To Oregon songwriter Haley Heynderickx, a seed represents incubation and the process of navigating the darkest, deepest parts of ourselves before becoming realized. It is a process of turning inward, listening and noticing, and trusting one can create something honest and true despite all the constant noise around us—whether that’s the news, social media, or our own self-doubt. 
Where Heynderickx’s debut album I Need to Start a Garden was about self-actualization and the excavation of the soul, her new album Seed of a Seed is now about protecting it. Heynderickx’s answer is by going inwards, requiring a brave solitude, while also acknowledging that it’s not done alone. This album nods to the necessary helpers along the way—from flowers (“Gemini”) and daydreams (“Foxglove”) to forests (“Redwoods (Anxious God)”) and friends (“Jerry's Song”). Seed of a Seed is an album that honors these helpers – and the self – and the process of fighting upward toward the light. 
The album’s opening track “Gemini” thrums like a warning that every excuse you might make—to not stay with a feeling, to not make room for it—will not hold. It tears through vignettes of the often exhausting dual-life of a heavily touring artist, while her former self chases her, and shames her, for ignoring her. The past confronts the present, two cowboys ready to duel. Finally, the woman takes control, and forces Heynderickx to stop and pull over “just to stare at purple clover off the highway / And see the clover as a gift / A gift I almost missed / You know I finally begin to feel better.” And with that, the drums kick in, the album gives way—or rather—gives into itself, and everything rushes in. 
On Seed of a Seed, Heynderickx’s signature intricate finger-picking is hemmed into a lush, living tapestry created with producer Andrew Stonestreet and what she calls her “core jazz boy band”: Daniel Rossi on drums, Denzel Mendoza on trombone, and Matthew Holmes on electric and upright bass. It’s a group she first worked in hopes of exploring her songs with a wider freedom of expression. Later, they added electric guitarist William Seiji Marsh and cellist Caleigh Drane to lift the melodies even higher. The result is a complex forest of sound, and if you imagine all the instruments as the layered leaves, Heynderickx’s voice is the light filtering through them—gentle, tender, and clear. 
Seed of a Seed also explores how distant we can feel from nature and ourselves in a world of technology, overconsumption, and consumerism. In “Mouth of a Flower”, Heynderickx sings about the fish-eat-fish world we live in and the human tendency to “take, take, take.” In “Redwoods (Anxious God)”, she longs to hear the Redwoods and to sing with the birds, but “now the only man here’s cellphone ring ring rings.” We are not just drowning out our own voices, but the important voices of those around us. And even if we were to sing for ourselves, how do we find room and space for it? In “Jerry’s Song”, Heynderickx wonders, “Were we troubadours / Stuck in traffic?”, while the album asks, “How do we create in a congested, noisy world?”. 
This album doesn’t give you easy answers. Heynderickx’s journey is not a linear one. A theme that persists across both albums is that Heynderickx is still building herself. She is still growing
and changing, and her songs invite us to notice that in ourselves, as well. She admits, "The irony is I'll still be asking these questions; I'm not on the other side of it." Seed of a Seed is almost like a note-to-self to move on her timeline, at her own pace, and to surface only when she’s ready and rested. That is, it’s both a reminder and a permission slip to go away in order to return. 
In album closer “Swoop”, Heynderickx repeats twice, “There’s an artistry to going away.” Where the record began with a pulsing urgency, “Swoop” finds Heynderickx in a more steady landscape—having finally found her voice again—where her former and present selves are more at peace. It is the peace of sunlight warming her hands, the vibrating air of a hummingbird flitting just out of sight. It is a seed—a purple clover—sprouting out of the loamy soil, not in a garden, but from within a whole forest.

The Westerlies, “an arty quartet…mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk” (New York  Times) are a New York-based brass quartet comprised of Riley Mulherkar and Chloe Rowlands on trumpet,  and Andy Clausen and Addison Maye-Saxon on trombone. From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, The Westerlies  navigate a wide array of venues and projects with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band,  and the charm of a family sing-along. 
Formed in 2011, the self-described “accidental brass quartet” takes its name from the prevailing winds that  travel from the West to the East. “Skilled interpreters who are also adept improvisers” (NPR’s Fresh Air), The  Westerlies explore jazz, roots, and chamber music influences to create the rarest of hybrids: music that is both  "folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous” (NPR Music). 
The Westerlies’ 2023-24 engagements include performances at Bravo! Vail, the Skaneateles Festival,  Rockport Music, the Lied Center of Kansas, FreshGrass Festival, Tippet Rise, and a cross-country tour with  singer-songwriter Haley Heynderickx. In 24-25, among others, The Westerlies will perform for San Francisco  Performances, Celebrity Series of Boston, and will offer a week-long residency at Monctlair (NJ) State  University culminating in a performance at Merkin Hall in New York. 
Since their inception, the ensemble has produced ten critically acclaimed albums of genre-defying music. 2023  saw the release of their fifth studio album, entitled Move, featuring music of new music icons Caroline Shaw  and Nico Muhly, on the ensemble’s in-house record label. Sought-after collaborators, The Westerlies are  featured on recordings by Fleet Foxes, Big Red Machine, Common, Theo Bleckmann, Aoife O’Donovan, and  Conrad Tao. Their work with Tao recently led to the commission of Concerto for Westerlies, an expansive and  ebullient concerto for brass quartet that premiered in 2023 with the Orlando Philharmonic under the direction of  Eric Jacobsen. 
Education and community engagement are core elements of The Westerlies' mission. The ensemble has  taught masterclasses at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Yale School of Music, The Colburn  School, and in 2021 The Westerlies were named the inaugural small ensemble-in-residence at the School of  Jazz and Contemporary Music at The New School. The Westerlies also produce an annual music festival in  Seattle called Westerlies Fest, which combines evening performances with workshops in local public schools.  The Westerlies have engaged students of all ages and abilities around the country with their innovative  assemblies and masterclasses, promoting the values of cooperation and inclusion through music. 

 

Kalia Vandever is a Grammy Award Winning trombonist and composer living in Brooklyn, NY. Her approach to the trombone is distinctive and defined by her sonorous tone and lyrical improvisational voice. She leans into the challenges of the instrument and allows patience and melody guide her process.

In her compositional practice, Kalia draws from her love of songs and improvisation, creating a landscape of sounds that resonate in the body and hold the listener. She released her debut ensemble album, "In Bloom" in 2019 which has been described as "the rise of an exciting voice for the music" (Seton Hawkins, Hot House Jazz Magazine). Her sophomore album, Regrowth released in May, 2022 on New Amsterdam Records and "confirms her strengths as a composer and bandleader with a distinctly contemporary point of view." (Nate Chinen, WBGO Jazz) Her debut solo album,We Fell In Turn featuring her works for trombone, voice and electronics released on AKP Records in March, 2023.  
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Kalia received her Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies at the Juilliard School in 2017.  She has toured and performed internationally with her quartet, performing at festivals such as the Winter Jazz Festival and BRIC Jazz Festival. She is also known for her work as a side-woman, performing with jazz artists including  Joel Ross, Immanuel Wilkins, Fay Victor, to name a few. She has also performed with popular artists including Harry Styles, Lizzo, Japanese Breakfast, Moses Sumney, Jennifer Hudson, and Demi Lovato. She has appeared on Saturday Night Live twice, as well as Samantha Bee's Full Frontal. 

Kalia is an awardee of the 2022 Next Jazz Legacy, a program founded by New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. She was also selected to curate the 2022 Music Series for The Arts Center at Duck Creek in East Hampton.

Along with her performance work, Kalia has been commissioned to write works for groups and individuals including Tesla Quartet, The Westerlies,  Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim, and Hats & Heels Duo. 

She is also experienced as an educator and is currently on faculty at the New England Conservatory. In addition, she has led masterclasses at universities including California Institute of the Arts, University of Chicago Illinois, Cal State Northridge, Saddleback College, University of Maine Farmington, and University of Missouri.

Kalia endorses Conn Selmer and Bach instruments as well as Denis Wick London.