Jackson Browne has written and performed some of the most literate and moving songs in popular music and has defined a genre of songwriting charged with honesty, emotion, and personal politics. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2007. Jackson’s career began in the mid-60s in Los Angeles and Orange County folk clubs. Except for a brief period in NYC in the late 1960s, he has always lived in Southern California. His debut album came out on David Geffen’s Asylum Records in 1972. Since then, he has released fourteen studio albums and four collections of live performances. His most recent studio album, Standing In The Breach, is a collection of ten songs, at turns deeply personal and political, exploring love, hope, and defiance in the face of the advancing uncertainties of modern life.

Browne is known for his advocacy on behalf of the environment, human rights, and arts education. He’s a co-founder of the groups Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) and Nukefree.org. In 2002, he was the fourth recipient of the John Steinbeck Award, given to artists whose works exemplify the environmental and social values that were essential to the great California-born author. He has received Duke University’s LEAF award for Lifetime Environmental Achievement in the Fine Arts, and both the Chapin-World Hunger Year and NARM Harry Chapin Humanitarian Awards. In 2004, Jackson was given an honorary Doctorate of Music by Occidental College in Los Angeles, for “a remarkable musical career that has successfully combined an intensely personal artistry with a broader vision of social justice.”

Mark Ronson is an internationally renowned DJ and five-time-Grammy-Award-winning artist and producer. Fusing his eclectic turntable skills with his knowledge of musical instruments and songwriting, Ronson has released four critically acclaimed albums: Here Comes the Fuzz (2013), Version (2007), Record Collection (2010), and Uptown Special (2015). His latest album reached #1 on the U.K. albums chart, entered the Top Ten on Billboard’s 200 albums chart, and features collaborations with Bruno Mars, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow and many others. The album’s lead single, “Uptown Funk,” held on to the No.1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks straight – tying it for the second-longest No.1 in chart history.

In the 3 years since Uptown Special, Mark has focused his efforts towards producing Lady Gaga’s fifth studio album, Joanne (2016), and Queens of the Stone Age’s seventh studio album, Villains (2017). He is currently at work on his 5th studio album, as well as “Silk City,” a collaborative project with Diplo.

Over his career, Ronson has worked with some of the greatest and most diverse artists of his generation including: Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, Macy Gray, Jack White, Nas, Wale, Christina Aguilera, Duran Duran, Queens of the Stone Age, Rufus Wainwright, Lily Allen, Action Bronson, Sean Paul, Mos Def, and Rivers Cuomo. He is famed for his work on Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black LP that has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

Steve Padilla is a longtime staffer at the Los Angeles Times and editor of the paper’s signature front-page Column One feature. Mr. Padilla likes to say he got his start by launching a newspaper for his sixth-grade class at Ramona Elementary School in Alhambra. “The 203 News” – after Room 203 – contained more jokes than actual news, but it was a start.

In his 31 years at the Times, he edited a wide variety of subjects, including politics, immigration, higher education and religion. He helped direct the paper’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of a botched bank robbery in North Hollywood in 1997. Before assuming his Column One duties, he was an editor on the paper’s foreign-national desk, handling news from overseas and across the country. Before the Times, Mr. Padilla was a reporter for the San Diego Union and was founding editor of Hispanic Link Weekly Report, a Washington-based newsletter on Latino affairs.  

Mr. Padilla serves as a writing coach – working with students and professionals — and lectures frequently about writing technique. As @StevePadilla2, he tweets about how writers can improve their craft. He is also a trained musician, a tenor with the Jouyssance Early Music Ensemble, and says his musical education heavily informs his writing and editing. In his lectures, he often notes the importance of contrast—long-short, loud-soft, staccato-legato. That’s writing, he says, as well as music.

Sara Bareilles first achieved mainstream critical praise in 2007 with her widely successful hit “Love Song,” which reached No. 1 in 22 countries around the world from her debut album “Little Voice.” Since then, Sara has gone on to receive six Grammy® nominations throughout her career, which include Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Love Song” and one Album of the Year for her highly acclaimed third studio album, “The Blessed Unrest.”  Her book, “Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song,” was released in the fall of 2015 by Simon & Schuster and is a New York Times best seller. Making her Broadway debut Sara composed the music and lyrics for “Waitress,” for which she received her first Tony® Award nomination for Best Score and a 2017 Grammy® Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album. She also made her Broadway acting debut in 2017 by stepping into the lead role in “Waitress”.

2018 has been a big year for Sara, she co-hosted the Tony Awards®, was nominated for an Emmy® for her role in “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert,” and was awarded with the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Hal David Starlight Award.   Sara has also teamed up with Apple as an executive producer for “Little Voice” a 10-episode series, which she will create the original music for. “What’s Inside: Songs from Waitress,” her most recent solo studio album, is out on Epic Records. She is currently working on a new album. For more information, please visit www.sarabmusic.com.

In 2005, rooted in community & tradition, a group of students learning Son Jarocho music became known as ‘Los Cafeteros,’ named after the Eastside Cafe community center, which 2 members helped found.  They soon changed their name to Las Cafeteras to honor the feminine spirit of the group. Without intending to, they organically evolved from student-group into a performance group aimed at sharing Afro-Mexican music from Southern Veracruz, Mexico in their neighborhoods.

Over the years, Las Cafeteras would develop a genre-bending sound & electric live performance infusing lyrically rich storytelling with the purpose of sharing the hidden stories of migrant life in Los Angeles. Las Cafeteras, who grew up in Los Angeles, were inspired not only from Mexican music, but from rock, reggae, hip-hop and Motown. For Las Cafeteras, it was essential to use music as a way to build bridges among the different cultures and communities that historically have had tension. Through music, Las Cafeteras were trying to help build ‘a world where many worlds fit.’

As Native and migrant children who are remixing roots music, the Las Cafeteras sound was brought to life by 4 distinct vocalist and their eclectic instrumentation, including jaranas, a donkey jawbone, a West African bass instrument, cajón, and a wooden platform used to dance Zapateado. Their 1^st album, “Live at Mucho Wednesday” was a recording at the famous, “La Cita” Bar in Downtown LA. After receiving local praise for a raw and authentic sound that could not be replicated, Las Cafeteras jumped into the studio to do what no one ever thought they would do … record a real record.

The success of their first studio album “It’s Time” launched the band to new heights, placing them on stages with Mexican icons Café Tacuba, Lila Downs, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s & the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.  They’ve since toured North America from the Santa Barbara Bowl in California to the Lincoln Center in New York; from the Montreal Jazz Festival to WOMAD Festival in the UK.

Las Cafeteras released their highly anticipated new album in the Spring of 2017. Las Cafeteras play music with the spirit that can only be explained through an ancient African Proverb, “if you can walk, you can dance, and if you can talk you can sing.”

Aside from acquiring 5 Grammy’s in music, numerous nominations as a Songwriter/ Producer and selling over 40 million records to date in Pop Music, IZ Avila has traveled the world as the DJ for Usher for the last 6 years, performing for Obama’s 2013 inauguration in Washington DC, 5 SOLD-OUT nights at the 02 Arena, and even for Bill Clinton’s Charity event at the Hollywood Bowl with Bono of U2 & Stevie Wonder. In addition to his chops as an accomplished Drummer, Percussionist, and Bassist, IZ Avila is perhaps best known for his mastery of his MPC3000, his turntables, crates of vinyl, and world-renowned live DJ work and musical production with superstar artists.

In 2016, IZ joined the Turnaround Arts program, partnering with Standing Rock Middle School in North Dakota and encouraging local leadership, teachers, and students around the country. In 2008, IZ started his involvement with the “Grammy in the Schools Program,” speaking at various career days at local high schools. That led IZ to creating his own weekly webinar / streaming show called “Connected” in 2016, which focuses on providing education, mentoring, and jobs in the fields of music, recording, film, radio, and culinary. Today, he has introduced over 430 jobs to aspiring musicians, producers, directors, engineers, and chefs.

These days, aside from songwriting, producing, and traveling as a live DJ, IZ and his brother Bobby Avila continue launching new landmark products such as the ARQ Drum Machine, UE Boom Bluetooth speaker, and DJ808. IZ Avila is focusing his attention on expanding the Avila Brothers brand along with disrupting the way education is presented to kids in high school who have a passion to pursue an unconventional career in the arts.

Debbie Allen, a BFA graduate of Howard University in Theater and Classical Greek Studies is an award-winning director/choreographer who has choreographed the Academy Awards a record ten times. She has directed and choreographed for legendary artists such as Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Gwen Verdon, Lena Horne, and Sammy Davis, Jr.

Ms. Allen received the Golden Globe for her role as Lydia Grant in the 1980s hit series Fame, and is a three-time Emmy Award winner in Choreography for the series Fame and The Motown 25th. Awarded ten Image Awards as director, actress, choreographer and producer for Fame, A Different World, Motown 25th, The Academy Awards, The Debbie Allen Special and Amistad, she has also directed the best that Network TV offers, including Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder, Jane The Virgin, Empire and currently serves as directing Executive Producer of Grey’s Anatomy where she also holds a recurring role as Catherine Avery. In 2001, she founded the non-profit Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles. The school’s mission is to fill a void for youth who have an interest in learning dance and performance technique.

A native of Houston, Texas, she is the daughter of Vivian Ayers and Dr. Andrew A. Allen. She is daughter of Vivian Ayers and Dr. Andrew Allen, wife to NBA All-Star Norman Nixon and mother of Vivian and Thump.

Tony, Grammy, and Lucille Lortel Award-winning actor and rapper Daveed Diggs is widely known for originating the dual roles of ‘Thomas Jefferson’ and ‘Marquis de Lafayette’ in the Broadway sensation, HAMILTON. He can next be seen in Liongate’s BLINDSPOTTING, which he stars in, produced, and co-wrote with Rafael Casal. The film debuted to rave reviews at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and hit theaters this summer.

Diggs most recently appeared in the hit Lionsgate feature WONDER, opposite Julia Roberts and Jacob Tremblay, in a performance heralded as “irresistibly charming” and “deeply sympathetic.” He’s also recognizable as the voice of Dos in Fox’s Academy Award-nominated animated feature, FERDINAND. He recently wrapped production for Netflix’s untitled Dan Gilroy thriller alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalia Dyer, Tom Sturridge, Toni Collette, and John Malkovich, expected to release in late 2018.

On the television side, Diggs will next star in TNT’s SNOWPIERCER and lend his voice to Fox’s BOB’S BURGERS and Apple TV’s CENTRAL PARK, a new animated musical comedy from BOB’S BURGERS creator Loren Bouchard and 20th Century Fox Television. He was last seen on ABC’s Emmy-nominated series, BLACKISH, and Netflix’s hit comedy, UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT. He also starred in HBO’s TOUR DE PHARMACY, alongside Andy Samberg and Orlando Bloom. Furthermore, Diggs executive produced ABC’s, THE MAYOR and is creating original content for ESPN. Previous television includes NBC’s LAW & ORDER: SVU and Netflix’s, THE GET DOWN, created by visionary director Baz Luhrmann.

Before HAMILTON, Diggs was already well-respected in the underground hip- hop scene as a member of the West Coast-based experimental trio “clipping.” Diggs toured nationally and internationally, both as a solo artist and with “clipping.” playing venues including Sonar Festival in Barcelona; Off Festival in Krakow; ATP Iceland in  Keflavic; and Brooklyn’s AfroPunk Fest. Special engagement bookings include the Red Bull Music Academy and Moog Electronics. The group was also nominated for a Hugo Award for their sophomore album, Splendor & Misery.

Tune-Yards was formed by Merrill Garbus in 2006, and that band name has ever since been synonymous with forward movement—whether because of the group’s explosive performance style, the always-surprising way in which their songs unfold, the danceability of the music, or the connections Garbus highlights between song and social consciousness.

First gaining notice with the debut BiRd-BrAiNs, which The New York Times called “a confident do-it-yourselfer’s opening salvo: a staticky, low-fi, abrasive attention-getter,” Garbus forged a reputation as a formidable live presence through relentless touring.  She became a producer in her own right working with bassist Nate Brenner and engineer Eli Crews on 2011’s   w h o k i l l, a startling and sonically adventurous statement that led to a whirlwind period where the band accrued accolades from critics (including the #1 spot on the Village Voice’s 2011 Pazz and Jop poll.) In 2014, Tune-Yards released Nikki Nack, and through touring and licensing music from that album, they raised money to begin The Water Fountain, a fund for water-related causes which has donated over $75,000 to various nonprofits since its inception.

Tune-Yards has collaborated with Yoko Ono, Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Mavis Staples, and others.  Their latest record, I can feel you creep into my private life, was released in January of 2018. A fully collaborative effort between Garbus and Brenner who co-wrote and co-produced the record, Garbus’ lyrics explore her place in the world, ruminating on race, politics, intersectional feminism and the environment.  Rolling Stone called it, “an LP determined to conjure kinetic joy while staring down our present cultural fright show.”

Garbus currently curates and hosts a radio show dedicated to showcasing female-identifying producers on Red Bull Radio. Garbus and Brenner recently scored Boots Riley’s acclaimed film, Sorry to Bother You.  Both will continue to produce music for Tune-Yards and for other artists in the coming year.

Photo by Aly Fae