The Harlem Sessions

The Harlem Sessions has grown in strength and numbers since it began in 2015 as a  jam session concept led by Harlem based artist and composer, Marc Cary and produced by his manager and partner Tinku Bhattacharyya.  We cultivated an ensemble approach to building new arrangements in front of an audience, rather than a place where everyone was a soloist, whilst keeping the performance at a premium. The session runs weekly at Smoke Jazz Club, and The Harlem Sessions has been presented by Summerstage, Exit Zero Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center and more.

In 2018, with assistance from  Fractured Atlas, we were able to build out from our core activity. We released our first self-funded studio release, featuring members of The Harlem Sessions Community, “After The Jam”. For some members, it was their first time recording in a studio with world-class musicians including Marc Cary, Sunny Jain, and Duane Eubanks. The recording features a selection of classic compositions alongside members’ own compositions and group collaborations. With the music industry in a perpetual state of shift, we believe it’s important to lend weight and expertise as young musicians make their first steps within the industry, across the live and recording sectors.

Fall 2018 also saw The Harlem Sessions launch its WE-ROAR initiative and it’s Sessionheads Harlem-based community record label imprint, providing pro bono and subsidized artist development and rights management services, as well as workshops, one on one meets and groups to assist artists and independent catalog holders access the very best they can out of the industry, whilst encouraging artists to share and communicate with each other about their business needs and access meaningful help and info in a rapidly increasingly independent environment, where the emphasis on DIY can oftentimes reduce an artist’s ability in accessing outside support and expertise. 

Since our inception, we have employed  650+  musicians, as well as provided weekly performance opportunities for 100 plus other local and international musicians each month. We have also reunited artists Gary Bartz, Roy Ayers Reggie Workman and more with unclaimed royalty income, assisted in the performing rights and copyright registrations  of 25 artists (and growing every day), as well as the re-registration of back catalogue titles for various artists.