Rahul Shah is a saxophonist and a woodwind doubler from Birmingham, Alabama. Having
graduated in May of 2022 from Eastman School of Music, he is currently pursuing his graduate
degree in Jazz Performance, as a student of Vincent Herring, at the Manhattan School of Music.

Rahul has participated in programs such as the award-winning First Edition Jazz Band, who have
competed in competitions such as the Savannah Swing Central competition and Essentially
Ellington.

Rahul has had the opportunity to play alongside distinguished musicians such as John Clayton,
Clay Jenkins, and Jeff Cambell just to name a few. He has studied with his role models such as
Vincent Herring, Charles Pillow, Gary Versace, Melissa Aldana, Sam Dillon, Bill Dobbins,
Wycliffe Gordon, Marcus Printup, amongst others.

Bassist John Lang offers a distinguished resume in performance, arranging and composition. Lang is most recognized in New York as a straight-ahead bassist. He hosted the Burgundy Wine Jazz Duets Series for 8 years in the early 2000s, featuring such modern-days stars as Saul Rubin, Ehud Asherie, Kris Kaiser, Yotam Silberstein, Jeremy Manasia, Nat Harris, Vito Dieterle, Larry Ham, Tardo Hammer, Michael Moore and Randy Napolean. Lang’s quintet has performed at Smalls, The Jazz Forum, Fat Cat, Little Branch, Times Square Café, The Hawaiian Tropic Room and Toons.

Lang founded La Onda Va Bien, the Latin jazz ensemble that recorded 2003’s “La Vuelta,” featuring 10 of his original songs. His second CD, “Lend Me Your Ears,” premiered at Smalls in 2009 and was called “a rare collection of swing and modernity” by reviewer Scott Yanow. Lang is a member of the Kolotov Mocktails, a modern jazz band comprised of stellar jazz musicians from across the United States. The band’s 2020 debut recording “Ivy Hall,” is enjoying radio play and positive reviews from fans and critics alike. He released “Now Ear This,” his first electric project, to rave reviews in 2021. “NET” features 9 original songs as well as fresh arrangements of “Pusherman” and “Four on Six” and was produced by jazz legend John Patitucci. Modern drumming powerhouse Richie Morales noted the album’s “clear arrangements, great solos and tight ensemble work. Take a listen!” Lang is currently a member of the Kolotov Mocktails, a new American jazz band. Their debut recording, “Ivy Hall” is enjoying radio play and critical acclaim in America and Europe.

Lang has recorded and arranged for many Broadway singers including Natalie Toro and Rita Harvey, as well as for the cast recordings of Fat Camp and the Adventures of Flat Stanley. His big band arrangements were featured in the 2006 production of “Little Jack Frost,” a recreation of a 1940s radio show, and he has toured internationally with the Jack Cassidy and Adrienne Hindmarsh trios.

Lang also doubles on electric bass and in that capacity has performed and recorded with Kinny Landrum and the Gumbo Roux, Cady Huffman, Mary Ann Renza, Rocksteady, Stolen Moments, and Sis Boom Bah.

He has served on the faculty of the Music Conservatory of Westchester since 2014, and maintains a healthy roster of private students. In the fall 2020 he began studies as SUNY Purchase for a master’s in jazz performance under bassist Doug Weiss. Lang resides in the Hudson River Valley, just north of New York City, with his wife Damaris and son Milo.

Who needs words? Just come check it out. It’s jazz. It’s blues. It’s funk. It’s songs you know, in a way you don’t know them. It’s all these things, and more. But, most of all?

Song stylist and trombonist Eric Hoffman and award-winning composer and guitarist Ken
Hatfield have performed together for over a decade. They will perform songs from their
extensive repertoire, including music from their 2023 release, Stirrings Still, which deftly
balances introspective originals with fresh takes on standards, both familiar and unexpected.
Ken Hatfield is a leading proponent of jazz played on the classical guitar. Described as “a
veritable Picasso of the jazz guitar world” (20 th Century Guitar), and “one of the most skilled,
creative, and original guitarist/composers currently recording” (Acoustic Guitar), Hatfield is
known for his formidable fingerstyle technique and original compositional voice that draws on
influences as diverse as jazz, blues, classical, Brazilian, and Appalachian music. His important
contributions as a composer have earned him wide recognition, including the prestigious ASCAP
Foundation Jazz Vanguard Award for “innovative and distinctive music that is charting new
directions in jazz” (2006).
Arthur Circle Music has released ten albums with Ken performing his original works, and six
books of his compositions. Mel Bay published his instructional book Jazz and the Classical
Guitar: Theory and Application and features his works in Contemporary Guitar Composers of the
Americas and Master Anthology of Jazz Guitar Solos, Vol. III. Ken’s compositions and writings
have also appeared in numerous jazz and guitar publications, including DownBeat, Acoustic
Guitar, and Just Jazz Guitar.
In addition to composing for ensembles he leads, his compositional experience includes
commissioned ballet scores for Judith Jamison, The Washington Ballet Company, and the
Maurice Béjart Ballet Company, and scores for television and film, including Eugene Richards’
award-winning documentary but, the day came. Ken has performed in a variety of venues
ranging from the JVC Jazz Festival, the Smithsonian Institution and Carnegie Hall to intimate jazz
clubs such as Birdland and 55 Bar. He has performed and/or recorded with a diverse list of
international artists, including Charlie Byrd, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Chico Hamilton,
Melissa Manchester, Stephanie Mills, Pat Benatar, Charles Aznavour, Bob Cranshaw, Grady
Tate, Marcus Miller, João Donato, Ben E. King, Eddie Kendricks, Marlena Shaw, Z.Z. Hill, and
Toni Braxton.

Eric Hoffman is a distinctive song stylist with an impressive vocal range. Whether employing an
intimate whisper or his full-voice baritone, he is a master of many styles, convincingly
interpreting genres from jazz to Broadway and everything in between. From Flint, Michigan,
and an Interlochen Arts Academy graduate, Hoffman comes from a musical family. At an early
age he began singing with his grandparents in their church choir. At age ten he took up the
Lowrey 88 Organ before moving on to the trombone. He was a featured singer with big bands
on various cruise lines, working with performers such as Jack Jones, The Spinners, Vic Damone,
and Steve Allen. After moving to New York, Hoffman became a trombonist and featured male
vocalist with Supersound, former Dizzy Gillespie drummer Charli Persip’s big band, appearing

on Persip’s recording Intrinsic Evolution. Eric is a protégé of the legendary Marilyn Maye, who
directed his New York cabaret debut, “A New Nightclub Act,” in 2017. He has performed in a
variety of contexts and ensembles with guitarist Ken Hatfield for the past decade, including
their 2023 duo release Stirrings Still. Eric’s previous albums include Introducing Eric Hoffman
with Oliver Von Essen and Get Together.@winniesjazzbar