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Meet the Band
Matthew Whitaker
Matthew Whitaker’s love for playing music began at age 3 after his grandfather gave him a small Yamaha keyboard. At age 13, he became the youngest artist endorsed by Hammond. At 15 he became the youngest Yamaha Jazz Piano Artist. In 2022, he joined the ranks of the Nord Keyboard Artists.
Matthew tours within the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia performing on prestigious stages such as the Apollo Theater, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts, and music festivals at home and internationally.
He has appeared on television programs such as FOX TV’s Showtime at the Apollo, the Today Show, Harry Connick Jr Show, Ellen, and 60 Minutes!
Matthew recently starred, produced, and scored the All Arts documentary “About Tomorrow” as well as composed the original score for the film “Starkeisha” which is currently streaming on Hulu. As an advocate for persons with disabilities, Matthew has assisted multiple companies in testing the accessibility features of their products and software. Matthew and other disabled persons appear in the Apple T.V. commercial, “The Greatest”, currently running on national television. (TV Commercials: Apple’s “The Greatest”. The commercial features the accessibility functions within Apple products (https://youtu.be/8sX9IEHWRJ8 )
In 2019 & 2020, he was the winner of the ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award for original compositions “Emotions & Underground!”
Matthew has three studio albums; Outta The Box, Now Hear This, and Connections where he has collaborated with Derrick Hodge, Ray Chew, Jon Batiste, Christian McBride, and Regina Carter.
Marcos Robinson
Marcos Robinson was surrounded by the sound of Gospel and RnB since a young age which played a key role in his love for music. He began learning the guitar at 14 and continued his studies at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music where he earned his B.F.A. In 2021 he recorded guitars for the Song “You Can Change the World” by Donald Stevens which won an Emmy. In 2022 he recorded guitars for the song “Tomorrow” that’s performed by Whitney Houston and Samaria from the soundtrack to “I Wanna Dance with somebody” the movie. He is currently the guitarist for Matthew Whitaker and Naomi Raine.
Johnny Steele
Johnny Steele is a drummer, composer, producer, and educator with a decade of experience performing live music of all genres. Throughout his musical life, he’s’ had the good fortune of performing, touring, and recording with many respected figures in rock/metal, jazz, RnB, Fusion, and pop music. Such musicians include the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Marcus Printup, Gilbert Castellanos, Jon Faddis, Immanuel Wilkins, and Dan Nimmer. He has also shared the stage with The Contortionist, Monuments, and many more.
In addition to having an active playing schedule, he also writes a blog entitled BEAT SPEAK. In this blog, he discusses his journey as a young musician in today’s climate as well as topics such as the music business, production, drum lessons, and the occasional shoptalk for his gear-head followers.
Johnny is currently pursuing his Bachelors and accelerated Masters degrees at the Juilliard School in Manhattan, New York City.
Liany Mateo
Liany Mateo has traveled across North America, Japan, Africa, and the Middle-East performing, touring, and teaching music. Influenced by a mix of hard-hitting straight-ahead swing, Free Avante Garde, and music with deep pocket groove, Mateo deems herself a chameleon, fitting into many different types of musical situations.
You can find her playing all over New York City at a variety of venues including Birdland Jazz Club, The Django, The Jazz Gallery, and other notable performance spaces. Most recently. she became a member of the Grammy Award-winning “Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra” led by the esteemed Arturo O’Farrill.
She has performed with musicians such as Geoffrey Keezer, Fay Victor, and Brandee Younger. She holds a Jazz degree from the esteemed Michigan State University (2020) and a Master’s degree from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute(2021). Through these institutions, she has been mentored by Jazz giants Rodney Whitaker and Linda May Han Oh.
Ivan Llanes
Ivan Llanes was born on December 30, 1985, in Camaguey, Cuba. He made his way to Havana in 2008 and joined Ricardo Leiva y Sur Caribe, and Grammy-nominated Orlando “Maraca” Valle y Otra Vision.
After a U.S. tour with Maraca in 2011, he relocated to New York to expand his musical career with world-renowned musicians. Since then, Llanes has become an indispensable member of the Latin and Latin Jazz communities. Also, the versatility of his playing has made him a very successful musician, collaborating with Great Artists from different scenes. He has performed/recorded with Katreese Barnes, Colin Hay, Arturo O’farril and The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Nella, Carlinhos Brown, Descemer Bueno, and Mario “Mayito” Rivera, to name a few.
Llanes is currently working on his own project, the Cuban Way. It is an effort to reflect the wide variety of Ivan’s musical influences while incorporating elements from Cuba and US, in a creative setting that showcases his energy and passion.