Experience the fearless musicality of Nikara Warren’s Black Wall Street, presented as part of Harlem Stage’s Uptown Nights music series. A vibraphonist, composer, arranger, and educator, Nikara’s debut album is an abstract sound-collage of hip-hop, jazz, neo-soul, Afro-Latino and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and more.
Her vision is cohesive but eclectic — just like how people’s identities are a product of their varied heritage and associations. The work is also a convergence of her personal, cultural, familial, and musical journeys.
Thank you for joining us!
Nikara Warren Vibraphone & Raps
Craig Hill Saxophone
Sharif Kales Trumpet
Jon Michel Electric Bass
Corey Sanchez Electric Guitar
Axel Tosca Keyboards
Diego Ramirez Drums & Sampling Pad
Marc Cary Keyboards
Charles Turner Guest Vocalist
Surprise Guests!
This program is supported, in part, by, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Vibraphonist, composer, arranger, and educator Nikara Warren is a true Brooklynite. Born and bred in the eclectic and electric enclave, her family, her friends, her band, and her musical pedigree are a microcosm of the county at large. Granddaughter of worldrenowned jazz pianist Kenny Barron, daughter of a half Trinidadian soca/dancehall lover father, and a classic 90s “Brooklyn ’Round the Way” girl mother, Warren is taking vibes to the people with her infectious compositional sense, her post-modern patchwork of influences and cultural signposts, and her fearless musicality. Her bold quest comes from being well-versed in the vibraphone lineage, but seeking to adventure beyond it. Music critic Kira Grunenberg states, “Nikara Presents Black Wall Street doesn’t project its versatility and creative range through scholarly jazz arrangements or covers chasing perfectionism. Instead, it offers original music converged around a stylistically fluid foundation.”
Warren’s debut album, Black Wall Street, represents a convergence of Nikara’s personal, cultural, familial, and musical journeys. Here, she explores abstract sound-collage, hip-hop, jazz, neo-soul, Afro-Latino and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and more. The throughline here being for Nikara — it’s all dance music. Her vision is cohesive but eclectic — just like how people’s identities are a product of their varied heritage and associations.
Craig Hill is a saxophonist, music producer/writer, native of Dayton Ohio. He started his professional career at the age of 13 and has since been performing in genres of jazz, afro beat, hip hop, and more. His interests and inspirations come from many forms of art and his unique interactions with people from all walks of life. He studied at Berklee College of Music where he gained a passion for writing, producing and film score. Now residing in Brooklyn, Craig continues to perform and work with artists from all over the world, but especially loves creating with people in the melting pot that is New York City.
First picking up the trumpet in the seventh grade at the age of thirteen Sharif Kale’s music teacher switched Sharif from trumpet to baritone horn because Sharif couldn’t get a sound out of the trumpet. So he played baritone horn for his first year, but being as determined as he was to play trumpet Sharif took a trumpet home over the summer to practice. By the time he returned to school within weeks Sharif was playing the first chair on trumpet and also when on to make the borough and city wide bands.
Graduating from The New School Jazz program, Sharif is mainly versed in jazz, but his musical abilities are diverse. He plays many different styles of music such as funk, R and B, and Latin to name a few.
Sharif has worked with the likes of Charlie Persip, The Valery
Ponomarev Art Blakey big band, The Ray Arbans big band, The Harlem Renaissance big band, Charles Tolliver, Buster Williams, Mulgrew Miller, Joe Chambers, and Wallace Roney. Sharif is currently working with Legendary bassist John Benitez as well as freelancing and leading his own group. Sharif is also currently working on his debut album.
Born and raised in Waterbury, Connecticut Jonathan Michel is a bassist, composer and arranger of Haitian descent.
Michel received his earliest musical training at home with his father learning traditional Haitian music and liturgical music as a part of the long standing tradition tutelage and cultural sharing. As a young bassist Jonathan studied with Pierrot Philbert, Mario Pavone, Dave Santoro and John Benitez. Michel attended Central CT State University, where was in the classical bass studio with Volkhon Orhon and Roy Wiseman.
In 2005 Jonathan moved to Philadelphia where he continued his bass studies with Charles Fambrough while also becoming fully immersed in the bandstand education and opportunities that city is known for. It is in Philadelphia that Michel came under the tutelage of Orrin Evans, who produced Michel’s debut album MDR. This time in Philadelphia is highlighted by a 4 year stint in the band of Grammy Award winning vocalist Billy Paul, the last 2 years as musical director.
Now based in New York City, Michel is an eclectic artist known for his work as a producer and arranger, as well as performances all over the world. Some associated acts include Melanie Charles, Laurin Talese, Soul Science Lab, Tiwa Savage and Etienne Charles. In 2018 Michel released his debut album “Jonathan Michel: MDR” on Imani Records.
Corey Sanchez is a professional guitarist, composer, and arranger. Born and raised in Rhode Island he went on to study at Berklee College of Music where he received a degree in Jazz Composition. Since then he has worked with some of the industry’s leading artists, performing on stages all over the world. Above all else Sanchez puts his artistry first. Always seeking to evolve and push the envelope, he continues to finds ways to stay imaginative.
Cuban-born pianist Axel Tosca is a dynamic performer known for his genre-bending mix of Jazz, Latin, and Timba music. Born in Cuba in 1983, Tosca grew up in a prestigious musical family. His mother is renowned Trova singer Xiomara Laugart and his father, folk singer-guitarist Alberto Tosca. Introduced to guitar at age four, Tosca was also playing piano by age seven and soon joined his parents on-stage playing his first show at Casa de las Americas. Along with performing with his parents, he attended music school. One of his teachers was Miriam Valdés, the daughter of Cuban piano legends Bebo Valdés and sister of Chucho Valdés. With this first-class education, it enabled him to gain a wide range of experiences playing with groups like Dennis & Swing, the AfroCuban All-Stars, Bobby Carcassés, Teresa Garcia Caturla, Jose Miguel Crego, and more. Along with classical music, jazz, and Latin traditions, he also discovered hip-hop and played with The Roots when they toured Cuba. While in Cuba Tosca not only played with these legends but had won multiple piano competitions before moving to the United States in 2005 as part of the Havana Nights revue that played for two years at the world-famous Stardust Casino and Resort, in Las Vegas. His education did not stop there and he soon enrolled in jazz at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Now based in New York, he has earned plaudits playing in clubs as a solo artist as well as with (U)nity, a richly cross-pollinated jazz band in which he is a founding member.
In 2016, he released his debut album, the eponymous Axel Tosca. Included were guest appearances by his Mother, vocalist Xiomara Laugart, trumpeter Keyon Harrold, saxophonist Ron Blake, drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, bassist James Genus, percussionist Luisito Quintero, and others. In 2019 Tosca, a former founding member of (U)nity, performed to a sold-out audience at Tokyo’s Blue Note.
Currently, Tosca has worked with George Clinton, BeBe Winans, The Clark Sisters, DJ / Producer / Remixer’s Louie Vega and David Morales, Stretch & Bobbito, Mae-Sun, Steve Gadd, Ray Chew, Lenny White, Pino Palladino, Giovanni Hidalgo, Jocelyn Brown, Karren Wheeler, Monique Bingham, Godwin Lewis and J Balvin and Bad Bunny.
Tosca was influenced by a wide range of musical experiences growing up in Cuba. There is no limit for this visionary pianist.
Diego Joaquin Ramirez is an Irish-born drummer and composer based in Brooklyn, NY. An in-demand and versatile musician, Ramirez is an integral part of projects spanning multiple genres. His current work includes; ‘Circuit Kisser’, a 4-piece Electronic Synth band led by bassist Dan Chmielinski, and Wayne Tucker & The Bad Motha’s, an R&B Jazz group that has been featured in The New York Times and holds various residencies in New York City. His past work ranges from Math Rock to World Music to Straight Ahead Jazz. Diego has worked with notable artists, including Marc Cary, Melanie Charles, Jeremy Pelt, Niwel Tsumbu, Ruth-Anne Cunningham, Brian Newman, Endea Owens, Michael Mayo, Cyrille Aimee, and Grace Kelly.
Diego’s drumming has taken him to world renowned stages and platforms such as NPR Tiny Desk, The Blue Note, The Kennedy Center DC, Conakry Jazz Fest, and SXSW. His accolades and awards include the ASCAP Herb Alpert Jazz Composition award,
the Berklee Vater Drum-Set award, and finalist in the 2017 DC Jazz Prix Competition with his Project SULA.
Diego grew up in a musical family, absorbing sounds from his parents’ different cultures: the Yaqui Native American Tribe on his mother’s side, and Latin American music on his father’s side. He started playing drums at age 2 and soon began sitting in with his father’s Salsa band. His three older siblings introduced him to the Rock, Hip Hop and Electronica of the 90s. This variety of exposure from a young age has armed Ramirez with a broad sonic palette. He can be heard on any given night in various clubs around NYC with his distinctive sound and groove. He is currently composing his own music, a body of experimental groove-based work, with support from the Irish Arts Council.
In a jazz world brimming with brilliant and adventurous pianists, Marc Cary stands apart by way of pedigree and design. None of his prestigious peer group ever set the groove behind the drums in Washington DC go-go bands nor are any others graduates of both Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln’s daunting bandstand academies. Cary remains one of the progenitors of contemporary jazz, evident in his influence on peers. Live gigs with vibraphonist Stefon Harris and bandmate Casey Benjamin began the genesis of Robert Glasper’s recording Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and Cary’s record “Taiwa” from Focus in 2006 evolved into “For You” on Glasper’s Double Booked and Harris’ Urbanus. Cary collaborator Roy Hargrove exalted him with “Caryisms” on 1992’s The Vibe, an album whose title track is one of two Cary originals including “Running Out of Time”--now part of the lexicon of live repertoire among jazz stalwarts Hargrove, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Igmar Thomas’ Revive Big Band. As The New York Times jazz critic Nate Chinen observed recently, “There isn’t much in the modern-jazz-musician tool kit that Marc Cary hasn’t mastered, but he has a particular subspecialty in the area of groove…
with a range of rhythmic strategies, from a deep-house pulse to a swinging churn.” Mr. Cary richly embodies the spirit of diverse streams that feed into the ample body of what we consider jazz history today.
Charles Turner is a multi-faceted, Brooklyn-based composer and vocalist whose work transcends borders and styles from Jazz, R&B to Soul. Turner has held residencies, hosted, and performed at venues such as Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, Smoke Jazz club and the historic Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem. International performances include, Pizza Express, in London, Sunside Sunset in Paris, Sala Claomores in Madrid, and more venues abroad from Seoul, South Korea to Wellington New Zealand.
Over the course of the 2022/2023 season, Harlem Stage examines the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s to the 1970s, and its relationship to race, gender, sexuality, music, photography, film, poetry, theater, and dance, as well as its intersectionality with the larger Black Power Movement.
Learn more and buy tickets at harlemstage.org/black-arts-movement-examined
Photos by Kwame Brathwaite
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council.
Harlem Stage’s Programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Harlem Stage is the performing arts center that bridges Harlem’s cultural legacy to contemporary artists of color and dares to provide the artistic freedom that gives birth to new ideas.
For nearly 40 years our singular mission has been to perpetuate and celebrate the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it has made on American culture. We provide opportunity, commissioning, and support for artists of color, make performances easily accessible to all audiences, and introduce children to the rich diversity, excitement, and inspiration of the performing arts.
We fulfill our mission through commissioning, incubating, and presenting innovative and vital work that responds to the historical and contemporary conditions that shape our lives and the communities we serve.
Courtney F. Lee-Mitchell, President
Jamie Cannon, Vice President
Michael Young, Secretary
Mark Thomas, Treasurer
Angela Glover Blackwell
Jenna Bond
Jamila Ponton Bragg
Staff
Patricia Cruz, Artistic Director & CEO
Eric Oberstein, Managing Director
Shamar Hill, Director of Development
Shanté Skyers, Associate Director of Development
Julianna Friedman, Development Manager
Carl Hancock Rux, Associate Artistic Director/Curator-in-Residence
Sarah McCaffery, Programming Manager and Associate Curator
Maurice Ivy, Programming Associate
Ashley Areche, Programming & Management Intern
Deirdre May, Senior Director of Digital Content and Marketing
Andre Padayhag, Marketing Manager and Graphic Designer
Ashabi Owagboriaye, Social Media Manager
Jordan Carter, Education & Community Engagement Manager
Eddy Perez, Box Office Manager
Amanda K. Ringger, Director of Production
Clarence Taylor, Lighting Operator
Orlando Alvarado, Audio Engineer
David Barrett, Julio Collado, Saul Ulerio, Deck, Lighting, and Audio Crew
JoAnn K. Chase
Patricia Cruz
Hugh Dancy and Claire Danes
Jenette Kahn
Rebecca Robertson
LaChanze Sapp-Gooding
Tamara Tunie
Rodney Bissessar, Director of Operations
Lamont Askins, Operations Associate
Acey Anderson Sr., Maintenance
NCheng LLC, Accountants/Advisors
Jake Lee, Partner
Aaron Lam, Supervising Senior Accountant
Aon/Albert G. Ruben Company (NY)
—Claudia Kaufman, Insurance
DAS Services, IT Consultant
Digital Video Services—BriGuel
Lutz & Carr/Chris Bellando, Accountants
Madison Consulting Group—Matt Laurence
Manchester Benefits—Greg Martin
Marc Millman Photography
Digital Video Services—Jess Medenbach
RL Stein Group—Robyn L. Stein
Snugg Studios—Derrick Saint Pierre
Development Consultant
The Whelan Group Incorporated
—Charles Whelan
Blake Zidell & Associates, Public Relations & Marketing
Nobar De leon, Toma Carthens, Andy Garcia, Julian Norales, Miriam Hernandez, Fabian Franco