Chilean singer/songwriter/arranger Claudia Acuña possesses one of the most beautiful and compelling voices in jazz and creative music. While singing primarily in Spanish, her music crosses language barriers to communicate with power and deep feeling.

Acuña was born in Santiago, Chile on July 31, 1971. When she was quite young, her family moved first to the mining town of Rancagua and then to Concepcion, the site of a rich arts community. A guitar was always around the house, as is the case in most South American homes, but her parents provided limited exposure to music and little encouragement when their daughter expressed an interest in the arts. “They saw music as a hobby, not a career,” she says. Yet once she heard recordings by Violeta Parra and Michael Jackson on the radio, she decided to become a singer. “The family did not own a television, so my imagination became my own TV. I began to fantasize about being in front of an audience, and would search the radio for things that moved me - from Parra and Michael Jackson to Earth, Wind and Fire to Mozart to movie musicals. When I finally heard people like Erroll Garner and Thelonious Monk, I was drawn to the music’s freedom without knowing that what they played was called jazz.”

Teachers and friends who heard Acuña performing in school choirs and folk groups provided early encouragement, and helped her to find performing opportunities that would not antagonize her parents. “I was the only member of a college choir who did not attend the college, for instance, and my parents approved of that because it was at a college. When I became older, and chances to perform with rock or jazz groups arose, I’d start lying about going to a friend’s house. I would also sneak into the conservatory on the way home from high school and try to memorize the lessons. I would sing anything, and after people heard me sitting in and began to hire me, the money I made became the excuse to get work. “

In 1991, Acuña moved to Santiago, where she quickly became active recording jingles and doing voices for cartoons. Her own musical concepts also began to develop, nurtured by an older professional couple she met who told her that she was really a jazz singer. Listening to the vast record collection of these new friends and singing at their house in weekly sessions with older musicians left her inspired but frustrated, as she did not know people her age who shared her passion. After seeing a film about the musicians and clubs in New York, and meeting touring musicians who visited Chile and provided encouragement, she found the necessary confidence to visit the United States. “I was insecure, because I had not attended music school and did not speak English at the time; but I had enough confidence, plus a little bit of craziness, to follow my passion. One day in 1995, I just said, ‘that’s it, I’m going to New York.’”

While Acuña had planned to study at one of the area’s jazz schools, she soon realized that tuition costs were prohibitive. But she received encouragement when a teacher at one audition told her that she did not really need school, and that she could learn “the old fashion way” at the city’s jam sessions and clubs. Following this advice, Acuña began to meet other young musicians and receive calls for gigs, many of which required that she function like another instrument in the ensemble. “I felt more at home in New York than I ever felt in Chile,” she explains, “even though I didn’t speak the language well and was running out of money. “A series of part-time jobs led to work on the staff at the Blue Note nightclub, where she heard many legendary artists who strengthened her determination to find an original voice. “I had heard Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nation Orchestra in Chile, and felt that if he could embrace Latin music, then I could bring my own background to jazz.”

It was at the original Small’s in Greenwich Village, a hotbed of young talent, that Acuña made the greatest strides, meeting and working with such artists as Jeff Ballard, Avishai Cohen, Frank Hewitt, Guillermo Klein, Jimmie Lovelace, Brad Mehldau, Harry Whittaker and the man who became her musical director and closest collaborator, pianist Jason Lindner. She was given a key to the club, which allowed her to rehearse on what became a daily basis. After initiating an early gig at the Zinc Bar, offers from other Manhattan clubs and restaurants followed. “Everyone was driven to explore, and was so supportive,” she recalls. “It was like a little music gang. I knew then that I had made the right decision, and had arrived at the right place. I wasn’t in school, but every note I heard was a lesson.”

Record companies began to show interest in Acuña after a tape of one of her live performances began to circulate without her knowledge. She was signed to Verve Records in 1999, where she recorded two albums, Wind from the South and Rhythm of Life. A third disc, Luna, was recorded for MAXJAZZ in 2004, and her debut on the Marsalis Music label, En Este Momento, will be released in April 2009. Acuña has also recorded and toured with a host of performers including George Benson, Joey Calderazzo, Billy Childs, Roy Hargrove, Tom Harrell, Christian McBride, Danilo Perez and Pablo Ziegler. Over time, she has performed more of her material in her native language. “I always promised myself that I would honor my background,” she says, “and I’ve gone from the point where there were always one or two songs in Spanish to where there are always one or two in English. But I don’t want to lock myself into a formula because my growth has been organic, like a seed that produces more leaves, branches and flowers with each year.”

Acuña’s appointment as spokesperson for the child-focused relief agency World Vision Chile underscores her commitments beyond music. “I heard about World Vision almost by accident, and grew more involved as I saw that the organization works,” she says. “I’m interested in everything that involves sustaining mother earth, and children are a priority. Any organization that does not just label children ‘delinquent,’ but serves their needs, I’ll be involved.”

A peruvian singer with a powerful voice, commanding stage presence, and versatile flair for many music styles, Eva Ayllon began performing in Peruvian peñas (nightclubs) in the 1970s. By the 1980s, she had produced popular recordings and collaborated with established Peruvian groups such as Los Kipus. In 1989, her performance as lead vocalist with Alex Acuña’s Los Angeles-based Peruvian jazz band Los Hijos del Sol sealed her status as a Peruvian national star. Many would agree that, by the 1990s, she had become Peru’s most popular living singer of both musica criolla and Afro-Peruvian styles, with several platinum records and an adoring mass of Peruvian fans around the world. In 2003, Eva Ayllon gamered two Latin Grammy nominations in the “Best Folk Album” category.

Eva released her first US album, “Eva! Leyenda Peruana”, on Times Square Records in 2004. Since then, her musical presence continues to expand boundaries. In her commitment to broaden the awareness of afro-Peruvian culture, Eva changed her residence from Lima, Peru to New Jersey in 2005. And since then, she and her group have been touring across Europe, North America and Latin America extensively.

In 2008 she sold out the house in Carnegie Hall, reputedly the first Peruvian singer since diva Yma Sumac (in the 1950s) to perform at the prestigious U.S. venue.

“Being able to sing is the most wonderful gift that God bestowed on me and singing for my country, Peru, gives me a sense of great pride.”

Over the past decade guitarist and composer David Gilmore has recorded and performed with some of the most highly influential and innovative artists in modern music today including Wayne Shorter, Dave Douglas, Muhal Richard Abrams, Sam Rivers, Steve Coleman, Don Byron, Cassandra Wilson, Uri Caine, Randy Brecker and David Sanborn. He has appeared on over 50 recordings and been a major presence on the international touring scene. In the Spring of 2001 he released his first recording as a leader entitled Ritualism, which has already received major international critical appraise and was nominated for Debut CD of the Year in 2001 by the Jazz Journalists Association. Mr. Gilmore was also recently voted into the Rising Stars category in DownBeat Magazine's Critic's Poll.

Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Gilmore sought out music at a young age experimenting with piano, drums and percussion before discovering the guitar at the age of 15. After a few years of private study with Boston local guitar gurus John Baboian and Randy Roos, Gilmore moved to New York to attend New York University, where he studied under the tutelage of sax titan Joe Lovano and pianist Jim McNeely. Shortly after his graduation in 1987, Gilmore began touring and recording in earnest with many of the members of the fledging M-Base Collective, and soon after began to find himself in many other diverse musical situations, recording and/ or touring with Ronald Shannon Jackson, Trilok Gurtu, Graham Haynes, Robin Eubanks, and Lonnie Plaxico. In the early 1990’s he became an active member of the popular jazz/fusion group Lost Tribe, co-producing their first two recordings for the Windham Hill Label.

Over the years he has also lent his skills to a variety of pop/ commercial acts including Japan’s Monday Michiru, Me’shell N’Degeocello, Melissa Etheridge, Joan Osbourne, Mavis Staples, Issac Hayes, Boz Scaggs, Tommy Lang of Austria, Rise Robots Rise, and toured extensively with multi-platinum selling artist Joss Stone. In 1995 Gilmore got the call to join sax legend Wayne Shorter’s group, and appears on Mr. Shorter’s Grammy Award winning album, High Life on Verve. He can be found most recently on recordings by Christian McBride, Carolyn Leonhart, Don Byron, Ron Blake and Uri Caine.

As a composer, improviser and guitarist, Gilmore is committed to pushing the boundaries of improvisational music, at the same time without alienating the uninitiated listener. His music reflects the diverse musical influences and experiences he has assimilated throughout his career. The exploration of rhythm is a major component of his music, utilizing many non-Western approaches and integrating them into a modern framework. Gilmore was a recipient of the Chamber Music America New Works Composer Grant, enabling him to compose a commisioned work entitled “African Continuum” which was performed in public in the Spring and Fall of 2003. His playing has been compared to guitarists with styles as diverse as George Benson, Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix and Leo Nocentelli.

His most recent recording effort entitled Unified Presence features Christian McBride, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Ravi Coltrane and Claudia Acuna, and is scheduled for Early 2006 release through RKM Records/ Koch International.

Pianist, composer, multi-keyboardist, band-leader and arranger, Jason Lindner, grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and was naturally able to learn to play radio, television and film music by ear while only a few years of age. At age 7 he began formal piano studies, followed by guitar, saxophone, flute, bass and drums. He attended F. H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art (location for the TV-series Fame) and formed lasting ties with musical colleagues Daniel Freedman (Third World Love), Myron Walden (Brian Blade Fellowship), Eric McPherson (Jackie McLean, Kurt Rosenwinkle) and others, and began his professional career performing at local galleries, clubs and restaurants, as well as in the great performance halls of Carnegie and Lincoln Center with school, city and state ensembles. Lindner sites his most influential teachers into his early 20's as Barry Harris (the "keeper of the bebop flame"), and Chris Anderson (perhaps the biggest influence harmonically on Herbie Hancock). Always guided by the light of his mentors, Lindner explains, “I've brought everything I inherited from my elders in the New York jazz community - Barry, Chris, Frank Hewitt, Jimmy Lovelace, Tommy Turrentine, C Sharpe, Junior Cook, Junior Mance, Jackie Byard and others - and try to connect this knowledge and tradition from the masters to new things happening now rhythmically and harmonically, in an aim to just melt into this current musical moment in history, and not worry about style or genre. Just music.”

Following his own path, Jason played in Latin dance bands, accompanied jazz vocalists at the jazz community theater The University Of The Streets, and composed for and led various formations of his own ensembles. He began touring and recording with Israeli bassist Avishai Cohen and Chilean vocalist Claudia Acuña, all the while becoming more and more interested in seeking out different forms of musical expression from around the globe in the search for the intense vitality which he felt was lacking in much of the music around. "No type of music is more important than any other," Lindner claims. "They are all parts of one musical expression, the universal language of Music. Just as knowing multiple verbal languages broadens ones native tongue, sharpen the mind for learning and increase ones ability toward expression, so does knowledge of multiple musical forms make one a more complete musician. Music in different places naturally became specialized in different ways of expression and are all historically linked to one-another, some more apparent than others. These gaps are slowly being filled and forgotten links re-discovered. I believe this is what my generation is now rapidly understanding."

Today Jason Lindner is an integral, vital part of many exciting bands and projects, including Me'shell Ndegeocello, Claudia Acuña, Dafnis Prieto's Grammy-nominated Absolute Quintet, on trumpeter Avishai Cohen's recording After The Big Rain with Lionel Loueke, Anat Cohen, Omer Avital, Baba Israel, The New York Gypsy All Stars, and others. Jason Lindner's credits also include musical direction for Lauryn Hill, big band arrangements for Jazz at Lincoln Center's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra on their Grammy-nominated “Noche Involvidable”, touring with the world's greatest living jazz drummer Roy Haynes, and a recent sold-out Carnegie Hall performance featured with the most celebrated singer of Croatia, Oliver Dragojević. Lindner is arguably the only musician on the scene that is fully entrenched in such diverse styles as playing acoustic jazz piano with various small groups, analogue modular synths with Me'shell Ndegeocello, and leading one of the most electrifying big bands around. Lindner has also shared stage or studio with esteemed artists as Chick Corea, Elvin Jones, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D’Rivera, Christian McBride, Hüsnü Şenlendirici, Pink Noise, Amel Larrieux, Kurt Rosenwinkle, Dana Leong, Pharaoh's Daughter, Cindy Santos, Waverly Seven, Somi, Giovanna Moretti, Junior Cook, Jon Hendricks, James Moody, Graciella and members of the legendary Mario Bauza Orchestra, Mark Turner, Dakota Staton, Jimmy Lovelace (Wes Montgomery), Jimmy Cobb (Miles Davis), The Henry Mancini Orchestra, Clarence "C" Sharpe, Vernel Fournier (Ahmad Jamal), and others.

Pianist, producer and composer Pablo Vergara has made a mark in the New York scene by working with a wide array of artists in the most diverse musical contexts. Classically trained in his native Chile, Pablo moved to the US to study at Harlem's City College with distinguished professor Ron Carter. Since then he has worked with artists like tenor saxophone legend Gato Barbieri, Grammy Award winner Dave Valentin, Bebel Gilberto, Antonio Hart, Jay Rodriguez, Victor Jones, Greg Tardy, Alfredo de la Fe, Valery Ponomarev, Andy Gonzalez, Benny Reid, Santi Debriano and the Chico O’Farill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra. Vergara's music interests are wide and diverse. He performed extensively across the US with Turkish Sufi Music virtuoso Omar Faruk Tekbilek. He recently completed a European tour with R&B and Funk legends Brass Construction and B.T. Express. He has been a guest artist with the Grammy Nominated band The Groove Collective and he was the musical director of Anath’s Middle Eastern Music Ensemble, which performed at the Super Bowl XXVII in San Diego, California. Pablo Vergara has traveled the world, playing jazz and world music festivals across Europe, the US, Australia, South America and the Caribbean. His performance credits include Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, Bumbershoot Music Festival in Seattle, New York Central Park Summerstage, Paris' Le Zenith, Marseille's Fiesta des Suds, Spain's Santander Festival and Australia's Sidney Festival, amongst many others. Mr. Vergara graduated from Universidad Catolica de Chile with a B.A. in Journalism and a M.A. in Art History & Theory. Pablo lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with his wife Anath and Sushi the fish. And he actually feels a little weird about writing in third person.

Grégoire Maret has become the most sought after harmonica player behind legends Toots Thielemans and Stevie Wonder. Influenced by both, Maret has managed to find his own voice on the instrument. His capability to play almost anything has created a steady flow of collaboration with musicians from the jazz, pop, rock, funk & R&B worlds, who call upon Maret's mastery to add the sound element unique to him. Born May 13, 1975 in Geneva, Switzerland to a Swiss father and American mother, Maret began his musical career as a harmonica player at age 17. He attended Geneva's prestigious Collège de Saussure and the Superior Conservatory of Music. 1995, he made the critical decision to move to New York City and pursue his studies at the New School For Social Research, Jazz Program, where he graduated with a BA in Music 1998 and has been on the move ever since. Grégoire's experience weaves a phenomenal tale. He has recorded, performed and toured with many musical greats, including; Reggie Workman, Charles Tolliver, Charles Fambrough, Patato Valdez, Max Roach, Tito Puente, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Pete la Roca, and Ray Brown, David Sanborn, Jimmy Scott, Jacky Terrasson, John Hicks, Idris Muhammad, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Mino Cinelu, Anita Baker, Bebel Giberto, Leon Parker, Bruce Cockburn, George Benson, Jeff 'Tain' Watts. In 2005 Grégoire toured the world as a member of the Pat Metheny Group. He also won the following awards: "player of the year of instrument rare in jazz" from the jazz journalist association award, the critics’ poll in downbeat magazine "rising star miscellaneous instrument and each member of the Pat Metheny Group won a Grammy for "best contemporary jazz album" "the way up". His first album with Andy Milne as co-leader, “Scenarios”, came out in 2007. Currently residing in New York, Grégoire can either be seen on the road, or performing and recording with renowned jazz artists such as Cassandra Wilson, Charlie Hunter, Steve Coleman, Marcus Miller, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ravi Coltrane, the Pat Metheny Group, Marcus Miller and Herbie Hancock. This year, in addition to dedicating every other moment to completing his forthcoming solo album, he co-leads a trio named Gaia with Federico Gonzalez Peña and Gene Lake.

I am a Venezuelan musician who is interested in good music, so what is the good music? For me is the music that is related with grooves, organic rhythms, a cool beat, but sometimes the question is to beat or no to beat. I love jazz, Latino-American music, classical music, flamenco, Indian music, gypsy grooves, etc. I feel the music as an spiritual experience, is like to be connected with something bigger than us.

Jon Cowherd is on the cutting edge of today’s rogressive music movement. His artistic vision and passion takes on many different roles including pianist, composer, rranager, and producer. Perhaps most highly acclaimed for his work with the Brian Blade Fellowship (BBF), Cowherd’s continuum of texture, rhythm, and pure emotion is astounding and limitless.

Though today one of NYC’s music elite, Jon’s dedication and contribution to the world of music began at a very young age. Growing up in Kentucky as the son of musicians (and music educators), he began singing, playing the french horn, violin and the piano, honing what would become his own unmistakable style. Cowherd soon migrated to New Orleans, one of the world’s most vibrant music communities, where he attended Loyola University. Here he studied jazz piano and improvisation under the legendary Ellis Marsalis, John Mahoney and Steve Masakowski. It was in this inspired environment that Cowherd co-founded the Brian Blade Fellowship with fellow student, and now celebrated drummer, Brian Blade.

Today, Jon has emerged with a collection of essential gems, each with many facets. His compositions and arrangements have been praised and recorded by many brilliant artists and can be heard on: “Brian Blade Fellowship” BBF (Blue Note-1998), “Perceptual” BBF (featuring Joni Mitchell) (Blue Note-2000), the widely anticipated, “Season of Changes” BBF (Universal- April, 2008), Lizz Wright’s “Salt” (Verve-2003), and many more. Cowherd’s Producer credits include the above mentioned as well as, “Just Show Up” The Local (2004), and Alyssa Graham’s upcoming release “Echo” (Sunnyside-2008). Cowherd has also recently served as Musical Director for American Idol superstar Katharine McPhee.

Jon has been fortunate to have a crew of unusually talented musicians and collaborators along for much of his journey. To highlight a few: Brian Blade, Melvin Butler, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Dave Easley, Jeff Parker, Christopher Thomas, Myon Walden, Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Claudia Acuna, Vanessa Rubin, Carla Cook, Lizz Wright, Delfeayo Marsalis, Bob Mintzer Big Band, Marcus Strickland, John Patitucci, and Jack Wilkins.

Mark Kelley is a Brooklyn-based jazz bassist.

Yayo Serka was born in Tierra del Fuego Chile, and began playing percussion for traditional Andean folk groups and jazz bands. He studied classical music at the Universidad Católica of Chile and in Cuba, where he attended music school for four years. During his time in Havana, Serka had the opportunity to work with renowned artists from the jass and Afro-Cuban music scene. After returning to Chile for two years, Serka settled in New York City working as an independent drummer in the downtown music scene in a variety of styles. He is currently the drummer/percussionist with Mexican pop singer Lila Downs and has also performed with Claudia Acuña, Bobby Watson, Frankie Paris, the Chico O'Farrill Orchestra, the gosplel choir of the Walker Memorial Baptist Group, and various rap and hip-hop artists.

Juancho Herrera started his musical journey with the influence of the Venezuelan music tradition. In 1990 he enrolled at Ars Nova School of Music in Caracas, Venezuela. Juancho has worked as a guitarist and vocalist for several bands while living in Venezuela including: Cabijazz (Salsa Jazz) Solazul (Latin Jazz, tour sponsored by Berklee), Caravana Theater Co., Sus 4 (Jazz-Rock, singles and video showcased during 2 years), among others. His voice and guitar work has been featured in jingles for various clients including Pepsi and Daimler-Chrysler.

Juancho Herrera traveled to the U.S. in 1993 to continue his studies at Berklee College of Music, were he received a scholarship as a guitarist. He has recorded several CDs as band leader and sideman, and has performed in very prestigious venues such as The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Shibuya Koukaido in Tokyo, Centro Cultural La Estancia in Caracas, Carnegie Hall in New York,Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile, Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, among others. He has also performed extensively in: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, England, Germany, Greece, Holland, Israel, Japan, Macedonia, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.S. and Venezuela.

He has collaborated and performed with several artists including: Claudia Acuna (Jazz), Marta Gomez (World Music), Lila Downs (Grammy Award winner), Aquiles Baez (Calle 54, Paquito D'Rivera, Giora Feidman), Tsidii Le Loka (South African vocalist Tony Award winner), Nestor Torres (Grammy Award winner), Eric Wainaina (Kora Award winner), Haydee Milanes (Cuban Pop), Rebecca Fanya (Marc Anthony, Harry Belafonte), Pablo Ablanedo Group (Argentinean Jazz), Jenny Sheinman Quartet (avant-garde jazz, Bill Frisell, John Zorn), Francisco Pacheco (Un Solo Pueblo), Yordamis Megret (Bamboleo), Brazooca Band (featuring Alon Yavnai, Didi Gutman, Paulo Levy), Zemog El Gallo Bueno (Mutant Salsa), Crossroads Ensemble (collaboration with Mattan Klein), among others.

Juancho has written music for short films, theater plays and CD-Rom productions. He has also worked as a sound designer for multimedia interfaces such as the award winning piece Acoustic Inflections, by Paola Tabora, as well as promotional work for Renegade Marketing Group and Univision. His guitar work has been featured in several off Broadway plays and most recently in the PBS documentary 90 Miles, composed and produced by Jose Conde.

Currently Juancho is working on the promotion of his latest CD "Buscando" produced in collaboration with Producer/Engineer Fernando Aponte, whose credits include Ryuichi Sakamoto, Marisa Monte, Tito Puente, Arto Lindsay, Los Amigos Invisibles, among others.

Canonized, marginalized or just scrutinized, Meshell Ndegeocello has given up trying to explain herself. After 20 years in an industry that has called her everything from avant garde to a dying breed, what unquestionably remains is the fearsome bassist, prolific songwriter and the creativity and curiosity of an authentic musical force. With that, she has earned critical acclaim, the unfailing respect of fellow players, songwriters and composers, and the dedication of her diverse, unclassifiable fans. 



Devil’s Halo, Meshell's 8th album and her first for Mercer Street, harkens back to the way records used to be made: no click track or electronic synthetics, with a focus on musicianship and live band energy. Meshell feels that Devil’s Halo represents a return to a place that she truly appreciates, music that is created and performed by people's hands. Produced by Meshell and guitarist Chris Bruce, and influenced by a wide breadth of sounds - from The Human League to Wu Tang to Yes – Devil’s Halo displays Meshell's vocals and diversity throughout.



Meshell says of Devil’s Halo, "I guess I've ended up believing in the gray area, the dichotomies and the unknowable. This record is all about contrast - then and now, raw and polished, beats and harmonies, Devil's Halo, good in evil in all things. I know some people want more of what they've heard and I know other people want the envelope pushed every time and I feel like this record makes peace with all of them”. She adds, “I love heavy bass and dub and beats, but I also sit and play the piano and write a song inspired by a pub in Dublin. I'm not representing anymore - I'm a musician, that's all I can offer. Each record is just meant to say: here's where that's led me today."



Meshell Ndegeocello was born Michelle Johnson in Berlin, Germany and raised in Washington DC. By the early 90's, she had landed in New York armed with a demo recorded in her bedroom, joined the Black Rock Coalition, and was soon signed to Madonna's label. Her records, 8 to date, have offered lyrical ruminations on race, love, sex, betrayal, God, and power, and she has simultaneously embraced and challenged listeners with her refusal to be pigeon-holed musically or personally. Meshell has been both celebrated and berated for her politically charged lyrics, sexual boundary crossing, and for choosing the road less traveled - a winding adventure through her own musical ambitions rather than the industry formulas.



A vast array of influences have informed all of her albums, including Devil’s Halo, and there are traces of her native go-go, hip hop, rock, R&B, new wave and punk in each. Each album has been a step away from the last, each used as a chance to investigate and integrate new sounds and ideas, and fans have been treated to everything from the deep-funk of Plantation Lullabies to the raw and confessional Bitter to the hip-hop loving Cookie. Possessed with instrumental gifts as diverse as her interests, Meshell composed, arranged and produced a jazz record in 2005.



A bass player above all else, Meshell brings her signature warm, fat, and melodic groove to everything she does and has appeared alongside the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Alanis Morrisette, James Blood Ulmer, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tony Allen, John Medeski, Billy Preston, and Chaka Khan. As for her own bass-playing influences, she credits Sting, Jaco Pastorius, Family Man Barrington, and Stevie Wonder. Meshell was the first woman to be featured on the cover of Bass Player magazine and remains one of few women who lead the band and write the music.


Heraldo Muñoz is the current Chilean Ambassador to the United Nations.