spoken word poetry ignited his passion for hip-hop music.
Lettuce is a funk band originating from Boston, Massachusetts in 1992. Its members include guitarist Adam "Shmeeans" Smirnoff, Nigel Hall, Adam Deitch (drums/percussion), Erick "Jesus" Coomes (bass), Ryan Zoidis (saxophone) and Eric "Benny" Bloom (trumpet).
Daru Jones is an American drummer from Michigan. He has played for Jack White and Pete Rock. He is a two time Grammy Award winner.
Neal H Pogue is an American producer, audio engineer and mixer originally from Roselle, New Jersey, and based in Los Angeles. Pogue is a multi-time Grammy Award winner, having first won for his engineering and mixing work on Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2004) – which won the Album of the Year category, and his audio mixing work on Tyler, the Creator's Igor & Call Me If You Get Lost – which both records won the Best Rap Album category respectively in 2020 & 2022. Pogue has also produced for artists such as M.I.A, Nelly Furtado, Earth, Wind & Fire and has mixed for artists such as TLC, Pink, Nicki Minaj, Janelle Monáe, Tyler, the Creator, and Steve Lacy. Having engineered and mixed TLC's Grammy nominated 11-time platinum single "Waterfalls", Pogue also arranged the horns on "Waterfalls" under the pseudonym "Shock". Pogue has gone on to work with many prominent names in music.
Talib Kweli Greene is an American rapper. He earned recognition through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with solo success including collaborations with producers and rappers Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Pharrell Williams. In 2011, Kweli founded his own record label, Javotti Media.
Stu Brooks is a Grammy nominated bassist, composer, producer, musical director, and co-founder of the experimental group Dub Trio. He is known for playing and recording with the Saturday Night Live Band, Lady Gaga, Mike Patton, Mark Guiliana, Dr. John, GRiZ, G-Unit, Matisyahu, Pretty Lights, and Meshell Ndegeocello.
Brady Watt is an American record producer, bass player, and bandleader. In his career he has performed with a number of high-profile artists and ensembles and has taken part in thousands of recording sessions. He is currently based in Harlem, New York City.
Nigel David Hall is an American vocalist and keyboardist. He is a current member of Lettuce and also fronts his solo project, The Nigel Hall Band.
