Black Lives

About the musicians

REGGIE WASHINGTON (bass)
Born in 1962 in Staten Island, New York
Reggie was a key participant in the Modern Jazz revolution of the 80’s and 90’s. He became known touring, recording, and performing with Steve Coleman, Branford Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Chico Hamilton, Oliver Lake, The Headhunters, Cassandra Wilson, Don Byron, Jean-Paul Bourelly and Ronald Shannon Jackson.

SHARRIF SIMMONS (spoken word)
Born in 1969 in Long Island, New York
Sharrif is a songwriter, musician, poet, and arts educator. His musical influences range from Richie Havens, Bill Withers, Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix to Rage Against the Machine, Parliament Funkadelic, Old Dirty Bastard and Biggie Smalls. He has toured Europe and the United States for college campuses, festivals and conferences.

DJ GRAZZHOPPA (turntables)
Born in 1972 in Bruges, Belgium
Turntablist DJ Grazzhoppa is an international phenomenon. He has worked with Aka Moon, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Rainbow Shadow (“Tribute to Jef Lee Johnson“) and Zap Mama. He has created his own band, “Mo & Grazz“ with his wife Monique Harcum.

GRÉGORY PRIVAT (piano)
Born in 1984 in Martinique
Grégory, whose father was a pianist for the Caribbean band Malavoi, was classically trained but turned to jazz and improvisation during his teens. He has worked with David Linx, Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Dominique Di Piazza, Lars Danielsson.

JEAN-PAUL BOURELLY (guitar)
Born in 1960 Chicago, Illinois
Jean-Paul is an American guitarist, born from Haitian parents, whose music crosses the boundaries between jazz fusion and rock. During the 1980‘s he worked with Muhal Richard Abrams, Olu Dara, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Archie Shepp. Jean-Paul played on “Amandla“, one of Miles Davis‘s last albums and produced albums for Cassandra Wilson.

ADAM FALCON (guitar)
Born in 1954 in the Bronx, New York
Adam is a singer-songwriter and guitarist whose music ranges from R&B to folk.
At age 17 he wrote an instrumental piece, “In Search of a Dream“, for the legendary guitarist George Benson, which became part of Benson‘s Grammy-nominated album “In Your Eyes.“  Later, he wrote a second composition for Benson titled "True Blue" from the Grammy-nominated album "That's Right."
While working for Roberta Flack, Marcus Miller, Steve Jordan, Omar Hakim, Jonathan Butler, Robert Palmer, Phyllis Hyman, Nona Hendryx, he'd perform on all the major stages and festivals opening shows for Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Whitney Houston, Peter Gabriel and a number of great artist around the world.
From recording an album for The Village People to playing with singer/guitarist Jonathan Butler on The Tonight Show, it’s been one big musical journey which still continues today.

DAVID GILMORE (guitar)
Born in 1964 in Cambridge, Massachusetts
David is a professor in the Guitar department at Berklee College of Music. He has recorded and performed with today’s most influential modern artists such as Wayne Shorter, Dave Douglas, Steve Coleman, Cassandra Wilson, Don Byron, Uri Caine, Randy Brecker, David Sanborn, Joss Stone, Christian McBride.

GENE LAKE (drums)
Born in 1966 in St. Louis, Missouri
Gene is an all-around drummer who embodies the contradictions of modern music. He was exposed very early to the Black Artist Group, “a seedbed for innovation“ and a collective rally of black musicians, poets, dancers, and artists from all disciplines led by his father Oliver Lake. He has toured with Joe Zawinul, Marcus Miller, Steve Coleman, Henry Threadgill, Meshell Ndegeocello, D’Angelo, Cassandra Wilson, Jason Miles, Screaming Headless Torsos.

MARQUE GILMORE (drums)
Born in 1966 in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Marque is a highly accomplished drummer immersed in ethnic music. Active in London and New York, he also performs worldwide with Cheick Tidiane Seck (“Tribute to Randy Weston“) and Brian Jackson (“Tribute to Gil Scott Heron“). Marque is one of the founders of the NYC Black Rock Coalition.

SONNY TROUPÉ (drums)
Born in 1978 in Les Abymes, Guadeloupe
Sonny plays instruments such as the ka as well as drums and mixes traditional Guadeloupean music and modern jazz. He collaborates with David Murray, Kenny Garrett, Reggie Washington, Mario Canonge, Grégory Privat, Jacques Schwarz Bart, Magic Malik, Lionel Loueke, Alain Jean Marie.