You’ve heard this before, but the whimsically named Jonathan Scales Fourchestra is really tough to describe. Veering from in-your-face, jaw dropping chops and passion, to those quiet moments when the background noise disappears and you hold your breath to take in a soundscape of solitude, the power trio of electric bass (E'Lon JD), drums (Maison Guidry), and steel pans (Jonathan Scales) combines elements of jazz, classical, and progressive rock, peppered with Latin rhythms and soulful outbursts of funk. From club and festival stages across North America and Europe, and tours of Africa, Southeast and Central Asia as a Cultural Ambassador for the US Department of State, to their NPR Tiny Desk Concert featuring Béla Fleck, the Fourchestra’s live shows make even the most jaded listeners forget where they are… even if just for a precious moment.

This may seem an odd thing to say, but on the verge of releasing their eighth studio recording, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra is only now truly embracing their identity as a group. For many years, Jonathan’s live band was a fluid lineup of top-notch musicians, and even included an “all-star” version with bassist MonoNeon (Prince, Nas), drummer Sput Searight (Snarky Puppy, Snoop Dogg) and percussionist Weedie Braimah (Trombone Shorty, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah), as well as a number of other marquee players. Now, however, the Fourchestra is a decidedly indivisible band, and Jonathan is writing for the trio, not just the pans.

Kim Kalesti

A culmination of a creative life.

Composer, singer, songwriter, pianist, and storyteller, Kim Kalesti has been a visionary in downtown New York City for over forty years. She has expressed herself through grandiose singing and raw, spiritual storytelling. Her compositions are personal reflections and contemplative observations—a philosophy to live by.

Her catalogue consists of piano/voice thematic albums Live From My Mind, Diggin’ the Dirt, New Worlds Became Me; a choral album, For the Universe; the EP All My Life; and singles “I Love Today,” “Take a Walk With Me,” “Reflections,” and “If You Want to See What Love Is,” as well as the charming Christmas song “Ringing in the Bells.”

Kim’s EP of three songs—“Whenever You’re Around Me,” “City Cave Dwellers,” and “All My Life”—was released in 2025 with platinum songwriter, musician, and producer Jake Sinclair, known for his work with Weezer, Panic! at the Disco, and 5SOS.

Her latest album of pop-groove, jazz-influenced compositions is scheduled for release on January 26, 2026, with producer Sinclair on electric bass, Kim on piano/voice, and Olive Faber on drums. New York City Life, featuring 13 original songs—mostly joyous, upbeat rhythms with two infectious ballads, “Can’t Remember” and “Just Because I Am Old and I’m Grey”—showcases her torch-song prowess, taking listeners to their heart place.

Kim’s vibrant spirit and infectious energy caught the attention of viral sensation Humans of New York’s Brandon Stanton, who photographed her and allowed her to share her story with over 30 million people online and in the 2025 published book Dear New York.

In 2024, Tony Award–winning singer Audra McDonald discovered Kim’s song “I Love Today” and has since performed it in concerts across the United States and abroad.

A culmination of a creative life in New York City also came with motherhood with jazz-blues singer Marion Cowings, giving birth to two very talented children who have both flourished in their own careers: their son AC Lincoln, tap dancer, vocalist, songwriter, and producer, and their daughter Emily King, a four-time Grammy-nominated recording artist.

Embraced by the New York jazz scene in the 1980s, Kim has performed with and shared the stage with jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Williams, Betty Carter, and Clark Terry. From 1980 to 1997, she recorded jazz vocal duet albums with Marion Cowings on the EmArcy label—Kim and Marion and If You Could See Me Now—produced by Swing Journal Japan’s Kyoshi “Boxman” Koyama, featuring pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Eddie Gomez, drummer Al Foster, and saxophonist Gary Bartz. An earlier big band recording, Inside (1983), was made with Don Elliott.