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Ilhan Saferali is a young award winning jazz musician who is getting his name out on the NYC jazz scene as well as turning heads of many Jazz greats. Ilhan, playing trumpet and piano, has accomplished a lot for himself as a young musician. Ilhan has played with Grammy award wining musicians such as Chucho Valdes and Kamasi Washington, and has worked with the David Suzuki Foundation for their ECOmusicology project. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Ilhan is now based out of New York City to make a name for himself as an artist and to study at the prestigious jazz program at The New School under the presidential scholarship. Ilhan’s music style takes from classic jazz players such as Bill Evans and Miles Davis and is heavily influenced by modern jazz players such as Christian Scott. Ilhan has studied with world renowned jazz legends such as Emmet Cohen, Benny Benack, Jean-Michel Pilc, Christine Jensen, Brad Turner and many more. He’s been recognized by some of the greatest names in jazz such as Reggie Workman, Jimmy Owens, Joe Magnarelli and more as a special young talent. Ilhan has played at many notable jazz venues and festivals such as Frankie’s Jazz Club (Vancouver), The Jazz Bistro (Toronto) and The Vancouver International Jazz Festivals among many others. Ilhan now spends his time working on his craft, writing music, sitting in at local New York City jam sessions and working on building a name for himself in the New York Jazz scene. You can find Ilhan playing trumpet in New York City as part of veteran tenor saxophonist Eric Wyatt’s quintet, and playing solo piano Thursday through Saturday at the Walker Hotel in the West Village.

Hailing from Israel, Brooklyn resident Dan Weisselberg is a contemporary straight-ahead jazz bass player.

After over a decade of experimenting and learning the world of Jazz and western music, it is easy to hear many influences from both old school bass masters as Oscar Pettiford, Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Bob Cranshaw, and Ron Carter, alongside bass players of our time – Pat O’leary, Ari Roland, Neal Miner, Tyler Mitchel, and Neal Caine to name a few.

The stylistic range of music Dan is mostly identified with is the great American songbook, as well as Be-Bop and Hard-Bop composers as: Horace Silver, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Barry Harris etc…

His search for deep, warm sound has led him to use gut strings, and to aim for a clean, pure “acoustic” sound. This sound, combined with a wide and supportive sense of beat have made him a name among his peers, and respected by high caliber musicians such as- Grant Stewart, Michael Kanan, Tardo Hammer, Joe Magnarelli, Frank Basile, John Webber, Chris Flory, etc. With whom he plays on a regular basis.

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.

The Modern Martinis are an eclectic jazz group based out of New York City featuring Melanie Goerlitz on vocals and Darin Brown on piano and vocals. It’s a vintage jazz sound with a modern twist where you can expect anything from Cole Porter to Amy Winehouse. Before they met, they both performed regularly across the entire globe including with orchestras and major acts. Once they met, there was no denying their chemistry. They both crossover into many styles of music, which keeps their shows interesting and fun. Their worldly vibe will take you from Paris to Rome and Rio in one evening. Melanie is classically trained but crosses all styles. Darin is very much at home with a Sinatra standard or Billy Joel classic. In other words, The Modern Martinis love to shake it up. Follow them on instagram: @modernmartinis.