Born in Omaha Nebraska, Stryker moved to New York City in 1980 only to land a plum job working with Jack McDuff which led him to a ten-year gig with Stanley Turrentine. The Village Voice calls Dave Stryker "one of the most distinctive guitarists to come along in recent years." NEA jazz master, Pat Metheny,has followed him from his early days and said, "he just gets better and better with one of the most joyous feels around." With 28 CD’s under his belt as a leader this praise is well deserved. On the heels of his latest release, Strykin Ahead (strikezone label) he will be performing with his quartet featuring Jared Gold, McClenty Hunter and a special guest.

Sachal Vasandani is recognized for his singular voice with a tone and unique phrasing that marks him as one of today’s most compelling voices. Thoroughly rooted in jazz he has the swagger to front a big band and the vulnerability to present definitive takes of classic ballads. Sachal’s improvisational skills is in full force that can be heard on his new release, Shadow Train, a collection of modern jazz compositions such as Abbey Lincoln and Bill Evans.

Lakecia Benjamin is a dynamic saxophonist/bandleader who electrifies the stage with her fiery sax work. She has shared the stage with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and other greats of funk and soul music though her band "Soul Squad" is equally immersed jazz as well. This New York City native not only fronts Gregory Porter’s group, she also is the arranger for comedy star Craig Robinson and the Nasty Delicious.

Jazz House Kids, incorporated in 2002 by its founder, Melissa Walker, is the only community arts organization in New Jersey exclusively dedicated to educating children through jazz: America’s home-grown art form. They ensure that every student has access to music, education, mentoring, and apprenticeship. This is the 5th year that these talented students will join CJJ Festival.

Flemington Community Partnership's mission is to foster a thriving business community in the Borough of Flemington. ExploreFlemington.com

Sheila Elaine Anderson - After spending seventeen years on the production and sales side of publishing, Ms. Anderson left to pursue a career in broadcasting. Always interested in jazz, in 1995 she joined the staff of WBGO, Newark, New Jersey where she hosts Weekend Jazz After Hours and Salon Sessions. She has authored three books: The Quotable Musician: From Bach to Tupac (2003), How to Grow as A Musician: What All Musicians Must Know to Succeed (2005) (both published by Allworth Press) and most recently, The Little Red Book of Musicians Wisdom (Skyhorse Press, 2012). In addition, she is the curator of the Newark Museum’s Jazz in the Garden Series and a Columbia University Community Scholar. Ms. Anderson is an alumna of Baruch College, CUNY (B.A., English) and resides in Harlem.

Celebrating 40 years in music, three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning drummer, producer and educator, Terri Lyne Carrington started her professional career at ten years old, being the youngest person to receive a union card in Boston, MA. She was featured as a "kid wonder" in many publications such as People, EBONY, and Modern Drummer magazines, among others. After studying under a full scholarship at Berklee College of Music, Carrington worked as an in-demand musician in New York City, and later moved to Los Angeles, where she was a late night TV drummer for the Arsenio Hall Show and Quincy Jones’ VIBE TV show.

New York City's most versatile musician, Eddie Allen brings THREE trumpeters and an all-star ensemble to pay tribute to the legacy and music of jazz great and American icon, "Satchmo."  Featuring iconic hits, such as, Struttin' With Some Bar-B-Cue, Rockin' Chair, Mack The Knife, Hello Dolly, Do You Know What It Means, To Miss New Orleans and many more!

Eddie Allen: trumpet, composer, arranger, educator, clinician and author. This Milwaukee, Wisconsin native has worked with Joe Henderson, Art Blakey, Billy Harper & Steve Turre. He has recorded with Mongo Santamaria, Louis Hayes, Chico Freeman, Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, Joe, Olivia and Muhal Richard Abrams to name a few. He's a graduate from William Paterson University. Currently leading several of his own groups. He currently teaches at Long Island University and the Stevens Institute of Technology as well as clinics and workshops around the country.

Born in 2001 in Hackensack, NJ, Matthew Whitaker grew up surrounded by music. His love for playing music first began at the age of 3, after his grandfather gave him a small Yamaha keyboard.

At 9, Matthew began teaching himself how to play the Hammond B3 organ. Four years later, he became the youngest artist to be endorsed by Hammond—in its 80+ year history. He was also named a Yamaha Artist at 15, becoming the youngest musician to join the stellar group of jazz pianists.

Matthew has had years of music instruction, currently studying classical piano and drums at The Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School of the Lighthouse Guild in NYC. It is the only community music school for the blind and visually impaired in the US. He also attended the Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege Jazz Program.

Since 2010 the New Brunswick Jazz Project has successfully fostered a supportive environment for regular live jazz performance in the New Brunswick area. NBJP partners, Jimmy Lenihan, Virginia DeBerry and Mike Tublin have gone from producing two jazz shows a month, to offering free, world class jazz performances four nights a week, year round.

Over the past eight and a half years, NBJP has presented more than 1000 events with world-renowned veteran musicians and emerging artists. Ravi Coltrane, Arturo O'Farrill, Ralph Peterson, Dave Stryker, Roseanna Vitro, Jerry Weldon, Akiko Tsuruga, Dezron Douglas, Freddie Hendrix, Joe Magnarelli, Ethan Cohen, Winard Harper, Kenny Davis, Tia Fuller, Vic Juris, Orrin Evans, Jerry Weldon, The Curtis Brothers, Sean Jones, Myron Walden, Virginia Mayhew, Ralph Bowen and Conrad Herwig are among the acclaimed national and international jazz artists and special guests who have performed for NBJP.

Live, straight ahead jazz is presented weekly at Garden State Ale House, INC Restaurant, the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick and Tavern on George. (Full Schedule - http://nbjp.org) The New Brunswick Jazz Project has created a real jazz scene and now regularly draws guests from all over the state, as well as New York and Pennsylvania, to Central Jersey to enjoy this quintessential, uniquely American music.

". . .New Brunswick has now become a destination for jazz." ~ The New York Times

"The New Brunswick Jazz Project is quickly becoming New Jersey's freshest jazz presenters..." -The Star Ledger

Grammy-nominated, jazz singer/songwriter sings standards beautifully also puts a jazz spin on songs not written by traditional jazz composers. This Detroit native grew up in a musically rich and diverse environment. She gives a jazz flavor to pop classics from Simon & Garfunkel, Marvin Gaye to Neil Young. In 1998 her debut MAXJAZZ recording, It’s All About Love, earned her a Grammy nomination in the Best Jazz Vocal Performance category.

A thirty-five-year veteran of the New York music scene, Croft is a multi-instrumentalist, playing six instruments and counting; drums, vibraphone, keyboards, chromatic harmonica, bass guitar and guitar. A brief stint in the 80’s, at Columbia records, produced two highly acclaimed albums - A Higher Fire and Survival of the Spirit.

Riza Printup is a jazz harpist, based in New York. Among many others, she has recorded with acclaimed jazz trumpeter and husband Marcus Printup, Grammy nominated pianist and composer Kenny Werner, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featuring Chick Corea. Her live performances include collaborations with Paquito D'Rivera, Yo-Yo Ma, and Kathleen Battle.

Marcus Printup, born and raised in Conyers, GA, credits his musical roots to Peeks Chapel Baptist Church where his family (mother Annie, father Bobby, sister Angela and paternal grandfather 'Big Deddy') all sang in the church choir. In 5th grade he had an interest in playing the drums. His band teacher noted that because they already had plenty of drummers, Marcus try the trumpet instead. He hasn't put the trumpet down since.

Jazz House Kids, incorporated in 2002 by its founder, Melissa Walker, is the only community arts organization in New Jersey exclusively dedicated to educating children through jazz: America’s home-grown art form. They ensure that every student has access to music, education, mentoring, and apprenticeship. This is the 5th year that these talented students will join CJJ Festival.

After spending seventeen years on the production and sales side of publishing, Ms. Anderson left to pursue a career in broadcasting. Always interested in jazz, in 1995 she joined the staff of WBGO, Newark, New Jersey where she hosts Weekend Jazz After Hours and Salon Sessions. She has authored three books: The Quotable Musician: From Bach to Tupac (2003), How to Grow as A Musician: What All Musicians Must Know to Succeed (2005) (both published by Allworth Press) and most recently, The Little Red Book of Musicians Wisdom (Skyhorse Press, 2012). In addition, she is the curator of the Newark Museum’s Jazz in the Garden Series and a Columbia University Community Scholar. Ms. Anderson is an alumna of Baruch College, CUNY (B.A., English) and resides in Harlem.