Peter Bernstein was born in New York City in 1967. He has been playing and recording since 1990, when he first appeared on recordings with Lou Donaldson and the organ trio of Larry Goldings and Bill Stewart, a group that continues to tour and record today. That year, Peter was featured in Jim Hall’s JVC Jazz Festival concert at Town Hall. Peter played in Lou Donaldson’s group for 10 years, as well as performing and recording with Joshua Redman’s group from 1995 to 1997. Other associations and collaborations include Jimmy Cobb, Dr. Lonnie Smith, David “Fathead” Newman, Brad Mehldau, Etta Jones, Melvin Rhyne, Diana Krall, Bobby Hutcherson, Lee Konitz, Nicholas Payton, George Coleman, and Sonny Rollins.
Peter has played at festivals, concert halls, and jazz clubs all over the world and has appeared on over 300 recordings, including 14 albums under his own name. These recordings have featured many of his own compositions, as well as a trio recording of Thelonious Monk’s music and a live solo recording of standards and jazz classics. Peter’s recordings have featured musicians such as Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, Greg Hutchinson, Jimmy Cobb, Bill Stewart, Larry Grenadier, Gerald Clayton, Sullivan Fortner, Peter Washington, Doug Weiss, and Joe Farnsworth, among others.
His latest recording on the Smoke Sessions label is Better Angels, featuring Brad Mehldau, Vicente Archer, and Al Foster.
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GRAMMY Award-winning pianist Sullivan Fortner has released Aria (2015), Moments Preserved (2018), Solo Game (2024), which earned a GRAMMY nomination and four-star reviews from DownBeat and France’s Télérama, and Southern Nights (2025), which earned Fortner a spot on the February cover of DownBeat and won him his third GRAMMY Award.
The recipient of the 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award and winner of the 2024 DownBeat Critics Poll in the Rising Star Jazz Group category for the Sullivan Fortner Trio, the New Orleans native has worked with Wynton Marsalis, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Paul Simon, Dianne Reeves, Etienne Charles and John Scofield, Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Kassa Overall, Tivon Pennicott, Peter Bernstein, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Chief Adjuah, and Roy Hargrove.
His work and insights have been featured in publications including The New York Times and The Root. Further accolades include the American Pianists Association’s Cole Porter Fellowship, the Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship, the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, the Shifting Foundation Grant, and the Western Jazz Presenters Grant.
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Doug Weiss is an accomplished bassist and composer. Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with a diverse array of musicians, lending his artistry to both recordings and live performances. His extensive credits include work with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, the Birdland Big Band, Adam Birnbaum, Marc Copland, Kevin Hays, Eddie Henderson, Clifford Jordan, Judy Niemack, Chris Potter, Dominik Raab, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jorge Rossy, Pete Seeger, Bill Stewart, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and Lizz Wright.
From 1996 to 2019, Weiss was bassist and musical director of the Al Foster Quartet. Currently, he performs with Brian Blade’s Lifecycles band, the Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio, Caipi, the Peter Bernstein Quartet, and the Seamus Blake Group.
Weiss leads the Berlin Quartet, alongside Belá Meinberg, Jordan Dinsdale, and Ori Jacobson, as well as the Interstellar Trio, featuring Melissa Aldana and Colin Stranahan. In these bands, Weiss is composer, arranger, and bandleader.
In addition to his performance career, Weiss has made significant contributions to jazz education.
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Drummer Kush Abadey has cultivated an eclectic and fast-moving career, known for his versatility across jazz, rock, and electronica. At the age of 16, he joined the band of Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Wallace Roney and has since performed with leading artists including Ravi Coltrane, Chris Potter, Melissa Aldana, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Ethan Iverson, Wayne Krantz, Nicholas Payton, Tomasz Stańko, Gilad Hekselman, Seamus Blake, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Frank Lacy, Wynton Marsalis, and Buster Williams.
A few standout milestones include performing for Michelle Obama at the White House and becoming the youngest artist ever chosen for the Strathmore Artist-in-Residence program. In 2009, he received a Presidential Scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music, where he studied with Terri Lyne Carrington, Ralph Peterson, and Darren Barrett.
After two years at Berklee, Kush moved to New York City in 2012 and quickly became a sought-after drummer on the jazz scene. Known for his dynamic style and creative adaptability, he continues to perform, tour, and record internationally with a wide range of respected artists and ensembles.