Jazz Fest Day Program by Tilles Center for the Performing Arts

SATURDAY,JULY19,2025

PRESENTED IN COLLABORATION WITH ADDITIONAL

JAZZ FEST SPONSORS

MEET THE ARTISTS

New Jazz Underground

1-1:45 PM, DIME

MAINSTAGE

New Jazz Underground, an American trio, have been described as “an innovative and ultra creative collective striving to establish themselves as a defining voice for the genre of Jazz and beyond.” Their music signals a merging of traditional sensibilities in Jazz with the modern influence of swing, hip-hop, house/afro-beat, and AfroCuban music. Listeners were introduced to the trio’s undeniably fresh sound through viral videos of the band performing in their living room. Millions viewed videos such as: they can hate but we still swingin’, f**k/s**t/c**t/ jazz, sad boy jazz, as well as many others featuring the band’s exuberant chemistry, effortless musicality, and raw ambition in sound.

Abdias Armenteros (Saxophonist/Composer), Sebastian Rios (Bassist/ Composer), and TJ Reddick (Drummer) have each been lauded as some of Jazz’s most promising young artists in their own right. After meeting while students at The Juilliard School, the trio began playing in the parks of NYC during the lock-down in 2020. They shortly began posting to their YouTube channel that has since grown to over 85k+ subscribers. Releases such as MF Doom Suite, Harlem to Havana, and Cook/Swing/Work/Relax fully demonstrate the trio’s reverence towards Jazz’s icons, yet still contend in a vision to establish their own voice in the expression of new sounds that transcend genre lines. New Jazz Underground is the 2023 DCJazzPrix™ Winner. Rios is a 2024 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award Winner. Both Reddick (BM’ 20) and Armenteros (MM’ 22) are Juilliard School Graduates. Armenteros is the youngest member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Reddick and Rios have played as sidemen for the likes of Jon Batiste, Sullivan Fortner, Emmet Cohen, and ELEW, among many more. Rios is a long-time student of the legendary bassist, Ron Carter. The group most recently was featured on NPR Music for their release Cook/Swing/Work/Relax.

Vanisha Gould

2-2:45 PM, WINNICK HOUSE

Vanisha Gould came to New York in 2015 from Simi Valley, California. Inspired by artists like Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, Carmen McRae and Ella Fitzgerald – Vanisha has successfully curated her own sound as a composer and band leader. Performing originals and music from the Great American Songbook on several groundbreaking stages both in New York and overseas, she aspires to continue sharing her voice with audiences in New York and beyond.

LIU Post Jazz Ensemble

2-2:45 PM, UNIVERSITY ARCHES

The LIU Post Jazz Ensemble (directed by LIU faculty members Kaz Takemura and Jeff Lederer) is comprised of a mix of current students and recent alums in the music department of LIU. This 12-piece group plays contemporary and Afro-Cuban jazz pieces with their own brand of inspired improvisation. The group travelled to New Orleans in 2022 and performed there, along with many performances locally at the Jazz Loft in Stony Brook.

Pedrito Martínez Group

3-3:45 PM, DIME MAINSTAGE

Pedrito Martínez is a source of rhythmic delight and inspiration – an incomparable performer – he is as close as traditional Afro-Cuban music has to a superstar – The New York Times

Pedro Pablo “Pedrito”Martínez was born in Havana, Cuba on September 12, 1973 in the Cayo Hueso neighborhood, where rumba is played all day long, and began his musical career at the age of 11, with a foundation in the rumba and Afro-Cuban Yoruba traditions.

Since settling in New York City in the fall of 1998, Pedrito has recorded or performed with, Paul Simon, Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D’Rivera, Bruce Springsteen, Rubén Blades, Eddie Palmieri, Dave Matthews, and Sting, and has contributed to over 75 albums.

A consummate master of Afro-Cuban folkloric music and the batá drum, he is also the world’s first-call rumbero—playing, singing, and dancing with dozens of Cuban rumba groups.

Pedrito was a founding member of the highly successful Afro-Cuban/Afro-Beat band, Yerba Buena, with which he recorded two albums and toured the world in the mid-to late-90’s.

Mr. Martínez’s career as a leader began in 2005 with the formation in NYC of The Pedrito Martínez Group. He has recorded four solo albums, the first one of which was nominated for a Grammy® in 2013 and was chosen among NPR’s Favorite Albums for 2013 and The Boston Globe Critics Top Ten Albums of the same year.

In February of 2019, Pedrito and Cuban pianist, Alfredo Rodriguez, released a duo album called Duologue to critical acclaim. Quincy Jones was Executive Producer.

A 2021 album called Acertijos (Riddles), featuring special guests Gilberto Santa Rosa, Eric Clapton, and Issac Delgado, was nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Contemporary Tropical Album.

Summer Camargo Quintet

4-4:45 PM, WINNICK HOUSE

Summer Camargo, 23, is a native of Hollywood, Florida. She is a Jerome Green Fellowship recipient at the Juilliard School, receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in 2023 and Masters Degree in 2024, majoring in Jazz Studies with trumpet as her instrument. Summer regularly performs at notable NYC jazz clubs like Dizzy’s, Birdland, and with the Mingus Big Band, and in 2022, she became the newest member of the Saturday Night Live House Band.

At the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Essentially Ellington Festivals, Summer received Outstanding Trumpet Soloist Awards, and in 2018, Summer won the Ella Fitzgerald Outstanding Soloist Award and the Dr. J. Douglas White Student Composition Contest. She was honored to have the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra record her first, original big band chart, Leap Froggin’. In 2020, Summer was a panelist for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz Congress, joined the Ulysses Owens, Jr. Big Band, was featured in FENDI’s Anima Mundi project in New York City and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Big Band Holiday concert, and was the recipient of the Laurie Frink Grant.

In 2022, Summer placed first place in the International Trumpet Guild’s Ryan Anthony Trumpet Memorial Competition, performed as a guest artist for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Wynton at 60, participated in Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead at the Kennedy Center, played with the Jazz at Lincoln Orchestra as they performed her original composition, Alalazoo, at the 2022 Jazz at Lincoln Center Gala, and toured with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s Big Band Holiday Tour.

As an educator, Summer has conducted masterclasses at the JEN conference, Jazz Memes, and the Louis Armstrong House Museum. She has also adjudicated jazz festival competitions at Northern State University and the Eau Claire Jazz Festival. In the summer of 2023, Summer toured with her sextet throughout Cape Cod in conjunction with JALC and the Cape Symphony, performed with Jon Batiste at the Newport Jazz Festival, and played in the Broadway pit for Disney’s Aladdin. She recently signed with Blue Engine Records and released her debut album in March 2024. Summer is also a proud Conn Selmer/Bach artist.

Jamile

4-4:45 PM,

UNIVERSITY ARCHES

Originally from Brazil, vocalist, composer, and educator Jamile has become one of the most sought-after vocalists in the New York scene.

She captivates audiences with her unique phrasing and heartfelt tone, and impresses listeners with her virtuosity. Jamile’s versatility is sharply pronounced in her unique repertoire choices, combining modern and Brazilian jazz into a sound of her own, and her original work also reflects her undeniable authenticity and plurality.

She has performed at world-renowned venues, including Mezzrow, Smalls Jazz Club, Birdland, and Dizzy’s Jazz Club, and has received high praise for her performances at venues and festivals throughout the US and internationally. In 2023, Jamile opened for Rosa Passos, Kenny Barron, and Ron Carter at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Throughout her career, she has performed with veterans of this music, including Duduka da Fonseca, Hélio Alves, Ray Gallon, and Jay Leonhart, as well as current NYC jazz luminaries such as Miki Yamanaka, Yotam Silberstein, and Russell Hall, to name but a few.

She has two studio albums released by La Reserve Records that have amassed millions of streams, both featuring the great Steve Wilson, and she has also taken part in countless other projects as a side person including This Rock We’re On: Imaginary Letters by Mike Holober, where she was featured alongside Chris Potter and John Patitucci.

Alphonso Horne & The Gotham Kings

5-5:45

PM,

DIME MAINSTAGE

Gotham Kings is a high-energy immersive jazz experience! Twotime Grammy nominated trumpeter Alphonso Horne has put together an all-star band that weaves the sound of New Orleans, Funk, Jazz, and Hip Hop to bring a celebratory spirit that uplifts the spirit.

Inspired by the music of King Oliver Creole Jazz Band, Gotham Kings uses the virtuosity of the young Louis Armstrong and innovative genius of King Oliver to take you on a journey of sound that encompasses the story of jazz through rags, stomps, shouts and funk!

The band has played in venues including Newport, Aspen, and Caramoor Jazz Festival, Louis Armstrong House Museum, Jazz at Lincoln Center and many more! Individually, members of the Gotham Kings have compiled a diverse resume of collaborations with top artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Michael Feinstein, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, The Colbert Show and more!