Summer Jazz Café

Nicknamed the Gypsy-jazz Warbler by the New York Times, Tatiana Eva-Marie is a transatlantic bandleader, singer, author, and actress based in Brooklyn. Best known for her work with the Avalon Jazz Band – and accruing over 70 million views on YouTube – she was acclaimed as a “millennial shaking up the jazz scene” by magazine Vanity Fair. She performs regularly in New York at various clubs (Dizzy’s Club, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Birdland, Joe’s Pub…), across the USA (New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Freight and Salvage, Jazz Aspen Snowmass, Tucson Jazz Festival…) and around the world.

Hendrik Meurkens, a virtuoso on both the chromatic harmonica and the vibraphone, is the most important jazz harmonica player since Toots Thielemans. German-born but now based in New York, Meurkens’ recordings and performances garner worldwide acclaim because the transcendent beauty of his music has universal appeal. Critics and the jazz listening public alike have recognized Meurkens’ incredible talent, listing him repeatedly in the Downbeat and Jazziz Polls. Meurkens has worked with Ray Brown, Paquito D’Rivera, Herb Ellis, Herbie Mann, James Moody, Jimmy Cobb, Monty Alexander, Herb Ellis, Dori Caymmi, Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison, Buddy Tate, Joyce, Astrud Gilberto, and many others.

A Grammy-nominated jazz singer-songwriter, pianist, arranger and vocal chameleon, New York-based bandleader and winner of the prestigious 2021 American Traditions Vocal Competition Gold Medal Nicole Zuraitis continues to establish herself as an undeniable force in the modern jazz landscape of both NYC and beyond. With a “heart as big as her remarkable voice,” (Jazz Police) Nicole’s effervescent personality and boundless enthusiasm for sharing the joy of music keep her audiences thrilled. Besides leading her quartet, Nicole is the premier vocalist for the Birdland Big Band and frequently headlines iconic NYC jazz clubs like Dizzy’s Club at Lincoln Center, Birdland, the Blue Note, the Carlyle, 54 Below and the late, great 55 Bar.

And finally, as Jazz Arts Project tradition each year on the final weekend: “Legends and Lions” in jazz.  Students from the Jazz Arts Academy Summer Session perform an opening set followed by a set featuring master Jazz artist professionals, in this case Winard Harper and Jeli Posse. This is exactly what The Jazz Arts Project’s vision is about; the pairing of young students with masters of the art form, giving them the opportunities and the spark that can ignite either a career path or simply an enduring love of the music to honor and cherish.

Jazz Drummer, Band Leader, Composer, Educator, Winard Harper is dedicated to “bringing Jazz to where it is needed”.  Constantly in reverence of his predecessors while remaining innovative in his own right, Harper has been among the most celebrated drummers in jazz for many years. He is a virtuoso on the drum set and the balafon, the West African equivalent of the marimba, he is a sought after collaborator at home and abroad, a band leader of his quartet, his quintet and his exciting band the Jeli Posse, a regular with the legendary New York clubs, an educator of future jazz professionals, an educator through his kids programs, an events organizer – successfully running the weekly Fish Fry Jazz Jam and the Sunday “Meet the Artist” Series at Moore’s Lounge in Jersey City. Bringing Jazz to the community from which it originated, relating the story of The Great American Art Form, the only music that is 100% “made in America”, spreading the joy that Jazz brings is the quest to which Winard Harper is dedicating himself.