The Blackbyrds were at the cutting edge of jazz fusion, R&B and funk in the 1970s, pushing the boundaries of Black popular music forward in one of the most musically fertile decades of the past century.  Established by legendary jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd in 1973, the band's success includes several highly successful albums (1973's The Blackbyrds, 1974's Flying Start, 1975's City Life, 1976's Unfinished Business, 1977's Action, 1980's Better Days); film scores (1975's "Cornbread," "Earl and Me"), and supported such artists as B.B. King, Mandrill, Herbie Hancock, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Roberta Flack, among others.  The Blackbyrds put the group on the map with "Do It, Fluid," a funky laid-back party anthem.  The group followed that initial success with a string of albums over the next five years, including Flying Start (1974), which yielded their biggest hit, the Grammy® nominated "Walking in Rhythm," and City Life (1975), which contained the hit "Happy Music" and the iconic "Rock Creek Park," which remains one of the most sampled jazz-funk records to this day, as well as such hits as “Supernatural Feeling,” Grammy nominated “Unfinished Business,” “Time is Movin’,” “Dreaming About You” and “Flyin’ High,” among many others.  Their signature sound combined jazz techniques withR&B, funk, classical and gospel and supported the emerging hip-hop movement. The Blackbyrds have been sampled by countless hip-hop artists, most notably Grandmaster Flash, Tupac, De La Soul, NWA, Eric B. & Rakim, Heavy D, Gang Starr, MF Doom, Wiz Khalifa, Nas, Ice Cube, and most recently, Jeezy.  Under the leadership of original drummer and vocalist, Keith Killgo, the band continues to record, tour and perform globally.

The Blackbyrds current lineup includes original founding members Keith Killgo (drums and vocals) and Joe Hall (bass), Paul Spires (vocals), Dominique Toney (vocals), who is the daughter of original band keyboardist Kevin Toney, Roberto Villeda (keyboards), Charles Wright (guitar), Thad Wilson (trumpet), Marshall Keys (saxophone) and Sean Anthony percussion).

Yola is a six-time GRAMMY nominated artist, songwriter, and actor who has achieved critical acclaim, breakout success, and has been proclaimed as one of the most exciting and innovative artists in music today. NPR called her album, Stand For Myself (2021), the “best soul record of the past 20 years”, while Rolling Stone championed her as “one of contemporary pop’s greatest singers, who just so happens to also be one of its sharpest songwriters.” Her recent My Way EP heralded an enthusiastic shift into her latest sonic journey of progressive R&B and soul.

Yola made her acting debut as the founder of rock and roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, in Baz Luhrmann’s musical drama, ELVIS, and earned a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture. In 2024, she graced the NYC stage with her Broadway debut in the Tony Award winning musical Hadestown. Yola is a member of The Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective, and to celebrate Yola’s impact and influence on music, her guitar was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Right Here, Right Now exhibit.

Yola’s upcoming full length project will surely add another gem to her ever-growing, genre-fluid catalog. 

RAY ANGRY is a pianist, producer, composer and arranger who is one of the most in-demand artists today. Classically trained with roots in gospel, Ray’s resume includes names such as Jeff Beck, Wynton Marsalis, Mark Ronson, Q-Tip, Yolanda Adams, Daniel Winans, Joss Stone, Sting, Me’Shell Ndegéocello, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Cindy Blackman, a duo of Mick Jagger & Dave Stewart, Estelle, Richard Smallwood, Dionne Warwick, Dianne Reeves,
Queen Latifah, D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Kelis, Christina Aguilera and ongoing associates, The Roots.

Ray is the CEO and Founder of Mister Goldfinger Music Group, which released the album, Ray Angry One and singles from his Public Domain project. Recent projects include Ray’s solo piano album, Ray Angry Three; a trio album with David Murray and Questlove entitled, Plumb; an album of Ray’s weekly NYC live show, Producer Mondays, and the newly released duo album with Ryan Shaw entitled, OFF Broadway.

Ray’s film and television work includes composing music for Amy Schumer’s Life & Beth Seasons 1 & 2 on Hulu; Seasons 1 - 5 of Inside Amy Schumer on Paramount+; the award-winning short film Aisle 2; Expecting Amy on HBO; the documentary film, Why Is We Americans?; the critically acclaimed award nominated documentary film, Descendant on Netflix; the feature film, The Lockdown; the feature documentary, Out of Breath; Amy Schumer’s comedy special, Emergency Contact on Netflix; the sports documentary series, Up for Debate on ESPN, and the upcoming
film documentary about Earth, Wind & Fire on HBO. Ray can be seen weekly on NBC’s TheTonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as a member of the house band, The Roots.