DOORS 5PM | SHOWTIME 6-7PM

DOORS 7:15PM | SHOWTIME 7:30-8:15PM

ABOUT GAYELYNN MCKINNEY:

Gayelynn McKinney is one of the most accomplished drummers in Detroit. Her father was the legendary Jazz pianist and composer, Harold McKinney, who once played with Billie Holliday, and her mother was a noted singer.

She has played 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:

A musician, producer, composer, and recording artist, REDWOOD was born Sequoia Snyder in Washington DC but spent her early childhood in Fort Myers, Florida. She was heavily influenced by gospel, R&B, hip-hop funk, soul, and pop music while growing up. Upon returning to DC at 10 years old, she began singing and eventually entered the prestigious Duke Ellington School of the Arts as a vocal major. But she became enamored with the piano as a freshman and changed her major, swiftly becoming an accomplished performer and leader. REDWOOD earned tremendous opportunities at Ellington, including performances with legendary artists like Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, Terell Stafford, and DeeDee Bridgewater. A 2021 graduate of the Jazz Studies program at Michigan State University, REDWOOD has been mentored by esteemed musicians like Rodney Whitaker, Jason Moran, Etienne Charles, and Diego Rivera, blending contemporary  jazz and other Black genres with sophisticated individuality. In 2022, she performed with international Afrobeat star CKay in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and The Roots Picnic in Philadelphia. She also performed with Teri Lynne Carrington, Patrice Rushen, and Jazzmeia Horn, as a Geri Allen Gathering Orchestra Fellow, and appeared with the New York City Ballet. REDWOOD’s multimedia piece on Black joy, “Delight,” won the Most Inspiring Performance Art Award at MSU’s 2021 Social Justice Festival. She won the Outstanding Piano award at the Lincoln Center’s Jack Rudin Jazz Competition in 2020, and later performed alongside Kenny Barron and Cory Henry at NPR’s annual “A Jazz Piano Christmas” program. Her musical endeavors in 2019 included selection for the Kennedy Center’s Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency; JAS Aspen Snowmass Academy (directed by Christian McBride); and DeeDee Bridgewater’s pilot program for emerging women musicians, The Woodshed Network. She was recently featured nationally by PBS as a protege of jazz legend Jason Moran. (2023). In December 2018, REDWOOD  won an Instagram competition for musicians to accompany The Internet on a national tour. She performed with the popular R&B band at its show in Detroit, where she’s among the city’s young lions in music. REDWOOD has headlined Detroit’s legendary Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe, and Ann Arbor’s Blue Llama Jazz Club and Kerrytown Concert House. Other appearances around Michigan include “Black Women Rock,” with the renowned Jessica Care Moore, as well as the Detroit Jazz Festival, Cliff Bell’s, and Blue Llama Jazz Club. Neither REDWOOD nor her music fits neatly into conventional boxes. Her originality shines through in her 2019 EP “Sempervirens.” Already distinguished as a musician, she went beyond the keys in her debut album, “Red 2 Go,” showcasing her vocal and production abilities. The 8-track mini-project received praise in publications such as Earmilk, Stereofox, and NUNAR magazine. Recent singles include the bouncy “Dub,” with rising vocalist Ekep Nkwelle, and “Nana,” a jazz tribute to her great-grandmother. At just 24 years old, REDWOOD has covered remarkable ground in a short period of time, with plans to go much farther.

ABOUT LAURA-SIMONE:

Laura-Simone Martin is an 19-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. 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.

This past summer, she was the 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 Charles 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. This past summer, Laura-Simone was the fellowship winner at Living Jazz Camp, where she worked intensively with Linda May Han Oh, Allison Miller, and Alicia Olatuja. She was also selected for Etienne Charles’ Afro-Caribbean Big Band at the Jas Aspen Academy. Her past ensemble experience includes performing with Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra, touring Europe and the U.S. with Sean Jones and two-time Grammy-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, as well as playing with 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 sophomore at Michigan State University, studying under renowned bassist Rodney Whitaker.

THE BAND:

Gayelynn McKinney - Drums

Redwood - Piano

Laura-Simone - Bass