Brothers Aaron and Lawrence Shaw, performing as Black Nile, see a different Los Angeles: not Hollywood’s fantasy but a city of improvisation, fresh ideas and jazz, built on deep Black and Latino roots. Born and raised in LA’s Inglewood neighborhood, they came up in the city’s red-hot jazz scene, rubbing shoulders with elder legends and next-gen stars alike.

Both with credits on Grammy Award-nominated projects, saxophonist Aaron Shaw has played with contemporary greats from Tyler, The Creator to Herbie Hancock, was recently featured alongside Saul Williams and Carlos Niño and gave André 3000 flute lessons. Bassist Lawrence Shaw has backed John Legend, Booker T. and the MG’s, Aminé, Nubya Garcia and Raphael Saadiq. Both seasoned touring musicians, they formed Black Nile out of a desire to bring jazz into a new century, adopting the sampling and modern production techniques they learned from hip-hop to make improvisation that is wildly inventive and combustible.

Named artists in residence at MASS MoCA in 2025, Black Nile release their new album Indigo Garden on April 10, 2026 on MASS MoCA Records, featuring cover art from renowned conceptual artist Charles Gaines. Both an homage to the brothers’ LA roots and a bold step forward for the city’s jazz tradition, it fills out the band with some of LA’s best players, including keyboardists Luca Mendoza and Brian Hargrove and drummer Myles Martin.

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