Huron Stage Presents: Sami Stevens w/ Kazemde George & Cristina Suarez w/ Charlie Garnett

Name: Huron Stage Presents: Sami Stevens w/ Kazemde George & Cristina Suarez w/ Charlie Garnett
Start: 2026-03-25T19:00:00-04:00
Location: 2329 Huron St, Durham, NC

Schedule

Wed, 25 Mar, 2026 at 07:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

2329 Huron St, Durham, NC | Durham, NC

Doors 6:30 Music 7:00
Sliding scale $10-$20
Free Bar & Potluck
Concert is scheduled to take place on the outdoor stage weather permitting.
Sami Stevens & Kazemde George will be making their Huron Stage debut on tour from Oakland, CA and will be supported by Cristina Suarez and Charlie Garnett (Mellow Swells, Moon Unit). Bios below.

Singer-songwriter Sami Stevens harnesses Jazz, Soul, and Folk influences to create truly intimate original music. Accompanying herself on piano or Wurlitzer, Sami delivers dynamic, personal performances deeply steeped in the lineage of the great American singer-songwriters of the 60’s and 70’s. Her current NYC based band features Matt Aronoff on bass, Jacob Drab on guitar, and Peter Moffett on drums, often featuring Kazemde George on tenor saxophone.
In 2023, Sami released her debut solo album ‘Morning’ on Sunnyside Records. Born from a love of classic American music and an ear for storytelling, ‘Morning’ showcases Stevens’ rich vocal delivery as it ebbs between intimate personal stories and stunning symphonic textures, treating the vastness of the human condition with painterly impressions and an empathetic disposition. Glide Magazine wrote “Sami Stevens did more than impress with her first solo outing, she quickly established herself as one of the most promising songwriters to appear in the past few years.”
Sami is also an avid collaborator; she is currently joining nine-time Grammy winner Norah Jones on auxiliary keys and background vocals as Norah tours her 2024 release ‘Visions.’ Other ongoing collaborations include Rose Thorne by Kenny Wollesen, I Insist by Kazemde George, The Way I Feel Inside by Marty Isenberg, Brave New World by Tredici Bacci, and a new one woman show by John Zorn and Jesse Harris, currently in development.
Sami’s performance and recording career has transcended genre; she has performed with Brian Blade, Emily King, John Scofield, Gary Wilson, Curren$y, and Jason Moran, and has opened for Rachael Price, John Zorn, and Talib Kweli. Sami has appeared on film and TV soundtracks including Archer, Sesame Street, and the French Italian (Cat Cohen). Sami has toured five continents with various projects, appearing at the Barclays Center, the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Nippon Budokan, the Apollo Theatre, Red Rocks, the Kennedy Center, Paramount Brooklyn, the Late Show with Steven Colbert, Lincoln Center, Cotton Club Tokyo, and National Sawdust. She has performed at music festivals including Big Ears, Austin City Limits, and SXSW. Her projects have been lauded by Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Downbeat, and the New York Times, and featured on various official playlists, including Spotify’s “Best Vocal Jazz of 2021.”
Sami studied privately with Dominique Eade and John McNeil at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she graduated with a BM in Vocal Jazz Performance in the fall of 2014. Sami also received a BA in Psychology from Tufts University. She grew up in East Winthrop, Maine, and is currently living in Oakland, CA.
Kazemde George is an African American Jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. Raised by Caribbean parents in Berkeley, California, Kaz has been playing Saxophone, Piano and Percussion in a wide range of musical styles from an early age.
During high school, Kazemde developed a passion for improvised music while studying under the tutelage of Khalil Shaheed, Charles McNeal and Susan Muscarella. He also began to make electronic music under the moniker “KG,B”. KG,B beats are inspired by Hip-Hop producers such as J Dilla, Madlib, and Flying Lotus, who he sees as the modern counterparts of early Jazz innovators.
Kazemde attended college in Boston where he completed the Harvard/New England Conservatory (NEC) Joint program, receiving his Bachelors in Neurobiology (Harvard) and his Masters in Jazz Composition (NEC). At NEC, Kazemde studied with Miguel Zenón, Jerry Bergonzi, Jason Moran, Cecil McBee, Donny McCaslin, Danilo Pérez, and John McNeil. In 2012, he received Harvard’s George Peabody Gardener Fellowship to study traditional music in La Habana, Cuba for ten months. Through his travels, Kaz has expanded his focus from Hip-Hop and Jazz to include the full spectrum of musical styles which blossomed from the African Diaspora, including Afro-Cuban, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Brazilian, and African-American traditions. As he sees it, the study of these musical styles serves as a way to regain cultural histories that were lost through the processes of African-American Slavery.
Today, his focus is aligned towards music, but Kazemde is also a biologist at heart, and his quest to understand this wide breadth of styles is driven by an analytical mind with a scientific approach.
In October 2021, Kazemde released his debut album, I Insist, on Greenleaf Music by Dave Douglas. His sophomore release is slated for 2026 with La Reserve Records.
Kazemde has performed with Solange Knowles and Saint Heron, David Murray, Jason Moran, Norah Jones, and Ethan Iverson at venues and festivals such as, Dizzy's Coca-Cola Club, Le Poisson Rouge, The Jazz Gallery, Irving Plaza, Yoshi's, Black Cat, The David Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Panama Jazz Festival, Made In America Festival, AfroPunk, and Panorama NYC Music Festival.
Cristina Suarez is a soulful, genre-blending artist whose sound merges jazz, R&B, and Caribbean rhythms into something timeless and new. Inspired by Nina Simone, Erykah Badu, and Sade, her music radiates authenticity and emotional honesty. Whether performing solo with guitar or fronting a full band, Cristina transforms every stage into an intimate experience. With over a decade of live performance across the U.S., she continues to craft music that connect deeply and moves effortlessly between cultures, grooves, and hearts.