GSL Trio ft. Gayelynn McKinney, Laura-Simone & Redwood

ABOUT GAYELYNN MCKINNEY
Gayelynn has played drums for renowned international music artists like Aretha Franklin, Freda Payne, Chaka Khan, Benny Golson, Roy Hargrave, Larry Coryell, Marcus Belgrave, Ralphe Armstrong, Roy Ayers, and Geri Allen. She is the recipient of a Kresge Arts Fellowship, a Motor City Music Award and a Detroit Black Music Award. and has performed at the 1996 Olympic Games and at the prestigious Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts.

ABOUT REDWOOD
Emerging from Washington D.C., REDWOOD is a musician, composer, producer, and recording artist who blends the contemporary vibes of jazz, R&B, soul, and hip-hop in a brand new way.
"Thoughtful and fearless playing..." - All About Jazz
"She's got her finger on the pulse of something else, her generation." - Jason Moran

ABOUT LAURA-SIMONE
Laura-Simone Martin is a 20-year-old bassist who has performed at nationally acclaimed venues like the BBC Proms, Carnegie Hall, Blue Note at Sea, the Kennedy Center, Monterey Jazz Festival, and more. This past summer, she was a part of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra, where she toured Europe with Sean Jones and 2x Grammy winning vocalist, Dee Dee Bridgewater. She has also been in Princeton University's Creative Large Ensemble and Jazz At Lincoln Center's Youth Orchestra. In her junior year of high school, she combined her passions for music and activism by founding the Queen Amina Music Program to help push the “women in jazz” music movement. This program is for 4th-8th grade instrumentalists at the Lawrence Intermediate School and Lawrence Middle School, where she teaches songs, the history of women in jazz, improvisational skills, and how to navigate modal progressions. This past year she received a grant to invite guest artists and hold a day of masterclasses for the Queen Amina students and the Lawrence High School music department, ending with a public concert on March 15, 2023, featuring Oscar winner and Grammy-nominated saxophonist Tia Fuller. Currently she is freshman at Michigan State University studying under renowned bassist, Rodney Whitaker.