The Elijah Jamal Balbed Quartet featuring Angie Wells

The Elijah Jamal Balbed Quartet featuring Angie W

Award-winning Saxophonist Elijah Jamal Balbed welcomes acclaimed jazz and soul vocalist Angie Wells from Los Angeles for her Mr Henry’s debut! Join them for a night of original music, fun covers, and all around good vibes. 

Elijah Jamal Balbed is a Washington, DC native and alum of the legendary Jazz Studies programs at both Howard University and University of the District of Columbia. While a student at Howard, Elijah became very active on the U Street jazz scene performing at now defunct venues such as Twins Jazz, HR-57, and Bohemian Caverns. In 2009, Elijah’s presence started to become known on the scene and he was named “Best New Jazz Musician” by the Washington City Paper. A couple years later, Elijah started performing with the Godfather of Go-Go Chuck Brown from 2011 until Mr Brown’s death in 2012. In 2013 he attended the Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead Program at The Kennedy Center under the direction of Jason Moran, and the following year he was accepted into the Artist-in-Residence program at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD. During his residency, Elijah debuted his Jazz and Go-Go band “The JoGo Project”, which has since become a mainstay on the DC music scene having performed all over the area and winning 2 WAMMIE Awards. 

As a sideman, Elijah has played for The Temptations, Fantasia, T.I., Busta Rhymes, CL Smooth, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Gloria Estefan, The Blackbyrds, Winard Harper, and many others. Elijah can be seen on NPR’s Tiny Desk and Noochie’s Front Porch series, as well as features on WBGO, The Washington Post, and Al Jazeera. He has traveled to Russia as a Jazz Ambassador on behalf of the U.S. State Department, as well as stints in London, Doha, and the PAPJazz festival in Haiti. Elijah is also a curator of jazz at The Kreeger Museum and Ciel Social Club. Elijah is also deeply involved with education, as the director of the DC Youth Orchestra “JazzDC Youth Ensemble” and a resident artist with Washington Performing Arts.

Angie Wells, a Philadelphia native, discovered jazz through her father’s records. A performance in Paris sparked her singing career. After returning to Los Angeles, she trained, performed, and was recognized in the Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition. Her first album, Love and Mischief (2017), brought critical praise and international tours. Her 2023 album, Truth Be Told, produced by Grammy®-winner John Clayton, drew from pandemic experiences and earned an NAACP Image Award nomination.