Jerome Jennings: drums 

Shaun Johannes: double and electric bass 

Bokani Dyer: piano

Sakhile Simani: trumpet & flugelhorn

Zeke Le Grange: tenor saxophone

Justin Bellairs: alto saxophone

Siya Charles: trombone/bandleader

Siya Charles is a South African tenor/ bass trombonist, composer and arranger based in New York City. An alumnus of the University of Cape Town’s South African College of Music, she has worked with the likes of the late Hugh Masekela, Jimmy Dludlu, Nduduzi Makhathini, American/ Costa Rican trombonist Luis Bonilla, trombonist Steve Turre, bassist Endea Owens, saxophonist Chad LB “Lefkowitz” Brown, and Grammy Award-winning musicians Ulysses Owens Jr and Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers alum Geoffrey Keezer. Siya has won the jazz component of the Fine Music Radio Bursary, as well as the 1st Emirates Pursuit of Jazz Competition. She has performed in the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival, Grahamstown Jazz Festival, Arcevia Jazz Feast (Italy), Stockholm Jazz Festival (Sweden), Kongsberg Jazz Festival (Norway), Blue Note Jazz Club (USA), Birdland Jazz Club (USA), Dizzy’s Jazz Club (USA), Calabar Jazz Festival (Nigeria), Standard Bank Acacia Jazz Festival (Moçambique), Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland) and the Jazz is Back Festival (Croatia).

Although primarily a jazz trombonist, Siya is a versatile musician who has played in a myriad of styles and ensembles including the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, Juilliard Lab Orchestra, Jeunesses Musicales Jazz World Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, SA National Youth Orchestra and the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also played in musicals such as Matilda the musical, West Side Story, After Midnight and the Neil Diamond musical, A Beautiful Noise.

After many years of serving as a reliable sideman, she has established her newly formed musical collective titled: "The Siya Charles Sextet", featuring some of South Africa’s finest jazz musicians. The compositions and arrangements of The Siya Charles Sextet are inspired by classic jazz, traditional African rhythms, the bebop and post-bop era, as well as Brazilian jazz.

Siya recently graduated magna cum laude with a Masters in Music degree majoring in jazz studies at the world-renowned Juilliard School. She is a FirstRand Laurie Dippenaar laureate, Jerome L. Greene Fellow, LCU Fund scholar, and National Arts Council scholarship recipient.