Kavita Shah Quintet

The Kavita Shah Quintet explores original compositions and adventurous arrangements of jazz standards and global folk music. Their sound is rooted in modern jazz while also incorporating sonic textures from a myriad of cultures, as reflected in the diversity of the band members and their respective musical backgrounds.

Vocalist, composer, and bandleader Kavita Shah has been hailed by the Boston Globe as a “polyglot in more than language alone.” She speaks 9 languages and combines her training in jazz with her ethnographic research of Brazilian, African, and Indian musical traditions to place seemingly eclectic elements in dialogue with one another. In 2014, she released her highly acclaimed debut “Visions,” co-produced by Lionel Loueke; in 2017, her interdisciplinary vocal work “Folk Songs of Naboréa” was named by NPR’s Nate Chinen as a Top 10 Jazz Concert of the year; and in 2018, her album “Interplay” in duo with bassist François Moutin was nominated for France’s Victoire de la Musique for Jazz Album of the Year.

The Quintet’s members include some of New York’s most accomplished musicians: Argentine pianist Leonardo Genovese (Esperanza Spalding, Wayne Shorter, Residente) is known for his versatility and harmonic imagination; Venezuelan guitarist Juancho Herrera (Claudia Acuña, Lila Downs) draws inspiration from Latin American folkloric music; French bassist François Moutin (Martial Solal, Toots Thielemans, Dave Liebman) has worked with jazz legends on both sides of the Atlantic; and Hungarian drummer Ferenc Nemeth (Lionel Loueke, Dhafer Youssef) distills a wide palate of rhythmic styles to create a distinctive sound.

The Quintet has played at Kennedy Center, Blue Note, Jazz Standard, MASS MoCA, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rubin Museum of Art, Winter Jazz Festival, BRIC Jazz Festival, Rochester Jazz Festival, and San Jose Jazz. They recorded their first studio album under the mentorship of Miguel Zenón, thanks to a Performance Plus grant from CMA; it will be released in 2023 and features special guests Zenón on alto saxophone and Steve Wilson on alto/soprano saxophones.