The Uncalled Capital

Active since: 2024

Staying true to the idioms of jazz while expanding its sound into the contemporary realm, The Uncalled Capital is a critically acclaimed sextet based in Tokyo featuring Shunya Aramaki on trumpet, Yu Yoshimori on alto saxophone, Jun Umegaki on tenor saxophone, Minami Yazaki on piano, Wataru Tamura on bass, and Jun Sato on drums. The ensemble draws inspiration from the likes of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers and the SFJAZZ Collective and showcases a dynamic repertoire that includes both original compositions and arrangements of jazz standard tunes by its members. Having performed at various venues in Tokyo, The Uncalled Capital is set to release its much-anticipated debut EP in the spring of 2025.

Marie-Claire Giraud

Born: June 8, 1987

Marie-Claire Giraud is a soprano, jazz singer, songwriter and  actor. Born on the island of Dominica and raised in The Bronx, NY.  Marie-Claire started her operatic training in Rome, Italy. The pandemic afforded Marie-Claire the luxury of time to reflect and expand her creative spirit- writing her first musical, and discovering her true voice of soprano. 

The artiste’s impressive career has taken her to legendary venues such as Barclays Center, Madison Square Garden, New York City Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, and Small’s Jazz Club in NYC. In July and August 2024 Marie-Claire took the stage in Honolulu for the Hawaii Classical Music International Competition Winner’s Concert and headlined a sold-out performance at Maui’s Jazz Maui Sunset Jazz Series.  She also has performed at international festivals like the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival and the Cartagena Jazz Festival, under her belt.

Katrina Van Humbeck

Born: December 17, 1967

Katrina Van Humbeck is a vocalist, composer, piano player, clinician, and educator based in Winnipeg, MB. She creates her own unique brand of Jazz Fusion, with a dose of Inspiration. Her music has earned her nominations with the GMA Canada (Gospel Music Awards 2022- Jazz Artist of The Year), and with the WCMA (Western Canadian Music Awards 2020- Spiritual Artist of The Year).

Katrina has three studio recorded albums of original songs to her credit: Stronger Still; her sophomore album, Doing A New Thing; and her debut album, Blue & Beyond; all of which reflect influences of the jazz greats and her background in various musical genres.  Katrina is thrilled to be releasing next album, ‘Only Love,’ in Spring of 2025, which is a collection of classic jazz standards and original compositions.   

Stefan Sirbu

Strasbourg-based pianist and composer, Moldovan-born Stefan Sirbu has made both sides of the Rhine and the Atlantic his creative lab. Classically-trained since the age of 6 and composing since the age of 10, Stefan Sirbu has been drawing inspiration from jazz greats and contemporary artists, hip-hop, Latin-American and European classical music alike.

Dedicated to the art form, while pursuing a career in law, he has been sharing his music with audiences internationally for over twenty years. His compositions have been broadcasted on various radio stations worldwide such as Swiss Radio Jazz, France Musique, Radio România Cultural, Canarias Radio and others.

John Roth

Born: October, 1957

Nina Beck

Born: October 28, 1955

These recent statements from several industry pros could sum it up "in a nutshell" about Nina Beck's piano playing and singing: "With so much jazz mistaking excess for invention and hyperactivity for dynamism, Nina Beck and her groups display genuine heart with no bells and whistles. Nina is a pianist/singer worthy of much more attention." -Roger Crane, Jazz Writer for such publications as Jazz Improv and All About Jazz. "You're very good, and you know how to swing. I can't say that about every pianist; but you definitely can swing." -Marty Harris, prominent pianist/recording artist. "Nina Beck is a polished jazz pianist with absolute pitch. Beck is a solid performer who knows all the tunes and plays them superbly." -John Gilbert, Staff Writer for Sony/Columbia Records, Euro Club De Jazz, All About Jazz, and JazzReview.com Magazine.

Donovan Haffner

Born: September, 2001

Donovan Haffner is an alto saxophonist. He graduated with a first class BMus degree in Jazz at the Royal Academy of Music.
He has had the opportunity to collaborate with notable musicians, including Shane Forbes and Jay Phelps. He also toured around Italy with Moses Boyd at only 18 years old and at various places around the UK. During his formative years, he received mentorship from figures like Gary Crosby OBE, Alex Davis, and Binker Golding of Tomorrow’s Warriors. Through this organisation, Donovan has been fortunate to be a part of the Jazz House Kids Summer Programme in New Jersey a number of times which helped him further improve his musical skills

April Varner

Award Winning NYC-based jazz vocalist and composer, April Varner, has often been described as a “direct, authentic singer…”, demonstrating “vocal dynamism… authentic jazz phrasing…electrifying numbers…” and possessing a “profound command of deep scat and vocalese…” (Marilyn Lester, The New York City Jazz Record). 

Recognizable by her curly red hair and voice of an “old soul”, April brings her listeners to another place- one long ago when the giants of jazz were still gracing the stage. Amassing several viral videos of 1 million+ views on her social media of her challenging solo transcriptions, cleverly crafted vocaleses and acapella renditions of the Great American Songbook, April’s voice can fit itself into a myriad of different molds. 

Dexter Stanley-Tauvao

Born: May 8, 1995

Dexter Stanley-Tauvao is a S��moan jazz drummer, composer and educator currently based in New York, USA. Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Dexter studied at the New Zealand School of Music and graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Jazz with First Class Honours.

His musical career has taken him to Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, the USA and Germany, and he has performed alongside jazz icons such as Alex Sipiagin, Antonio Hart, Rufus Reid and Scott Wendtholt. While he is most passionate about big band and straight-ahead jazz, (Alex Sipiagin, Roberto Manzin, Umar Zakaria, New Zealand Youth Jazz Orchestra, Lauren Nottingham) he also loves Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, funk, indie-pop and folk music. Dexter’s willingness to learn has led to engagements with a wide range of musical ensembles, including:

Hyeonseon Baek

Born: December 30, 1991

Hyeonseon Baek is A New York-based Jazz vocalist/songwriter from South Korea who focuses on striving to create music that transcends cultural and generational boundaries, blending traditional Jazz with a modern approach for our diverse and vibrant audience. At the age of 8, he discovered his love for music when he sang in the school choir group. Hyeonseon was obsessed with soul and rhythm and blues musicians like Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, Donny Hathaway, Ledisi, Aretha Franklin, and countless pop musicians. After some years, he listened to some jazz recordings by Mel Torme and Mark Carmen McRae one day and was immediately fascinated by jazz. Most of the sounds from those recordings were so new to him and made him curious about jazz music. He wanted to find out what they were doing and why it was too good for him.