12-time GRAMMY-nominated singer Ledisi joins Shelby's orchestra for an orchestra for an evening devoted to the music of the High Priestess of Soul, Nina Simone. The New Orleans-born, Bay Area-raised Ledisi has led a magical career, releasing a half-dozen acclaimed albums blending her deeply rooted jazz skills with neo-soul and R&B, performing on pianist Robert Glasper's GRAMMY-winning landmark Black Radio, and appearing onscreen as gospel icon Mahalia Jackson in Ava DuVernay's Oscar-winning historical drama Selma. Last year, Ledisi performed her Simone tribute Nina and Me at Harlem's historic Apollo theater.
Bassist, composer, arranger, educator, and bandleader Marcus Shelby is a figure synonymous with Bay Area jazz and the spirit of collaboration. A recipient of the Charles Mingus Scholarship, Shelby attended Cal Arts and studied with Charlie Haden and James Newton while working simultaneously with the all-star jazz ensemble Black/Note, who released a series of highly regarded albums in the 1990s. Since moving to the Bay Area, he has led a highly regarded jazz orchestra and numerous small groups, with large-scale commissions focused on the history, present, and future of the African-American experience.