International recording artist, Tasha LaRae, was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. Shortly after her first year of college, she relocated to Atlanta, GA to pursue a career in music.
In 2008, Ms. LaRae began traveling internationally as the female lead vocalist for 2x Grammy Award Winning group, Arrested Development (“Tennessee”, “Mr. Wendel”, “People Everyday”).
In the winter of 2014, Tasha LaRae founded the Racism Sucks Fashion Movement in an effort to promote peace and unity within various communities across the U.S. and around the world. To date, her shirts are represented in over 30 states, 20 countries and 5 continents.
April 1, 2016, Ms. LaRae released her single, "Find My Way" on Quantize Recordings, presented by DJ Spen & Tracy Hamlin and produced by Atlanta based producer, Trü.ski the Transmitter. This soulful house package includes remixes by DJ Spen, Earl TuTu & John Khan, DJ Beloved, and Larry Espinosa.
The Atlanta Jazz Festival is not just a Memorial Day weekend event, it is a full month of great music and fun through out the entire month of May. Here a few of the great events happening this year for "31 Day of Jazz"
Sponsors for this year’s Atlanta Jazz Festival
include MARTA, PNC Bank, Loews Atlanta Hotel, the Atlanta Convention &
Visitors Bureau, Standard Press, Fontis Water, Eubanks Collection, the Coca-Cola
Company, Bank of America, Publix and Publix Charities. To find out how your
company or organization can be featured at this year’s festival contact Laura
Moody at the Office of Cultural Affairs at LMoody@AtlantaGa.Gov.
The 39th Annual
Atlanta Jazz Festival is presented by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of
Cultural Affairs. The mission of the Atlanta Jazz Festival is to educate and
entertain a diverse audience of jazz fans and to nurture the next generation of
jazz muhttps://youtu.be/3CZnYdd2ticsicians. The festival is partially supported by Atlanta Jazz Festival
Inc, a 501(c)(3) cultural, non-profit. For a complete list of events for 31 Days of Jazz and more details about the Atlanta Jazz Festival, visit: www.atlantafestivals.com.
In a recent interview with Brian Lehrer
on WNYC, legendary journalist Nat
Hentoff stated, "The last piece I did for them [The Wall Street Journal]
- I'm so glad I had a chance to do it - is about a 24 year old pianist [now
27] and composer named Joe Alterman, who is really the personification of
the past of jazz - he's really deep into that -, the present of jazz - he has
his own voice - and that leads him into the future of jazz, and he's so
important in terms of the validity of jazz...[Joe Alterman & one of his
mentors, tenor saxophonist Houston Person] make recordings that - to use the
phrase that Duke Ellington really had a chance to use - are 'beyond
category' because they're timeless."
Born and raised in Atlanta,Georgia, Alterman moved to New York in the fall of 2007 to study music at
New York University, where he earned both his Bachelor's and Master’s Degrees
in Music. While there, he had the opportunity to study with greats including
Don Friedman, Joe Lovano and John Scofield.
He has headlined at venues around the
United States including the Blue NoteJazz Club in New York, Blues Alley in Washington, DC, Germantown PerformingArts Center in Memphis, Rialto Center For The Performing Arts in Atlanta, Preservation Hall in New Orleans, Earl Klugh's Weekend of Jazz in
Kiawah Island, South Carolina, among others; in addition to New
York's Blue Note Jazz Club, Alterman has also headlined at other venues in New
York City including the Iridium, the
Kitano, 21 Club, Le Cirque, and Jazz at Lincoln Center's Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola
and has performed overseas at venues that include the Blue Note Jazz Club in Milan, Italy.
Among many others, Alterman has performed
with Les McCann, Houston Person, Tony Middleton and bassist James Cammack, with
whom Alterman also works frequently with in a duo setting. In addition, he and
his trio have performed multiple times at the Blue Note Jazz Club as an opening
act for greats including Les McCann, Ramsey Lewis, Philip Bailey (of Earth,
Wind & Fire), John Pizzarelli and Hiromi, among others.
Alterman’s most recent recording, Georgia Sunset, which was produced by Houston Person, garnered much critical praise
and reached #6 on the Jazz Week radio charts.
Speaking
about Alterman, legendary pianist Ramsey Lewis stated, "When listening to
Joe Alterman perform, it is obvious that he has studied the history of jazzpiano. However, his own style of playing is appealing, challenging and quite
satisfying."
Croker began playing trumpet at age 11 after hearing Cheatham play in New York City, and by his teens was studying music formally at the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville followed by the music conservatory at Oberlin College. Croker's musical training has taken him all over the world including Shanghai, China where he took up residency at the House of Blues and refined his style.
The HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE is a family band consisting of
seven blood brothers who began their musical training at the tender ages of
four and five by their father, jazz trumpeter/band leader Kelan Phil Cohran
(EARTH, WIND, & FIRE, CHAKA KHAN, SUN RA). The boys went on to form the
PHIL COHRAN YOUTH ENSEMBLE in 1990. The family toured the United States
performing the complex original written jazz compositions of Cohran and other
greats such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and even the music of classical
greats Bach & Beethoven. Although the group’s early musical training
encompassed primarily elements of instrumental performance, the brothers were
personally being exposed to the music of their own generation (hip-‐hop, rock,
reggae to name a few) and absorbed these components into the cosmic jazz style
of their father.
By 1999, the band of brothers discontinued playing with dad
in order to find their own sound, growing into the band now known as HYPNOTICBRASS ENSEMBLE or HBE.
In 2001 HBE independently cut and released their first LP Satin (for which they received an
American Author’s Award). Using street performance as way to broaden their audience
and hone their now distinctive sound, they found success at the grass roots
level, garnering over 50,000 in sales nationwide. It was around this time that
Island DEF JAM offered Hypnotic Brass a feature collaboration with renowned
producer NO ID (mentor to KANYE WEST & GHOSTFACE KILLAH) as well as an
accompanying artist /in‐house band recording contract. The band decided to stay
indie and moved to New York City and followed up their debut album with the
release of their second LP Jupiter.
The album caught the ear of BLUR lead DAMON ALBARN and led to distribution in
the UK by Albarn’s imprint Honest Jons. By now the musical style of HYPNOTICBRASS ENSEMBLE“had blossomed and come
into its own.” (Lily Koppel/New York Times)
The group’s sound was best put by Fader Magazine’s Edwin
Stats who called the band’s music: “a
huge brass bridge of hypnotic polyphony connecting the cosmic jazz of Sun Ra’s
Arkestra with the urgency of hip-‐hop and the sweeping emotional scale of a
Curtis Mayfield blaxploitation opus.” News of the ensemble’s sound spread
throughout the industry, and after Emcee/actor Mos Def caught a live HBE show,
the brothers were asked to join him onstage as part of the MOS DEF BIG BAND
(including Robert Glasper, Chris Dave, Casey Benjamin). The group graced many
stages around the globe including JAZZSTAGE at LINCOLN CENTER and SHEAPHERDSBUSH in London.
At the same time HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE inked an outfitting
deal with Dutch denim giant GSTAR RAW, and began their foray into international
touring with a European tour that featured headlining performances at NORTH SEAJAZZ fest, BREAD & BUTTER BARCELONA, and the GOOD THE BAD THE QUEEN
Victoria Park.
By 2008 HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE had performed their original
tunes in every corner of the world to audiences as big as 110,000 (GLASTONBURY.
ROSKILDE) and premiered music at venues around the world including London’s
RONNIE SCOTTS, Australia’s SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE and New York City’s CARNEGIE
HALL. In 2009; following a tour in Lagos, Africa with Damon Albarn & Africa
Express; HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE recorded a full LP in London and released it
under UK Honest Jon’s label. One of the songs on the album, “War,” became a
featured song in the international blockbuster movie HUNGER GAMES. HBE signed
on with The Agency Group for international touring and set out to blow away
audiences at WOMAD AU: BIG CHILL: NOVARRA JAZZ: BERMUDA JAZZ FEST: PERCPAN in
Brazil: POHODA in Czech Republic: COACHELLA: & many others.
The brothers were living in London when they recorded the
Gorillaz record with Damon Albarn Welcome
to Plastic Beach and joined the “Plastic Beach 2010 World Tour” upon its
release performing alongside BOBBY WOMACK: MICK JONES from the CLASH: DE LA
SOUL: & SNOOP DOGG. HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE gave their signature dose of
hard brass to every audience on the four-month international tour and earned a
spot backing up PRINCE at the NEW POWER GENERATION FEST in Denmark the next
year, coming personally requested by THE ARTIST himself. Since then HYPNOTIC
BRASS ENSEMBLE has grown into an even newer sound with their latest efforts BulletProof Brass and Fly released by their very own imprint
PHEELCO ENTERTAINMENT.
In 2015 Hypnotic Brass Ensemble signed with KOSSON TALENT to
expand their US Touring. They are now gearing up to release a new installment
entitled Bad Boys Of Jazz.
Jermaine Sainis the host/ creator of a talk show called When We Speak. After exiting the U.S. Army in 2003, as a Medical Sergeant, Jermaine began pursuing a career in music after he auditioned for American Idol in 2005, in Austin, Texas.
