“Connie Han has established herself as one of contemporary jazz’s most talented and inventive musicians by combining the precision of her childhood training as a classical pianist with the improvisation, and irrepressible emotion, of her heroes Freddie Hubbard and Kenny Kirkland.”
— Variety Magazine
Hailed as “The Jazz Warrior-Goddess” in a full feature artist profile by Downbeat Magazine, Connie Han possesses “a skill and ferocity unmatched by all but the most accomplished of pianists.”
Pianist and provocateur Connie Han has created an edgy blend of modern and traditional jazz with her incendiary Mack Avenue Records debut CRIME ZONE. At 29, this young lioness is on a fast-climbing trajectory to jazz stardom with rave reviews from The New York Times, Jazziz Magazine, Downbeat Magazine, and more. According to Downbeat Magazine, Han has “already absorbed the post-bop piano masters” with “all the technical mastery she’ll ever need.” The New York Times describes her as “the rare musician with fearsome technical chops, a breadth of historical knowledge and enough originality to write tunes that absorb your ear easily.”
Bassist Matt Brewer is one of the world’s premier bassists. Originally from Oklahoma City but spent most of his youth in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He didn’t take music seriously until the age of ten, when he found the bass during a summer program at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.
Matt started gigging professionally at the age of twelve around the Albuquerque area and was soon winning awards from the top university jazz festivals. After graduating from the Interlochen Arts Academy, Matt attended the inaugural class of The Juilliard Jazz Program and studied with bassists Rodney Whitaker and Ben Wolfe.
He has worked with artists such as Greg Osby, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Lee Konitz, David Sanchez, Terence Blanchard, Aaron Parks, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and many others. He is featured on dozens of recordings, including two on the Blue Note record label. Matt has also led bands in New York, performing at venues such as the Jazz Gallery, Fat Cat, and the Tribeca Performing Arts Center. His band was also featured at the New Mexico International Jazz Festival. He is an adjunct faculty member at The New School, has been a guest artist/teacher at the Banff Center, and has taught lessons and masterclasses across the globe.
Drummer Damion Reid from West Covina, California, east of Los Angeles, attended the New England Conservatory of Music, where his teachers included Cecil McBee, Danilo Pérez, Fred Buda and George Russell. Reid was a 1998 recipient of NEC’s Alan Dawson Scholarship, and in 1999 was accepted into the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at the University of Southern California. Reid has also attended The New School in New York City.
He has performed with Greg Osby, Terence Blanchard, Robert Glasper, Cassandra Wilson, Bruce Hornsby, Jacky Terrasson, Ravi Coltrane, Reggie Workman, Marcus Belgrave, Lauryn Hill, Angie Stone, and many more
Reid’s work on the Robert Glasper Trio album Covered earned him a Grammy nomination in 2016.
He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, US.