Bridging the Gap June 18, 2025

*Isabelle Antena: "Sous Les Paves" (Sous Influences 2017) Isabelle Antena (Powaga) is a French pop & jazz singer. She began her career with the trio Antena. As a solo performer she was particularly popular in Japan.

*Banda Magda: "Reine De Bois" (Tigre 2017) Greek comp. multi-inst. singer & dynamic performer Magda Giannikou is the leader of Banda Magda. She sings in French, Greek, Spanish & Portuguese with her diverse bandmates.

*Zimpala: "Le Pays D'Alice" (Honeymoon 2006) Zimpala is a nu-jazz downt. project directed by Frederic Beneix (DJ BNX) French DJ & prod. Noemie Brosset provides the sultry vocals for the Bordeaux Collective.

*Farofa Carioca: "A Lei Da Bala" (Moro No Brasil 1998) Farofa Carioca is a Braz. group playing samba, pop & funk with a political bent founded in 1997. Seu Jorge was their composer. He was also an actor & cites samba schools & Stevie Wonder as his musical influences.

*Carlinhos Brown: "Pandeiro-Deiro" (Alfagamabetizado 1996) Antonio Carlos Santos de Freitas is Carlinhos Brown. He is a Braz. singer, perc. & prod. blending funk, R&B, soul & reggae with trad. Braz, perc.

*Forro In The Dark: "Chororo" (Dia De Roda-EP 2008) FITD is a NY based collection of Braz. ex-pats formed in 2002 feat. Mauro Refosco (perc.), Guilherme Monteiro (guit.) & Jorge Contentino (pifanos, flutes, sax.)

*Fleetwood Mac: "Show-Biz Blues" (Then Play On 1969) Founded in London in 1967 by guit. songwr. Peter Green & drummer Mick Fleetwood. P Green began having psychological issues in 1970 and the band changed direction into a more pop oriented sound after his departure with Fleetwood & bassist John McVie as the core.

*Jethro Tull: "My Sunday Feeling" (This Was 1968) Brit. rock/blues band led by sing/songwr flutist Ian Anderson began with the blues but expanded to include classical, folk, jazz & art rock into their unique sound.

*Family: "Spanish Tide" (Fearless 1971) Brit. prog. rock, psych. band formed in 1966 with lead vocalist Roger Chapman, the only member to survive all the personnel changes. His unique voice made him a cult figure on the Brit. rock scene. He claimed he was trying to emulate both Little Richard & Ray Charles.

*Bonobo: "Kong" (Black Sands 2010) Brit. musician, prod. & DJ Simon Green is Bonobo. He experiments with jazz & world music while incorporating electronic sounds & organic instrumentation.

*Bobby Hughes Combination: "Olympic Girls" (Nhu Golden Era 2002) Norwegian prod. musician & DJ Espen Horne is the man behind BHC. Horne presents his unique style using local musicians & international collaborators.

*Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band: "I Need Somebody To Love Tonight" (Expansions 2021) BRSB is a funky steel band from Hamburg, Germany led by multi-inst. Bjorn Wagner who also leads Mocambo Allstars.

*Anderson .Paak: "Anywhere (Inst.)" (Oxnard (Inst.) 2018) Amer. prod. musician Anderson .Paak is a Grammy nominated artist. In 2021 he formed Silk Sonic with Bruno Mars.

HOUR 2

*South Froggies: "Dub Jazz" (Nu Jazz Factory 2007) French DJ Jean-Luc Prosperi aka DJ Rubio founded So. Froggies to explore electronic nu-jazz in 2000. They achieve a sound that features smooth, downt. grace, sensual jazzy textures & bass-ridden beats.

*The Jazz Defenders: "Net Zero" (Memory In Motion 2024) UK jazz band feat. formidable keyboardist comp. George Cooper create their own raw & vibrant compositions while paying tribute to the Blue Note greats.

*Makaya McCraven: "High Fives" (In These Times 2022) Amer. jazz drummer, comp. & prod. Makaya McCraven has been referred to as creating a "cultural synthesis" rather that just jazz to describe what he is trying to do musically.

*Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra: "Acai" (Last Odyssey 2012) ALVO was founded in 2007 as an 8 pc. band. Masta Conga is the leader, prod. & multi-percussionist blending hip hop, jazz & funk with a world perspective.

*Alpacas Collective: "The Chase" (Seven Wisdoms Of Plutonia 2022) Belgian afro-beat band with psych. funk & Ethiopian-jazz woven in from prod. comp. perc. Frederik Kuhn.

*Sun Atlas: "Mosquito Song" (Sun Atlas 2022) Elements of afrobeat, Ethio-jazz, cinematic soul & crime jazz permeate the sound of Sun Atlas, a band that eschews identity based recognition and prefers to let their music speak for itself... and it speaks eloquently.

*Kinny & Horne: "Queen Of Boredness" (Forgetting To Remember 2005) Espen Horne is a Norwegian prod. musician & designer. Kinny (Caitlin Simpson) is a Canadian born indigenous, half Jamaican classically trained sing/songwr. now living in Norway.

*Kylie Auldist: "Still Into You" (Just Say 2008) Kylie Auldist is a Samoan-Australian soul & funk singer who has worked with The Bamboos and recorded four solo albums.

*Lack Of Afro: "Take You Home feat. Joss Stone" (Hello Baby 2016) LOA is Brit. multi-inst. prod. & DJ Adam Gibbons. Joss Stone is a Brit. soul singer. Her first album "The Soul Sessions" was produced by her mentor & soul legend Betty Wright.

*Ocote Soul Sounds: "Sal Si Puedes" (Single 2021) Founded by NY multi-inst. comp. Martin Perna in 2001 this single's title translates to: "Get out if you can." Entirely created & played by Martin Perna.

*Empresarios: "Cumbia" (Sabor Tropical 2011) Amer. latin fusion band from Wash. DC who's sound is best described as "Tropicaliente" or hot tropical music led by Javier Miranda.

*Money Chicha: "Chicha Negra" (Echo En Mexico 2016) Austin TX based chicha band inspired by the psych. cumbia sounds of 60s & 70s Peru & Colombia feat. Adrian Quesada & Beto Martinez.

*Flowering Inferno: "Alegria En Bella Vista" (Death Of The Revolution 2008) Tropical reggae & dub from Brit. multi-inst. prod. Will Holland aka Quantic from his time living in Colombia.