Dave Douglas
is without doubt one of the greatest and most creative trumpet players of our time. With his brand new quintet "Gifts", the exceptional artist draws inspiration from the music of the great Charles Lloyd and presents highly energetic and innovative music with its finger on the pulse of the times.

Whether as a composer, arranger or soloist - trumpeter Dave Douglas knows no stylistic boundaries. He belongs to the more experimental part of the New York jazz scene and is also one of the few contemporary jazz musicians in the USA who are not satisfied with musical innovations and discoveries, but also have the courage to express social and political messages. His work ranges from collaborations with Horace Silver to reminiscences of the music of Roland Kirk and echoes of fusion music. With "Songs of Ascent," he presents his new album on tour in Europe.

Last year, the visionary trumpeter visited us with his album "Songs of Ascent", and the concert was one of our highlights of the past year. Douglas, whose tireless desire to discover new projects and bands is constantly coming to light, will present his new quintet "Gifts" in 2024. Featuring new, original, energy music-influenced compositions from Douglas, as well as inspirations from the life and music of Charles Lloyd. Gifts Quintet reflects on the wisdom, vision, and positivity of the composer and saxophonist in an innovative way, notably exploring Lloyd's fascination with the music of Billy Strayhorn. The quintet’s sound focuses on song form, emphasizing textural and timbral enhancement in service of each song.

James Brandon Lewis
is a critically-acclaimed composer, saxophonist, and writer. He has received accolades from NPR, ASCAP Foundation, Macdowell, and The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. He has released several critically-acclaimed albums, most recently highly touted 2021's Jesup Wagon. James was voted Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist by Downbeat magazine's 2020s International Critics poll, and most recently named top Tenor Saxophonist for 2021 by Jazz Times Magazine.

Tomeka Reid
Cellist and composer Tomeka Reid has emerged as one of the most original, versatile, and curious musicians in Chicago’s bustling jazz and improvised music community. A 2022 Herb Alpert awardee and MacArthur Fellow, 2021 USA Fellow, 2019 Foundation of the Arts and a 2016 3Arts recipient, Reid received her doctorate in music from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2017. From 2019-2021 Tomeka Reid held an appointment at Mills College as the Darius Milhaud chair in composition. Most recently, she was the artist in residence with the Moers Jazz Festival 2022.

Rafiq Bhatia
A guitarist, composer, producer, and sound artist, Rafiq Bhatia “treats his guitar, synthesizers, drum machines and electronic effects as architectural elements" (The New York Times). Bhatia is a member of the band Son Lux, with whom he has released three albums and scored the film Everything Everywhere All At Once. Bhatia is a Jerome Foundation Composer/Sound Artist Fellow and adjunct faculty of the New School’s Performer-Composer Master of Music program. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Ian Chang
Drummer Ian Chang makes electronic music that is humanistic. Using drums to control and manipulate samples, he is able to realize complete musical ideas with unaccompanied and unedited performance. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Chang moved to New York in 2007 and quickly gained a reputation as a “gigantically talented drummer" (NPR). Now relocated to Dallas, Texas, Chang’s debut full-length record 属 Belonging was released in April 2020 via City Slang.