Qur’an Shaheed (b. 1992, Pasadena, CA) is a pianist, poet, singer and songwriter based in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, CA. She has been playing piano since the age of four, trained extensively in classical music through the expertise of her mother Sharon Shaheed and grandmother Monique Simpson. Since 2012 she has been developing her practice as a songwriter alongside her solo piano and ensemble work. She released the album, Process, with producer Jesse Justice and Preference Records, in 2020 and regularly performs in and around Los Angeles. Her sound is innovative, highly personal and experimental, incorporating elements of improvisation as well as neo-classical and neo-soul techniques. Shaheed often collaborates with others and has worked with Koreatown Oddity, filmmaker Vashni Korin and the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (of which her father Nolan Shaheed is also a member). She is the keyboardist for Jimetta Rose’s gospel choir The Voices of Creation. In 2020 she paired up with Chloe Scallion for dublab + Femmebit’s The ARt of Performance programme, was interviewed by KCRW for their Private Playlist series and featured in a special mixtape project by waltz for Guccy Shibuya Parco in Tokyo. Shaheed is also engaged in composing for moving image and film scoring, particularly drawn to projects that reflect on society, history and unifying acts.
Sharada Shashidhar, a Los Angeles-based vocalist, composer, and producer, blends jazz and Indian classical influences in her soulful music. Known for intricate harmonies and spiritual jazz with a beat-oriented twist, she has performed at Le Guess Who? Festival, Badehaus Berlin, Zebulon, and more. Collaborations include Carlos Niño and Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra. A graduate of New School for Jazz, she debuted with "Rahu" EP in March 2020 on Leaving Records; her album "Soft Echoes" releases Fall 2024.
Salome Hajj is a harpist, singer, and songwriter from Long Beach, California. She places the utmost value on the written word, prioritizing melody and exalting it with ethereal soundscapes ranging from jazzy to electronic. Trained as a classical trombonist with an extensive jazz education, Hajj sees the instrument as the medium, and the lyrics as the message. Salome Hajj makes music that is interested in the truth, whether or not it is.