Laura Simone Quintet

Laura-Simone is an 20-year-old bassist and vocalist 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. She was a member of Marcus Miller's five-person bass ensemble, alongside Meshell Ndegeocello (a 12-time Grammy nominee), Aston Barrett Jr., and Mamadou Kouyaté, for Steve McQueen's art exhibit Bass—the director of 12 Years a Slave.

She was the 2024 fellowship winner of Living Jazz Camp which provided an intensive with Linda May Oh, Allison Miller, and Alicia Olatuja. She also was picked to be apart of Etienne Charle's Afro-Carribean Big Band under Jas Aspen Academy. Past ensembles she has been apart of include Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra, where she toured Europe and the U.S. with Sean Jones and 2x Grammy winning vocalist, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Princeton University's Creative Large Ensemble.

In her junior year of high school, she merged her love for music and activism by founding the Queen Amina Music Program, aimed at advancing the “women in jazz” movement. This program, designed for 4th-8th grade instrumentalists at Lawrence Intermediate and Middle Schools, teaches jazz history, improvisation, and modal progressions. Laura-Simone also secured grant funding to bring in guest artists, host masterclasses, and organize a public concert on March 15, 2023, featuring Grammy-nominated saxophonist and Oscar winner Tia Fuller.

Currently, Laura-Simone is a junior at Michigan State University, studying under renowned bassist Rodney Whitaker.