Events

Trumpeter, vocalist, and bandleader Aurelien Barnes represents a new generation of New Orleans musicians carrying the city's brass and jazz traditions forward while expanding their reach. The son of Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes, he grew up immersed in blues, zydeco, and Afro-Caribbean music, an upbringing that shaped both his versatility and his instinct for cross-cultural musical conversation.

Mentored from an early age by some of the city's most respected voices, including Leroy Jones, Gregg Stafford, and the Treme Brass Band, Barnes has performed as a featured artist with the Preservation Hall All Stars, and has gone on to work with Grammy-nominated ensembles Cha Wa and the Rumble, as well as the Palmetto Bug Stompers and Kings of Brass. His collaborations span a wide range of artists and genres, including Nicholas Payton, Solange, Dr. John, and Carlos Vives.

A Tulane graduate fluent in French, Spanish, and Portuguese, Barnes brings an international perspective to a distinctly New Orleans sound, rooted in tradition, open to the world.

Zehrin Sims returns to the Good Measure stage.

A Sacramento-born drummer and songwriter who relocated to New Orleans to study Jazz Studies and Performance, and has been an active force in the city's music scene since 2022. A versatile percussionist whose credits include Stephen Walker's Big Easy Brass Walkers, Kid Merv & All That Jazz, and Trumpet Mafia, Sims is the cousin of saxophonist and bandleader Zahria Sims. His debut album Songs for a Better Tomorrow is set for a late summer release.

Justin Garner is a Louisiana-born R&B singer-songwriter who discovered his voice singing in church as a child and has since become one of the state's brightest rising stars. He has performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Essence Festival, opened for Katy Perry, Leon Bridges, and Logic, and sang the national anthem for the New Orleans Saints and other professional sports franchises. In 2025, he headlined a tribute to Frankie Beverly and Maze at Jazz Fest backed by the Grammy-winning New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. His latest EP, Songs You Can Feel, continues a catalog built on soulful, radio-ready R&B.

Kings of Brass (K.O.B.) is an award-winning New Orleans brass band founded in 2018 by musicians drawn from the city's most prominent street and stage bands. Melding second-line tradition with jazz, funk, hip-hop, R&B, and rock and roll, the band took the crown at the 2022 Red Bull Street Kings competition at Music Box Village, cementing their reputation as one of the genre's top ensembles. They regularly perform at iconic New Orleans events and venues, including the French Quarter Fest, Essence Fest, the National Fried Chicken Festival, d.b.a. New Orleans, the Blue Nile, and the historic Dew Drop Inn.