Described in a recent 5-star review in DownBeat magazine as having “incredible prowess and tender musicality,” New York saxophonist and composer Jim Snidero encapsulates what is both unique and compelling about jazz, reflected in over 10 million plays on Spotify.
Making Movies is a psychedelic Panamanian band that makes American music with an asterisk: because Making Movies’ sound encompasses the entirety of the Americas. It’s through this broader perspective that Making Movies crunches classic rock into Latin American rhythms — African-derived percussion and styles like rumba, merengue, mambo and cumbia — in a way that feels oddly familiar, yet delivers the invigorating chills of hearing something singularly special.
In 2014, The Project H won the Pitch Music Award for “Best Jazz Ensemble.” Their record, We Live Among the Lines was named the second-best Kansas City release of any genre by The Deli magazine in 2014. Their fourth record of original music, Everyday, Forever, reached #7 on iTunes in March of 2018.
Sound Fuzion is a sixteen-piece commercial band that was formed and founded at the University of Memphis. Founded in 1988, the vision/ goal for the premiere commercial ensemble is to prepare students for the professional world of touring and performing. Over the years, Sound Fuzion has helped enhance and cultivate artists including Jordan Occasionally, Kyndle Wylde, The PRVLG, Jessica Ray, and The Band Camino. With high enrollment and determined students, Sound Fuzion equips and develops students to prepare them for the music industry and the world.
Black Opry is a home for Black artists and Black fans of country, blues, folk, and Americana music. Country music has been made by and loved by Black people since its conception. For just as long, we have been overlooked and disregarded in the genre by fans and executives. Black Opry wants to change that. We invite you to discover, support and enjoy the Black artists that make magic in this space. One of the most valuable aspects of country music is its versatility and diversity in sound. Country, blues, folk, and Americana music often overlap or weave together — these artists explore all of those sounds and intersections. The Black Opry Revue showcases the diversity in sound and stories that Black artists offer to these genres.