Saxophonist and composer Elijah Jamal Balbed is a Washington, DC native who has performed in Russia, Japan, Qatar, London, and all across the United States. A graduate of Howard University's legendary Jazz program, Elijah has since performed with a variety of notable artists including Cyrus Chestnut, Lalah Hathaway, Nicholas Payton, Dr. John, Raheem DeVaughn, Eric Benet, and many others. While a student at Howard, Elijah began performing with The Godfather of Go-Go music, Chuck Brown. Chuck died in 2012, and in 2014 Elijah created a band called "The JoGo Project" - inspired by his time with The Godfather. The JoGo Project won the 2019 WAMMIE Award for "Best Go-Go Song", written by Elijah and bandmate JusPaul from Southeast DC.  In 2018 and 2019, Elijah went on cultural diplomacy tours in Russia on behalf of the U.S. State Department. in 2020, Elijah presented his socially charged musical movement "The Karma Suite" at The Reach at The Kennedy Center, making history as the first DC artist to headline at The Reach.

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