Jaques Morelenbaum

Born: May 18, 1954

Jaques Morelenbaum �C bio Carioca (born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Jaques Morelenbaum has accomplished 44 years of career as cellist, arranger, record producer, conductor and composer. Jaques has has graduated as a cellis at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Since his early days, Jaques has looked for new directions to his cello playing. Before releasing three albums with the group A Barca do Sol (the 1st of them produced by Egberto Gismonti) Jaques was already writing arrangements and conducting choirs. Up till today, Morelenbaum has collaborated in 788 albums and performed 2570 concerts in 47 countries in 446 cities, sharing stages and music with names as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Egberto Gismonti, Leonard Bernstein, Gal Costa, Milton Nascimento, Chico Buarque de Holanda, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sting, Mitslav Rostropovich, the Portuguese Madre Deus, Carminho, Mariza, Dulce Pontes, Dan?as Ocultas, Rui Veloso, the Cape-Verdeans Ces��ria ?vora and Mayra Andrade, the French Henri Salvador and Richard Galliano, the Angolan Paulo Flores, the Japanese Sadao Watanabe, Choro Club and Gontiti, the Spanish Clara Montes and Presuntos Implicados, the Germans NDR Big Band, NDR Symphony Pops Orchestra and WDR Big Band, the North-Americans David Byrne and Chris Botti, the Cuban Omar Sosa, the Argentinians Fito Paes, Diego Schissi and Marcelo Dellamea, and the Mexican Julieta Venegas. Jaques is a Grammy winner as a record producer: Best World Music Album with Caetano Veloso, for "Livro", and twice the Latin Grammy, as Best Brazilian Music Album for "Noites do Norte", also by Caetano Veloso, and Best Pop Music Video, with Julieta Venegas. As a sound track composer, Morelenbaum wrote for ��Central Station��, by Walter Salles, ��Lula, Filho do Brasil�� and ��O Quatrilho��, both by Fabio Barreto, ��Paid��, by Lawrence Lamers, ��Blue Eyes��, by Jos�� Joffily, ��Nise, The Heart of Madness��, by Roberto Berliner, among others. Jaques has played for ten years with Antonio Carlos Jobim, for fourteen years with Caetano Veloso, five with Gilberto Gil and with Egberto Gismonti, three years with Gal Costa, and he has been still playing, for almost thirty years, with Ryuichi Sakamoto. Jaques Morelenbaum��s solo project is called the CelloSam3aTrio, releasing the album "Saudade do Futuro Futuro da Saudade" (Biscoito Fino/Mirante).

Bob Sterling

Diane Roblin

Born: March 31

Diane Roblin’s dynamic career has earned her a place among Canada’s most respected women in jazz. Known for her powerful compositions and expressive keyboard style, Diane’s performances blend technical agility with a deep commitment to the connective power of music. As a composer, pianist, electric keyboardist, improviser, and bandleader, Diane’s spirited, genre-crossing work has led to collaborations with artists ranging from avant-garde improviser Charles Gayle to the iconic rock band Rough Trade. Her new album, Breath of Fresh Air, released on Zsan Records in late 2024, continues this legacy. It showcases Roblin’s expansive musical voice, weaving jazz, funk, and impressionist harmony into compositions that are both adventurous and deeply moving. Leading her six-piece ensemble, Life Force, Diane explores high-energy soundscapes punctuated by intricate, emotionally resonant improvisations. Critics have praised her work:JAZZFM91 calls her compositions “fascinating,” while WholeNote writes, Roblin reminds us of her skill, not only as a pianist but as a new music composer." A classical pianist by training, Diane pursued a diverse music education at York University in Toronto, immersing herself in jazz improvisation, world music, and electronic composition with David Rosenboom. She has also studied with mridangam master Trichy Sankaran and participated in the Ornette Coleman/Karl Berger workshop in NYC, where she worked with luminaries like Lee Konitz, and in the Dutch Improv Academy with drummer Hans Bennink.

Revolutionary Snake Ensemble

With their new album "Serptentine" due for release on Cuneiform Records in September 2025, and performances scheduled thru 2026, the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble is continuing their tradition of pushing the envelope!  Dressed a la Mardi Gras in multi-colored, sequined costumes, playing music that riotously combines the rhythms of New Orleans brass bands with improvisation and heaping undercurrents of funk, the Snake Ensemble inhabits that rare musical planet on which Sun Ra, James Brown, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, and a myriad of New Orleans marching bands jointly reside

Ken Field

Born: January 26

Ken Field is a composer, saxophonist, flautist, and percussionist. He has received international public and critical acclaim for his solo work, his work with the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble (which he leads), Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, Willie Loco Alexander's Persistence of Memory Orchestra, and the Armenian/American jazz project Musaner, as well as his commissioned compositions and performances with Bridgman/Packer Dance. Field has composed a number of pieces for the children's television program Sesame Street.  He was named a Finalist in Music Composition by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of JazzBoston and as Chair of the Truro Concert Committee.  He is Past President of the Board of Directors of Tutoring Plus of Cambridge and a past member of the Organizing Committee of the HONK! Festival.  Field hosts The New Edge, a weekly radio program of creative instrumental music currently airing on WMBR, WOMR, and taintradio.