In collaboration with Jazz at The Joint, ACANSA presents an evening of jazz with four renowned artists:

Acclaimed seven-string jazz guitarist Ted Ludwig has been a part of the jazz scene in New Orleans since 1997. He has performed with notable contemporaries such as Ellis Marsalis, Peter Bernstein, Bob Dorough, Larry Coryell, Nathan East, Nicholas Payton, Howard Alden, Mundell Lowe, Rick Margitza, Julian Labro, Steve Masakowski, John Ellis, Tony Dagradi, Mike Pellera, Jason Marsalis, Ron Escheté, Johnny Vidacovich, Herlin Riley, and many more. In 2016, Ludwig performed an original Jazz Guitar Concerto entitled “Katrina,” composed by D.J. Sparr and commissioned by The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. ​That same year, he became the youngest inductee into The Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame.

Khari Allen Lee (Saxophone) has performed with dozens of luminaries, including Alvin Batiste, Ellis Marsalis, Edward ‘Kidd’ Jordan, Aaron Neville, Aretha Franklin, Dr. John, Branford Marsalis, Allen Toussaint, DeeDee Bridgewater, and Stevie Wonder. He is lead saxophonist & touring member of Delfeayo Marsalis’ Uptown Jazz Orchestra as well as the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra directed by Adonis Rose. Khari Allen Lee & the New Creative Collective have released three albums. Lee is also on the faculty at the University of New Orleans and Loyola University following tenure at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA).

Peter Slavov (Bass) is a New York-based Grammy-nominated bassist and has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious festivals and venues in more than 40 countries on five continents. He discovered American jazz while studying classical music at the Pipkov Music School in Sofia, Bulgaria, and has performed and/or or recorded with such artists as Joe Lovano, Quincy Jones, George Garzone, Danilo Perez, Chucho Valdes, Kevin Mahogany, Simon Shaheen, Elio Villafranca and Rudy Royston among many others. Slavov is a member of Grammy award-winning saxophonist Joe Lovano’s Classic Quartet and Us Five band. His debut album, Little Stories, was released in 2019.

Geoff Clapp (Drums) has toured the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada and performed as a United States Artistic Diplomat in North Africa and Eastern Europe. He currently performs with Khari Allen Lee & the New Creative Collective. Clapp moved from studying classical music in New York to jazz at the University of New Orleans with Ellis Marsalis after meeting Wynton Marsalis and Herlin Riley at a concert in Chapel Hill, NC. He has performed, recorded and toured with multiple members of the famed Marsalis “first family of jazz” as well as dozens of other premier artists, including Nicholas Payton, Dianne Reeves, Eric Reed, Aaron and Charmaine Neville, Picnic and Norah Jones.