JOE'S PUB WORKING GROUP

DAN FISHBACK is a playwright and performing songwriter. His musical The Material World was called one of the Top Ten Plays of 2012 by Time Out New York. The Village Voice said his play You Will Experience Silence was “sassier and more fun than Angels in America." Fishback has released several albums and toured Europe and North America, both solo and with his band Cheese On Bread. Fishback founded and directs the Helix Queer Performance Network, a collaboration between La MaMa Experimental Theater, BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange and the Hemispheric Institute of Performance & Politics. Fishback is a proud member of the Jewish Voice for Peace Artist Council. Fishback will mount a reading of his new musical Rubble Rubble on March 1st. Cheese On Bread will release "The One Who Wanted More, their first album in 11 years, at Joe's Pub on April 6, with a performance hosted by Cole Escola and featuring guests Molly Pope and Michael R. Jackson. 

DANA LYN is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, who works and performs artists like Tony Award-winning musicians Stew and Heidi Rodewald, Irish poet Louis de Paor, actor Vincent D’Onofrio, Taylor Mac and avant cellist Hank Roberts. Her compositions have been performed at the Savannah Music Festival, the Kilkenny Arts Festival, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Austin’s NMASS Festival, Stillwater Music Festival and Carnegie Hall. Her own projects are a mixed quintet called Mother Octopus, a collaboration with D’Onofrio entitled Slim Bone Head Volt, and a duo with guitarist Kyle Sanna, all of which have releases in 2018. Dana has been an artist-in-residence at the Avaloch Music Farm Institute since 2014 and was an artist-in-residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in 2017. She will celebrate the release of her third album with Sanna on April 13 at the Irish Arts Center, and the release of the second Slim Bone Head Volt album on May 4 at Joe's Pub.

JULIETTE JONES is a multi-genre acoustic and electric violinist. A BMI composer, Juliette has scored, recorded and contracted countless film, TV and multimedia projects, including the Oscar-nominated film Mudbound, the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards Elton John Tribute, Solange Knowles’s performances of A Seat at the Table at the Hollywood Bowl and Radio City Music Hall and more. As a performer, Juliette has worked with Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, JustinTimberlake, Janelle Monáe, Hans Zimmer, John Legend, Toshi Reagon, Pharrell, Common, Frank Ocean, Hit-Boy, Florence + The Machine, Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, Ryan Leslie, Kid Cudi, Richard Smallwood and Sheila E. She is the founder of Rootstock Republic, a boutique string production company. Her latest work, a six-piece orchestration of Nina Simone’s love songbook, will make its NYC debut at Joe’s Pub in celebration of Women’s History Month.

SAMORA ABAYOMI PINDERHUGHES is a composer/pianist/vocalist, known for large multidisciplinary projects examining sociopolitical issues. His album The Transformations Suite was named by Downbeat Magazine and Apple Music as a Top 10 album of the year. A graduate of Juilliard, Samora has collaborated with Herbie Hancock, Anna Deavere-Smith, Glenn Ligon, Branford Marsalis, Lalah Hathaway, and more. He is also a member of Blackout for Human Rights, the arts & social justice collective founded by Ryan Coogler and Ava DuVernay, and was musical director for their #MLKNow and #JusticeForFlint events.  A Sundance Composers Lab fellow, Samora recently scored the award-winning documentary “Whose Streets?”, and co-wrote "The Cross" for the Netflix film Burning Sands along with Common and Robert Glasper. 

TORI SCOTT is a singer, actress and comedian who was recently called “the Bette Midler of the new millennium” by Provincetown Magazine and has been named a Top 10 Cabaret Performer by Time Out New York. She has graced the stage of Joe’s Pub for the past five years and has toured her solo shows to London, Los Angeles, San Diego, Dallas, Provincetown and cruise liners full of shirtless gay men at sea. On television, she's counted to 20 as a singing garbage woman on “Sesame Street” and dubbed the vocals of a singing hooker on HBO's Cathouse: The Musical. Her debut album Plan B! was recorded live at Joe’s Pub and was released on Chicken Ranch Records in December 2017. Her new show Tori Scott Shame Spirals will be performed at Joe's Pub April 10, May 17 and June 12.  

 ERIN MARKEY, who was recently named one of "Brooklyn's 50 Funniest People" by Brooklyn Magazine, makes music, shows and videos. She has shown work at Under the Radar Festival, New Museum, PS 122, New York City Comedy Festival, Ars Nova, Lincoln Center Director's Lab, UCBeast, Bard Spiegeltent, Tasmania's Festival of Voices, San Francisco Film Society and frequently at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater.  She is frequently recognized by Time Out New York as a Top Ten Cabaret Artist and she was listed in Artforum's Top Ten Best Music of 2016. She is a company member of Obie award winning Half Straddle.  Her new musical, A Ride On The Irish Cream, co-composed with Emily Bate and Kenny Mellman, premiered at Abrons Arts Center in January 2016 and will tour in 2017.  She is currently developing a new show, Boner Killer, to premiere at Joe's Pub for Under The Radar Festival in January 2017.

 COURTNEE ROZE is a composer, producer, vocalist and percussionist (djembe and conga drums), leading an eclectic New York-based instrumental fusion/percussion-driven project and band known as Courtnee Roze: The Musical. The project tells an in-depth testimony of a young female musician through song and dance. The stage visual celebrates the triumph, hardships and barriers broken by this phenomenally creative artist. Roze’s project combines funk, fusion, Afro-beat, soul, jazz stylings, live dance and heavy percussion. Roze is also well known for her work musically arranging bands for artists, such as Jack Nkanga from Angola. 

 SHAINA TAUB is a Vermont-raised, New York-based songwriter and performer. A Jonathan Larson Grant winner and previous composer-in-residence at Ars Nova, Taub made her Lincoln Center solo debut in their 2015 American Songbook series, and her concerts have been featured on NPR/WNYC's Year's Best Gigs list. She played Feste in her original musical adaptation of Twelfth Night, commissioned by the Public Theater, at the Delacorte Theater as part of their Public Works initiative. She wrote songs for and starred in Bill Irwin and David Shiner's Old Hats, directed by Tina Landau at the Signature Theatre. Her songs have been performed by Audra McDonald and Sutton Foster, and she writes tunes for Sesame Street. She’s currently writing a new musical about Alice Paul and the American women's suffrage movement. Her latest album Visitors is available at www.shainataub.com.

 IKE UFOMADU is an actor and comic entertainer. He is creator and host to a number of original, live shows including: his evening of talk-show entertainment Ike at Night (Under the Radar/The Public Theater, The Bushwick Starr, JACK); his night of comedy and music Nightcap | by Ike (Joe's Pub at The Public Theater); his one-man variety hour Ike Night (Ars Nova, San Francisco Sketchfest); his Christmas show Ike for the Holidays (Manhattan Inn); and more. He performs stand-up at venues across New York, including Union Hall and UCB. He's also featured in several episodes of The Special without Brett Davis. Ufomadu has collaborated with several OBIE-winning theatre companies including: Young Jean Lee's Theater Company, 600 Highwaymen and Hoi Polloi. He trained at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts; the International Theatre Workshop in The Netherlands; and Studio Five's theatre and dance programs in Indonesia

 JULIAN VELARD is a pianist, singer and songwriter, whose style has been described as, “catchy but complicated; a surprisingly rare combination” by The New York Times.  Velard turns the piano-pop tunesmith stereotype on its ear with a refreshing, urbane twist: a biting 21st century wit in a stylish package. Think Harry Connick, Jr. with the panache of a Brooklyn hipster, recalling Stephen Sondheim or Randy Newman at the peak of their talents. Over the past decade, Velard has released 4 albums of original material, toured internationally alongside the likes of Jamie Cullum, Paul Carrack, and Amy Macdonald. His quirky, native new york, piano-man sound has found its largest audience in Holland, where he headlined Amsterdam’s legendary venue, Paradiso. His comedic timing and musical stylings have made him a fixture on The Howard Stern Show and NPR’s Ask Me Another.

 CELISSE HENDERSON is a musician, singer and songwriter. From songs of love and blues on the piano and guitar, to songs of joy on the ukulele, with some spoken word on the side, Henderson shares her gifts on multiple instruments and pairs it with her soulful vocals to create an evening of musical magic.  She recently returned from an acclaimed tour Live from the Heartland with Matt Alber. She is also known for her work in the Broadway revival of GODSPELL at Circle in The Square Theater and her work on The Electric Company. Henderson recently released a live EP entitled Celisse LIVE @ Rockwood Music Hall which is available on iTunes.  

 STEPHANIE McKAY is a singer, songwriter, musician, and collaborator, hailing from the Bronx. Her career has spanned over 20 years, during which time she has collaborated with artists including Anthony Hamilton, Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def), Talib Kweli, DJ Spinna, Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely, Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Katalyst, Tricky, Carl Hancock-Rux, Kelis and more. She was eatured on Roy Hargrove’s Grammy Award-nominated RH Factor (alongside such luminaries as D’Angelo, Anthony Hamilton, Erykah Badu, Karl Denson, Pino Palladino, and Common). Her first two albums – McKay (2003, Go! Beat/Polydor/Universal), produced by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow and Tim Saul, and Tell It Like It Is (2008, Pias/Muthas of Invention) – were released to great critical acclaim. McKay went on to perform at Glastonbury (UK), North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands) and Solidays (France) as well as two national tours in Australia (with Amp Fiddler and Katalyst) and an unprecedented seven-night stand in Greece. After a multi-year hiatus, Stephanie returns with a much-anticipated new collaboration, MKPower with legendary producer Bob Power (D'Angelo, Erykah Badu.)

 TRISH NELSON, founder of BanterGirl, is a producer, performer, and writer from Los Angeles, who for the past 10 years has resided in NYC. She’s produced monthly shows at the Bell House, Joe’s Pub, The Slipper Room, Littlefield, Union Hall, Ace Hotel, Wythe Hotel, and BRIC, and has regularly worked with talent such as Women of Letters, Carolyn Castiglia, Dave Hill, Jena Friedman, Jessica Delfino, and John Hodgman. She has also helped to put together live shows and tours across the country for Broad City, Impractical Jokers, Jim Jefferies, Bill Burr, Chris Hardwick, and Amy Schumer, among many others. She holds a BFA in Theater from Middlesex University in London, England, and an MFA in acting from the University of Washington’s PATP.

The new bio is for Isaac Oliver: ISAAC OLIVER is an award-winning playwright, author, and performer. His debut collection of essays, Intimacy Idiot, was named one of NPR's Best Books of 2015. He performs regularly at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater and is a frequent contributor to the New York Times. His plays include Electra in a One-Piece, Eddie Goshen is Dead, and the ten-minute plays “3, 2, 1,” “Film Forum,” and “Come Here” (New York Innovative Theatre Award, Outstanding Original Short Script). Additionally, he's written for W Magazine and Out, as well as HBO’s "High Maintenance" and Netflix's "GLOW."

 KAYLN MARIE SCARDEFIELD is an actress and singer-songwriter based in New York City. She performs her original music regularly throughout New York and the US - Joe's Pub, Paul Colby's The Bitter End, Bowery Poetry Room and more. Scardefield hosts a songwriter night called The Acoustic Soiree once a month. As an actress, she has appeared in classical theater productions (Twelfth Night (Queens Players); Love's Labour's Lost (Snorks and Pins)), independent films (Kirk White’s F!CK New York, Jen Kim’s Arsenic and Pink Lace) and national commercials. In February 2015, she released her debut EP Where I Need. 

 BRIDGET BARKAN is a native New Yorker who has been working since birth. From childhood, Barkan has been inspired by both the stage shows of Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin and Laurie Anderson and the music of artists ranging from Joni Mitchell to Erykah Badu. As a singer, Barkan has toured the world with pop/glam band the Scissor Sisters, opening for Lady Gaga, sung with Lily Allen, and recorded with legendary house DJ and producer Todd Terry in addition to releasing her own albums and singles. 

 ALI GRIEB's mantra is #JudgeNot. Having grown up in the Deep South by way of South Jersey with her Jewish Mother from the Bronx, Ali has a knack for living life unapologetically and boldly.  She is a one of a kind Comedy Queen Songstress who puts it all out there and isn't afraid to be brutally honest. Just because she's a Sinner, doesn't mean she's not a Saint! 

 LARRY KRONE was born in Chicago, IL in 1970. He was raised in St. Louis, MO and now lives and works in New York City’s East Village. He has been exhibiting my drawings, sculptures, installations and videos since the early 1990s, most notably at The Contemporary Baltimore, The Museum of Contemporary Craft in conjunction with Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (Portland, OR), The Whitney Museum of American Art Philip Morris Branch (New York), The New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York), the Drawing Center (New York), and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis who, in 2006 presented “Larry Krone: Artist/Entertainer,” a ten-year retrospective of his visual and performance work.

 DANNY LIPSITZ is a bandleader, educator, inventor, saxophone/woodwinds player and composer. Performing in a variety of genres, Lipsitz appears regularly around the world as a sideman for artists like Ronnie Spector, The Avalon Jazz Band, The Hot Sardines, Lucky Chops Brass Band, The Losers Lounge and the Gordon Webster Swing Band. In 2014-2015, Lipsitz was part of the Pub Club artist development program at Joe's Pub at the Public, where he performs regularly. His group, Danny Lipsitz & his Brass Tacks, is a high-energy mishmash of traditional jazz, swing, and early rock and roll.  The Brass Tacks debuted at the Thomas Edison House Museum, where they recorded direct to wax cylinder.

 MICHAEL MWENSO. Whether fulfilling the role of vocalist, emcee, showman, or impresario, Michael Mwenso conveys both the sophistication and spontaneity of hardcore jazz and the music’s folkloric roots with impeccable craft, creativity, and communicative flair. Most frequently, Mwenso performs as leader of Michael Mwenso and The Shakes, a retinue comprising between three to five vocalists and a rotating ensemble. Mwenso has spent his entire life immersed in the jazz scene and has developed his unique skill set through the course of eventful life journeys.