Francisco Mela

Born in Bayamo, Cuba, Francisco Mela studied at the Music School of Arts El Yarey as a teenager before furthering his studies at the National School of Arts for Teachers, el CENCEA. He taught at Rafael Cabrera's Conservatory of Music and played with some of the country's top Latin jazz musicians. In 2000, he moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music and was invited to join the percussion faculty.

In 2005, Mela joined the quartet of saxophonist Joe Lovano. Of particular note was the group's 2008 album on Blue Note entitled Folk Art. Later that year, Mela was approached by McCoy Tyner to join his trio. Mela was named the Twin Cities Jazz Festival's first artistic director in 2014. Before appointment, he served as artistic director for the Xalapa Jazz Festival in Veracruz, Mexico from 2010 to 2013. In late 2016, Mela was part of an inaugural ensemble that joined Afro-Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés and saxophonist Joe Lovano for an international tour throughout Europe and North America. He also leads his own group, The Crash Trio.

George Garzone

Garzone is a member of the Fringe, a jazz trio founded in 1972 that includes bassist John Lockwood and drummer Bob Gullotti. Garzone has appeared on over 20 recordings, and has performed with Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, Danilo Pérez, Kenny Barron, Dennis Chambers, Stanley Cowell, Tom Harrell, Dave Holland, Dave Liebman, Cecil McBee, Bob Moses, Gary Peacock, Bill Stewart, and Bob Weir and Ratdog. Garzone is also a jazz educator, teaching at the Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, Longy School of Music, New York University, and the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. He pioneered the triadic chromatic approach. His students include Mindi Abair, Branford Marsalis, Donny McCaslin, Danilo Pérez, Joshua Redman, Luciana Souza, and Mark Turner.

Jose Soto

With a goal of creating socially aware music that betters society, the pianist, composer, and educator Jose Soto experiments with classical music, Latin American music, free improvisation, and jazz. His music studies took him to the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, New England Conservatory, and the Berklee Global Jazz Institute Master’s program at the Berklee College of Music. In Costa Rica, he worked as a teacher at several respected institutions. Mr. Soto has performed in many national and international jazz festivals in Latin America, the USA, and Europe. He aims to promote new musical experiences for audiences by exploring a variety of sounds. Currently, Jose teaches at Berklee College of Music in the Ear Training Department and Curry College.