Ramya Shankar, vocals
Prasant Radakrishnan, saxophone
Unpil Baek, piano
Peter Barshay, bass
Varun Pattabhiraman, mridangam
Barbara Nerness, biosignal researcher/composer

$25 cover
students $10
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Ramya Shankar is a genre-blurring sound artist and vocalist whose voice flows from deep Carnatic and folk roots of India into jazz and global music. Her voice is a vessel for emotion, healing, and human connection—fusing improvisation, rhythm, and story. As a composer and producer, Ramya crafts immersive sonic landscapes that explore the shared human experience—Love, Grief, Courage, Adventure, Joy—using the voice as a medium to trace emotional stages and reveal the profound textures of human feeling. Her work invites listeners into discovery, presence, and resonance.

Peter Barshay is a veteran bassist with a strong reputation built over decades of performing on both the New York City and San Francisco Bay Area jazz scenes. He has collaborated with jazz luminaries such as Kenny Barron, Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Stitt, Kenny Werner, Shirley Horn, Woody Shaw, Pharoah Sanders, Blue Mitchell, Tony Williams, Joe Henderson, Joe Lovano, Johnny Griffin, and Bobby McFerrin. His sound reflects a lifetime of musical exploration—from salsa and straight-ahead jazz to fusion, avant-garde, and music rooted in Afro-Cuban and Brazilian traditions.

Prasant Radhakrishnan is a versatile saxophonist steeped in both South Indian Classical (Carnatic) and jazz disciplines.

Varun Pattabhiraman is a Mridangist based in San Francisco, California. In addition to the mridangam, Varun explores hybrid acoustic and electronic percussion setups that include the khanjira, ghatam, konakkol, drum set and electronic drum pads. He regularly performs concerts in the Bay Area and is a member of fusion groups including the Sufi-Rock band CaliQawwali.

Unpil Baek is a pianist, improviser, and composer whose music flows freely across jazz, classical, global, sacred, and experimental traditions. He also performs regularly with Vitamin Em, a chamber jazz collective known for its joyful, genre-bending performances that blend improvisation with classical and world music.

Barbara Nerness is an artist and researcher whose work spans music composition, live performance, video, and cognitive science. She currently teaches Technology and Applied Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She received her PhD and Doctoral Certificate in Composition from Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).