Candida Rose Baptista is a multi-hyphenate in the areas of musical, cultural, & spiritual enrichment, boasting credentials as a songwriter, vocalist, author, educator, entrepreneur, mother/grandmother/great-grandmother, and community leader. A proud KabuVerdiana hailing from New Bedford, Massachusetts, Candida educates about the transnational musical legacy of Cabo Verdean Americans and performs jazz-infused takes on her musical heritage, including through her leadership of the KabuJazz Ensemble.

José Luís Santos Spencer, artistically JL Spencer, is a Cape Verdean musician, multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter, born in the Island of São Vicente and raised in Sal, the Island where he inherited the music from his "Spencer” family, which is a well recognized nursery of great guitar players. He developed his own style of guitar playing, with flamenco, African and jazz flavors; this makes him a musician with his own identity, without ever losing commitment with the roots of the traditional music of Cabo Verde. Spencer is the musical director and one of the pillars of KabuJazz Ensemble since the beginning of this important project of promotion, education and appreciation of traditional music in the Cape Verdean community, in an exemplary partnership with Candida Rose.

Emmanuel “Manny” Escobar is a dynamic musician and educator rooted in Jazz, R&B, and Afro-Latin traditions. Graduated of the Alice S. Pfaelzer Conservatory at Merit School of Music, The Bloom School of Jazz, Chicago College of Performing Arts, and Berklee College of Music, with private studies under George Garzone, Tony Monaco and Jim Stinett. Emmanuel has performed and recorded with notable artists such as Esperanza Spaulding, Wynton Marsalis, Delfeo Marsalis, Reggie Workman, Jermaine Paul and the Cesaria Evora Orchestra.  Currently, he serves as adjunct faculty at Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts and Jazz History and Improvisation lecturer at the Zeiterion Theater. He was the Artist in Residence at the New Bedford National Whaling Museum in the summer of 2024.

Francisco “Tchico” Evora was born in Brava, Cape Verde, and came to the United States at the age of five. He has carried the spirit of music in him since a young age -- banging on a bathroom floor in primary school with friends, clapping rocks together, finding anything that resembled a drum stick and any surface that vibrated to make beats. At the age of 22, with a real drum set in hand, he played in his first band, Terra Terra (music of the land). He has played with many of Cape Verde’s biggest stars (both domestic and diaspora), has traveled to and played festivals in Cape Verde and Europe, and remains a vital member of this transnational musical scene. With God’s blessing , he looks forward to many more years of playing.

Heribar Estrela is a skilled keyboardist who started playing at the young age of 7; he embraces a diversity of musical genres, but has a particular love for Cape Verdean music, jazz, neo-soul, and MPB (Brazilian popular music), among other genres. Heribar studied music at the Porto Conservatory and the Porto Jazz School in Portugal. He is the husband of a beautiful woman and father to a blessed four-year-old boy; he rests in God, his anchor.