Spice Jazz Soho: Devon Gates – “Water Dancers”

After 25 years of solid jazz promoting, as founded by Paul Pace, at the Spice of Life Soho, nurturing upcoming talents as well as established masters of the music, the SpiceJazz Team (Tara Minton and Clement Regert) are excited to relocate their acclaimed operation to the well-appointed and stylish music room of Crazy Coqs.

Devon Gates is a bassist, vocalist, and composer from Atlanta, Georgia, now based in Brooklyn, NY. After studying anthropology and jazz performance at Harvard University, Berklee College of Music, and the Royal Academy of Music (London, UK) she has emerged in the contemporary jazz scene, working with esteemed artists including Terri Lyne Carrington, Vijay Iyer, Jen Shyu, and Nicole Mitchell, and performing at venues such as The Kennedy Center, SFJazz, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, and the London Jazz Festival. Recently named one of 2024’s Up and Comers of the Year (The New York City Jazz Record), she also leads her own projects as a bandleader, collaborator, and composer, bringing her unique blend of jazz, chamber, and soul influences to New York, Japan, Italy, Mongolia, India, the UK, and more in recent years.

Performing works from her newest project, “Water Dancers”, she explores colors, sounds, and textures inspired by the elements of water and air, the blues, and the question: what might it mean to dance in rhythm with the ever-changing movement of the tides of life? Her original compositions and arrangements are paired with a blend of traditional and unconventional instrumentations, with a dynamic ensemble of friends she met studying abroad in London in 2023, Hoda Jahanpour (cello), Mali Sheard (saxophone), Gates on bass and voice, Emily Tran (piano), and Ananda Brandão (drums).

LINE-UP:
Devon Gates, bass + vocals
Emily Tran, piano
Mali Sheard, saxophone
Hoda Jahanpour, cello
Ananda Brandão, drums

“Gates is a vibrant bassist with a deep time-feel.” – All About Jazz