16 BRIAN SETTLES (TENOR SAX)

Tenor saxophonist Brian Settles, a native of Washington, DC, found his purpose in music at the age of fifteen while attending the Duke Ellington High School for the Performing Arts. There under the tutelage of Mr. Davey Yarborough he began to play jazz in the school’s award winning jazz orchestra and small ensemble. During this time Brian had the opportunity to perform with and learn from jazz greats James Moody, Panama Francis, Dizzy Gillespie, Oliver Lake, Shirley Horn and many more.

In 1992 Brian moved from his hometown of Washington, D.C. to New York City to attend The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. His studies with jazz greats Stanley Turrentine, Arnie Lawrence, Dewey Redman and Charles Davis set him free musically. Since graduating from the New School in 1996 Brian has honed his stage skills alongside Reggie Workman, Evelyn Blakey, Steve Neil, Sid Simmons and Mickey Roker to name a few.

Through his experiences, Brian has developed an unmistakable voice in the music while maintaining his roots in the jazz tradition. Currently Brian Settles is touring and has recorded with Neil Podgurski’s New Fire (Philadelphia, PA) as well as leading his own projects including the Brian Settles Quintet featuring vocalist Jessica Boykin – Settles.

18, 19 OLIVER LAKE

Oliver Lake is a true renaissance man. Poet, painter, performance artist and creator of theatrical works, Oliver is best known for his enormous contribution to the world of contemporary music, especially jazz. Equally eclectic in his musical vision, the composer, educator, alto and soprano saxophonist/flautist has performed with and created music for an amazingly diverse array of artists, including Meshell Ndegeocello, Abbey Lincoln, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, A Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def, the Flux and Arditti String Quartets, Bjork, Lou Reed, the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra and many others.

Co-founder of the renowned World Saxophone Quartet and Trio 3, Oliver continues to perform with both groups. Most of his energies are devoted to the Oliver Lake Steel Quartet and the Oliver Lake Big Band, as well as a variety of projects as artistic director of Passin Thru, Inc., including a steady stream of commissioned works and residencies and overseeing Passin’ Thru, Records.-A Guggenheim Fellow , Oliver is the recipient of awards and grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, Meet The Composer, the McKnight Foundation, Chamber Music America, the Lila Wallace Arts Partners Program and the Copland Fund, among many others.