Lynise Walters, known professionally as Queen Pen, is an American rapper. Born in Brooklyn, New York City, she was discovered by producer Teddy Riley at an IHOP restaurant in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Riley later invited her to "spit lyrics" for Blackstreet's 1996 single "No Diggity", which became her and Riley's most successful recording. Walters signed with Riley's Lil Man Records, an imprint of Interscope Records to release her debut album, My Melody (1997), which spawned the single, "All My Love" peaking at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album contained production largely handled by Riley and writing contributions from fellow Brooklyn native Jay-Z.
Meshell Ndegeocello is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her mid-career work. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae and rock. She has received significant critical acclaim throughout her career, being nominated for eleven Grammy Awards, and winning two. She also has been credited for helping to "spark the neo-soul movement".
Joseph Lee Henry is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He has released 15 studio albums and produced multiple recordings for other artists, including three Grammy Award-winning albums.
Steve Brodie was an American from Manhattan, New York City, who on July 23, 1886, claimed to have jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge and survived. The supposed jump, of which the veracity was disputed, gave Brodie publicity, a thriving saloon and a career as a performer. Prior to this, he was penniless, having lost significant sums of money on betting and race tracks.
Doyle Bramhall II is an American guitarist, producer and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. He is the son of the songwriter and drummer Doyle Bramhall.
Marcia Blank known as Marcie Blane, is a former American pop singer from 1962 to 1965.
Deantoni Parks is an American new-wave/avant-garde/experimental musician. He is the co-founder, co-producer and drummer of the New York band KUDU along with artist Sylvia Black, and one half of the TV/Film scoring duo We Are Dark Angels alongside Nicci Kasper, also a member of KUDU. Parks was a member of progressive rock band the Mars Volta and a member of the alternative rock act Bosnian Rainbows. Parks is a composer and performer on the André 3000 “New Blue Sun.”
Matthew Justin Garrison is an American jazz bassist.
Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape is the fourth studio album by American soul singer and rapper Meshell Ndegeocello, released on June 4, 2002 by Maverick Records. Following the commercial underperformance of her third studio album, Bitter (1999), her label encouraged her to return to her earlier sound and record an album that sounded more "black". Ndegeocello collaborated with a number of prominent Black musicians, including Talib Kweli, Missy Elliott, and Tweet, as well as her backing band, the Conscientious Objectors, and recorded the album during the summer of 2001. The record, which Ndegeocello modeled on the mixtapes of her childhood, adopted a hip-hop and R&B-influenced sound and political lyrics similar to that of her debut album, Plantation Lullabies (1993), focusing on themes such as consumerism, revolution, religion, and same-sex attraction. Throughout the album, Ndegeocello also features samples of recorded speeches by Black activists, poets, and musicians, such as Angela Davis, Gil Scott-Heron, Countee Cullen, and Etheridge Knight.
Comfort Woman is the fifth solo album by Me'shell Ndegeocello. It was released on October 14, 2003, on Maverick Records. The album peaked at No. 150 on the Billboard 200 list that year. The album also peaked at No. 43 on Billboard's R&B Album chart. The LP was the final record released by Maverick, ending her ten-year contract.
Mark Guiliana is a Grammy-nominated American drummer, composer and leader of the band Beat Music. He has played with Avishai Cohen, Brad Mehldau, David Bowie, Meshell Ndegeocello, Gretchen Parlato, Jason Lindner, Lionel Loueke, Dhafer Youssef, Tigran Hamasyan, Matisyahu, St. Vincent, the European piano trio Phronesis and his own groups, Heernt and the Mark Giuliana Jazz Quartet.
Jamie Seerman is an American singer-songwriter from New York. She performs under the name Jaymay.
David Gamson is an American keyboardist/musician. Originally hailing from New York, he has worked with, among others, Kesha, Kelly Clarkson, Jessie J, Adam Lambert, Chaka Khan, Charli XCX, Meshell Ndegeocello, Green Gartside, Sheila E., George Benson, Luther Vandross, Donny Osmond, Miles Davis, Al Jarreau, Tony LeMans, Roger Troutman, Eden xo, Quinn XCII and Hannah Diamond.
Mikhail Tarasov, better known by his stage name Svoy, is an American producer/writer/artist for Universal Music Group in the genre of pop/electronica. He has seven self-produced albums and other records released via Mack Avenue Records/Sony Music Entertainment formerly known as Rendezvous Entertainment belonging to multi Grammy-nominated RIAA Gold-certified musician/media mogul Dave Koz and legendary radio chief executive/record producer Frank Cody, P-Vine Records/Blues Interactions, and Thistime Records. In 2024, he released a duo album in collaboration with Grammy-winning artist Kenny Garrett, entitled Who Killed AI?, on Mack Avenue Records.
Devil's Halo is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter and bassist Me'Shell Ndegéocello. It was released by Downtown Records on October 6, 2009.
Lauren Molina is an American actress, singer, songwriter, and musician. She is a co-creator and performer with the comedy-pop, undie-rock band The Skivvies. Her Broadway credits include Johanna in the actor-musician revival of Sweeney Todd. To describe her as an actress, one reviewer said "She's part Mary Martin, Lucille Ball, Kristen Wiig and [fill in the blank with your favorite opera star because Molina has one of the most powerful and flexible voices in the annals of Broadway]." While performing on the first national tour of Sweeney Todd, she received the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Award for Best Supporting Actress. She won a Helen Hayes award for her portrayal of Cunegunde in Candide (2010-2011), directed by Mary Zimmerman at the Shakespeare Theatre in DC, and received an IRNE nomination for the same role at the Huntington Theatre. She originated the role of Bella Rose in Desperate Measures (2017-2018) Off-Broadway and received nominations for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical and Outer Critics Circle for Best Supporting Actress. In 2019, she and her Skivvies partner Nick Cearley co-conceived a new actor-musician revival of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown", also playing Lucy and Linus, at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. A Detroit native, Lauren received her BFA from the University of Michigan in musical theatre. She resides in New York City.
Sean Rickman is an American musician from Washington, D.C. He has worked with Shawn Lane, Garaj Mahal, Dapp Theory, Steve Coleman, Maxwell, Meshell Ndegeocello, Blacksheep, Phil Upchurch, David Fiucynski and Screaming Headless Torsos, Kai Eckhardt, Anthony Tidd's Quite Sane, K'Alyn, Angela Bofill and George Duke. Rickman was lead singer and drummer for Garaj Mahal from 2007 to 2011 and his rock band Big Mouth featuring guitarist Leonard Stevens. He was also featured alongside Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Marcus Miller on the Tribute to Miles 2011 tour.
"Silly Boy Blue" is a song written and recorded by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. Originally demoed in 1965 as a mod-influenced track about a teenage runaway, it was revised in 1966 with new lyrics and released on Bowie's self-titled debut album in June 1967. This version reflects Bowie's fascination with Tibetan Buddhism, featuring various spiritual and geographic references in the lyrics and varied instrumentation such as a trumpet, cello and Chinese gong. Bowie remade the song twice during his stint with the Riot Squad in April 1967: as an instrumental for live performances and acoustically, which has appeared on compilations.
