SaaWee accentuates the musical electricity between the old and new: Korean shaman rhythm and contemporary languages created through violin and janggu. This unique collaboration between Sita Chay (Latin Grammy winning violinist based in New York), Jihye Kim (provocative percussionist of Urban Sound based in London) suggests a new spiritual direction for the current society.

Vocalist and composer Kavita Shah makes work in deep engagement with the jazz tradition, while also addressing and advancing its global sensibilities. A lifelong New Yorker of Indian origin hailed for possessing an “amazing dexterity for musical languages” (NPR), Shah incorporates her ethnographic research on Brazilian, West African, and Indian musical traditions into her original repertoire. She was named Downbeat's Best Graduate Jazz Vocalist in 2012 and won the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award in 2013; her highly-acclaimed 2014 debut album—the internationally-minded project VISIONS (Inner Circle Music/Naïve Records)—was co-produced by guitarist Lionel Loueke. In 2017, her interdisciplinary work "Folk Songs of Naboréa," a contemporary song-cycle for seven voices, was premiered at the Park Avenue Armory and named by Nate Chinen (NPR) as one of the Top 10 Jazz Performances of the year. Shah is currently on the road with bassist François Moutin; their duo album Interplay, a program of standards and originals with special appearances by pianist Martial Solal and NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan, Shah’s mentor, was released in February 2018 on Dot Time Records; in June, "Interplay" was nominated for a Victoire du Jazz (French Grammy Award) for "Album sensation de l'année" (Album of the Year).