The Council for Living Music and AFM, Local 802

Present

Jazz Mentors Student Jam

Featuring JMB

with

Henry Conerway III, Endea Owens and John Chin

and Guest Artist

Rachel Z

Open to students of jazz ages 15-22

Rachel Z graduated from the New England Conservatory with a ‘Distinction in Performance’ award while working professionally in the Boston area with performers like Bob Moses and George Garzone. While performing and recording steadily with the classic fusion band Steps Ahead from 1988 through 1996, she also worked with Al Di Meola, Larry Coryell, Special EFX, and Angela Bofill, and began a fruitful association with producer/vibraphonist Mike Mainieri. Her connection to saxophone great Wayne Shorter grew from major influence to full-blown collaborator over the two years she worked on his hit comeback album High Life. The CD won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.

In 1997 she recorded her next solo CD, "Room of One's Own – A Tribute to Women Artists"; it won 4 stars in Down Beat and extensive critical acclaim for the original compositions and wind ensemble arrangements. In 1999, Rachel Z was a part of a jazz fusion project by Stanley Clarke and Lenny White. She toured with Peter Gabriel during his Growing Up tours from 2002 to 2006. This period saw the beginning of a long and fruitful association with the New School for Jazz, where Rachel has taught since the early 2000s.

In 2010, Rachel formed a new band with husband Omar Hakim, called "The Trio Of OZ" which released its first CD and began touring; Z and Hakim also launched OZmosis Records in 2010. The new group recently recorded an EP at #PowerStation #BerkleeNYC for release in Spring 2019.

JMB

JMBs leader Henry Conerway III has emerged as one of the most “in demand” drummers on the jazz scene in the U.S. and abroad since making New York City his home in 2015, as evidenced by his ongoing work with such global touring artists as; the iconic Freddy Cole; Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Marcus Printup; Grammy nominated vocalist, Jazzmeia Horn; Grammy nominated trumpeter, Russell Gunn; and several residencies with Jazz at Lincoln Center in Doha, Qatar. While matriculating at Atlanta’s historic and prestigious Morehouse College (B.A. in Music Composition), Henry co-founded the group, Jaspects, which quickly became a staple in that city's music scene and successfully sold thousands of their own recordings, while booking their own tours and forming creative partnerships with many established artists. Henry has also composed original works for film and performed in theatre settings including the Tony Award nominated Shuffle Along, on Broadway.

Detroit native Endea Owens is a vibrant up and coming bassist. She has toured and performed with Jazzmeia Horn, Steve Turre, Jennifer Holliday, Camille Thurman, and Lea DeLaria from the Netflix original series "Orange is The New Black.” Endea has done music exchange programs in Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago. She has performed at jazz festivals in Switzerland, Paraguay, The Cayman Islands, South Korea, Detroit, and San Francisco. Recently, Endea was featured on ABC7 News (New York) with Sandy Kenyon, as well as ABC7 “Here and Now.” This episode was played in 6,500 taxis in the New York area. This year Endea was featured in The Wall Street Journal as well as Billboard Magazine. Currently, she is completing her Master’s degree at The Juilliard School.

John Chin has been a fixture on the New York jazz scene since 1998 and was introduced to the piano at age four. He began studying jazz at California State University, which he attended at the age of fourteen as part of the Early Entrance Program for Gifted Students. Upon receiving his B.A. in Music at nineteen, Chin continued his musical studies at the University of North Texas, before pursuing a Masters of Music degree from Rutgers University, and an Artist Diploma from the Juilliard School. John has performed internationally as a leader and sideman, at major festivals, as well as some of America's most storied jazz rooms. He has shared the stage with Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jaimeo Brown, Mark Turner, and Ari Hoenig, among many others. Chin is a prolific composer, with four releases as a leader to-date. Chin was nominated for a Grammy for his work on Rene Marie’s latest release, Sound of Red, in 2017.