Soul Inscribed

Biography

New York-based band Soul Inscribed brews up a mix of hip hop poetics and soulful vocals for its audiences, flowing seamlessly between crafted songs and improvisation. As arts educators, the band has brought their music to young audiences across the globe through performances and interactive, dynamic workshops—including activities such as beatboxing, programming beats on drum machines, and providing topics to jumpstart freestyle and improvisation. In 2016, Soul Inscribed toured Russia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Mauritius as cultural ambassadors through American Music Abroad. That same year, their self-titled debut studio album was released. The musical collection pays homage to the band’s rare groove sounds and explores the future of Soul with remixes from DJ Kiva, Dan West, and New Zealand’s legendary DJ/producer P-Money.

MC and producer Baba Israel co-founded Playback NYC, the first playback theatre company to integrate freestyle hip hop. His debut solo show Boom Bap Meditations was supported by the Ford Foundation and the Hip HopTheatre festival. His work has been featured in documentaries such as Freestyle (MTV) and Hip Hop for Hope(BET). Baba has served as an educator and consultant with nonprofits such as BAM, Young arts, and Urban Word NYC. He was Artistic Director and CEO of Contact Theatre in Manchester, a leading venue at the intersection of youth leadership and innovative performance. Sean Nowell is an active voice on the NYC creative music scene. He has composed and improvised film scores, music for ballet and theatre, and five jazz albums. Sean is known for integrating electronics into his pieces to push the creative boundaries of the saxophone and flute. Guitar and bassist Kiriakos Prodis, best known as Yako 440, composed and performed music for multi-media theater show The Spinning Wheel and was awarded the New York State Council for the Arts Composer’s Grant in 2016. Jonathan “Duv” Zaragoza is a soulful vocal artist from The Bronx. He has collaborated on multiple albums as a featured artist, including Nice Guys Finish with Hired Gun and Prospect Avenue with Rabbi Darkside. Vocalist Grace Galu combines the sounds of her Irish and Congolese heritage with a soulful and gritty twist. At fourteen, Grace worked at the Third Street Music Settlement to produce her song, “Ordinary Sentiment,” for the Ed Burns film “Purple Violets.” For the last 15 years, she has been performing regularly at many of New York’s most notable venues, including the Waldorf Astoria, Bowery Poetry Club, Highline Ballroom, and Blue Note.