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Featured Artist
Mos Def
• Dante Terrell Smith (born December 11, 1973), better known by his stage name Mos Def, is a Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-nominated actor and Grammy Award-nominated American MC. Mos Def started his rap career as a member of the Native Tongue Posse collective and by guesting on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. He released a well-received album with Talib Kweli as Black Star, and was a major force in the late 1990s underground hip hop explosion spearheaded by Rawkus Records. His stage name doesn't come from the words 'most definitely' but refers instead to his belief that he is in fact the most 'def' of all ('def' being the old school Hip Hop term for 'cool'). He would, however, later release a compilation album which makes reference to his name called Mos Definite.

• Initially recognized for his musical output, Def's screen work since the early 2000s has established him as one of only a handful of rappers who have garnered critical approval for their acting work. Def is also a critic on several social and political issues, and was particularly vocal in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Realistic Orchestra
• Composed of many of the San Francisco Bay Area's finest musicians. Collectively, their studio and live credits read everywhere from Ratdog and Santana to Zion:I and Lyrics Born. The band has performed live at many of the Bay's top music venues and festivals such as; Elbo Room, The Independent, Jazz at Pearl's, The Mystic Theater, SF Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, Fillmore Jazz Festival and North Beach Jazz Festival.

• The instrumentation of Realistic Orchestra is based on a century old classic ensemble known as the "Big Band" or "Jazz Orchestra" which includes 13 horns and a rhythm section of drums, upright bass and keyboards. adding to this foundation is guitar, electric bass, electonics, guest DJs, guest vocalists and the one and only Dublin (The shotgun Wedding Quintet) who's collaborations with the band are unlike any other Hip Hop on the planet. These elements, combined with modern electronic influenced grooves, epic arrangements and cutting edge jazz improvisation, create the distinct and unmistakable sound of the Realistic Orchestra.

JAZZ MAFIA INCLUDES:
* The Shotgun Wedding Quintet
* Realistic Orchestra
* Brass Mafia
* Jazz Mafia Trio
* The Shotgun Wedding Hip-Hop Symphony
* Spaceheater
* Supertaster
* Joe Bagale
* Adam Theis

Mingus Amungus
Charles Mingus is one of the most difficult players and composers of the bop and post-bop era to define. His complex rhythms and tempos made him a stand-out artist within the jazz genre. His thematic compositions, were often inspired by political events and/or people, such as "Fables of Faubus," named after Orval E. Faubus, Governor of Arkansas who, in 1957, deployed the National Guard to prevent a few black children from entering Little Rock's Central High School. His music covered a wide range of styles, from his earliest work with Louis Armstrong to his later free-form orchestral compositions.

Musically, Mingus never played it safe. His artistic intent was to create an immediate emotional statement through what he created. While he relied on the individual strength of his players, he would always inspire and channel their creative energies toward collective expression.

Similarly, with the individual strengths of his players in mind, Miles Perkins brings Mingus' musical philosophy into the the new millennium with Mingus Amungus. Musically, he too, like Mingus, never plays it safe. The all-star seven piece band weaves its way through Mingus' intricate charts with hard-hitting be-bop, funk and classical. The band then sprinkles San Francisco's native Hip-Hop Jazz flavor into the mix with a variety of lyricists, thereby bringing Mingus' work into the contemporary age. Recognized with a 1997 BAMMIE award for Most Outstanding Jazz Club Band, Mingus Amungus is a noted festival favorite and a must-see act.

Combining cultures, Mingus Amungus frequently works with dancers who focus on Jazz Improvisational, Haitian and Brazilian dance. These collaborations are breathtaking performances and can include up to 15 musicians, drummers, vocalists and dancers providing the audience with a glimpse into the richness of cultures that are often undervalued in urban society.

Bayonics
Bayonics is a 10 piece live hip hop group spiced with Latin flavor, funk, and reggae, combining live instruments and hot beats with melodic singing and rapping to create an urban soundscape that will make your hips move and your soul surrender.

Bayonics has rocked the house and captured crowds at numerous venues from the Bay Area to Miami, including The Independent, Roccapulco, Mission Rock, Elbo Room, Red Devil Lounge, Mateel Summer Arts&Music Festival, The Temple Bar, On the Rox, Boardners, Jazid, Tobacco Road, The Transit Lounge.

Josh Jones
JOSH JONES LATIN JAZZ ENSEMBLE featuring Jesus Diaz & John Santos. Rumberos are the street drummers of Afro-Cuban music. A folkloric artform created by enslaved Africans playing on crates and barrels on the docks of Havana and Matanzas represents the spirit of the drum and its importance in tribal societies. Drummer Josh Jones is a jazz drummer with a rumbero soul, as he has demonstrated on recordings with Don Cherry, Peter Apfelbaums' Hieroglyphics Ensemble and Steve Coleman. A graduate of the prestigious Berkeley High Jazz Band, Jones leads his own son revival band Conjunto Clásico as well as a Latin jazz band. Jones is a skilled and creative trap drummer who can shuffle, swing and songo. In the 1990s he held Saturday night sessions at the Up & Down Club and recently tore it up for The Jazz School in Berkeley. A sought after sideman, Jones is a talent to watch and reckon with as he matures into his thirties with the J.J. groove.

John Santos
Four-time Grammy nominee, JOHN SANTOS is one of the foremost exponents of Afro-Latin music in the world today. He is known for his innovative use of traditional forms and instruments in combination with contemporary music, and has earned much respect and recognition as a record and event producer. He has performed, recorded and studied with acknowledged masters of the Afro-Latin and Jazz idioms such as Cachao, Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Lazaro Ros, Armando Peraza, Eddie Palmieri, Patato Valdés, Francisco Aguabella, Orestes Vilató, Rene López, Max Roach, Batacumbele, Steve Turre, John Faddis and Chocolate Armenteros. This experience has provided a solid foundation for Mr. Santos' current ground-breaking work in bringing together styles, rhythms, concepts and artists from different generations.

Born in San Francisco, California, November l, l955, he was raised in the Puerto Rican and Cape Verdean traditions of his family, surrounded by music. The fertile musical environment of the San Francisco Bay Area shaped his career in a unique way. His studies of Afro-Latin music have included several trips to New York, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Brazil and Colombia.

Mr. Santos is widely respected as one of the top writers, teachers and historians in the field and is a member of the Latin Jazz Advisory Committee of the Smithsonian Institution. He has conducted lectures, workshops and clinics in the Americas and Europe since 1972. He has contributed to the international magazines Percussive Notes, Modern Drummer, Modern Percussionist, and Latin Percussionist. The San Francisco Bay Area community in which he still lives and works has presented him with numerous awards and honors for artistic excellence and social dedication.

JOHN SANTOS
percussionist · historian · producer · composer

Jesus Diaz
www.bombomusic.com

Cuban born percussionist Jesús Diaz has quietly and assuredly taken the Bay Area music by storm, and established a place in the world of Latin and Cuban style dance music. The rich musical diversity of the Bay Area, combined with the roots of Afro-Cuban music, has provided the opportunity to learn, experiment and arrive at the evolution of what QBA is today.

Showcased in their CD releases, CARAMELO and JARDINERO, Jesús has assembled an incomparable orchestra of accomplished artists whose talents combine Funk, Jazz, Rumba, Son, and varied Afro-Cuban elements within the syncopation of modern expressions in Cuban dance music. This musical tradition is rooted in the firm belief in the importance of creating new and unique "signature" styles and sounds. The drive of the music is a direct function of remaining actively engaged with the dancers.

Most recently, Jesús Díaz Y Su QBA have shared the stage along with renowned Cuban artists such as Issaac Delgado and Manolin "El Medico de La Salsa", demonstrating that original "Timba" is indeed alive and well here in the United

MC Sterling James
Has been a strong vocal presence on the FM dial in the Bay Area since 1987. 
Her consistent presence on major music radio stations and events across the Bay Area has led to high familiarity among the public, and her sassy, sharp personality has endeared her to a generation of fans.
Ms. James currently appears live on San Francisco heritage Smooth R&B outlet The Quiet Storm 102.9 KBLX weekday afternoons from 2:00PM-7:00PM.

A true Bay Area native, Sterling first hit the air at her high school radio station and never looked back. Arming herself with a 2 year college recording arts program, an AA in TV Performance and Production, and a BA in Radio and Television, James then launched a thriving career as a radio DJ, event host and TV personality.
Picking up additional skills in promotions, morning show production, public affairs and on air work at San Francisco's KSOL led to a key hire as the first live DJ on newly launched Alice@97.3 (1996).  Sterling helped drive Alice's meteoric success for the next 10 years as night and later midday DJ, cementing her place in Bay Area Radio.
After leaving Alice@97.3 , Sterling was quickly picked up by San Francisco stations 102.9 KBLX (weekends/fill-in) and Energy 92.7 (middays), and worked on air simultaneously at both stations for close to a year and a half.  In summer 2007, KBLX contracted Sterling full-time for Afternoon Drive.

MC Luis Medina
Raised in the San Francisco Mission District, Luis has maintained his community links working on the yearly San Francisco Carnival and the San Francisco Jazz Festival. "Longtime Bay Area broadcaster Luis Medina has become a very respected producer, public relations person, promoter, and master of ceremonies; an incredible asset to the scene." Latin Beat Magazine, May 1994.

DJ Jerry Ross of Soul Cafe

DJ Bumper former SF Giants/ Velvet Lounge

DJ Tony O Roccapulco/one productions