The Paper Box | Brooklyn, NYC

Before the return of Electro-Discombobulation, a seed was planted in the heart of the groove. From the seed grew a race that sought the essence of sweat. Finding their source of nutrients and spiritual gold deep in the jungles of New York City, they became known as The Great Apes

Navegante is a Brooklyn, New York based duo comprised of Jean Shepherd on vocals, guitar and live programming and Washington Duke on drums. Together they create an eclectic, 21st Century sound, otherwise described as, electro-funk-rock with a Latin twist. However it is depicted, Navegante's music transcends all genre-lines and makes, whomever the listener, move. The unique sound is infectious, revolutionary and continually evolving. In their mere two years together, they have developed a live show that is an experience to say the least. This was achieved by making the conscious decision early on to take a yearlong residency at the small Spanish Harlem club, Camaradas, to focus on building the Navegante sound. "If you don't do shows and really test your songs and material for the people, if you don't figure out how to get them, while you're up there, you could practice all you want, it's not going to make much of a difference," Washington explains. Their practice has paid off with their live shows creating such a buzz in New York City that music industry bigwigs, journalists and fellow artists have taken notice. Navegante has been covered in the New York Times, the Village Voice and New York Magazine. David Byrne of the Talking Heads has called them "a great new band". But they are most flattered by a comment made by multi-platinum artist, Carlos Santana, when he said, "Navegante is the artist that will carry the torch into the future." Santana also covered a song written by Jean on his All That I Am album and Jean had the privilege of playing alongside this ledged at the CD release party. The accolades do not stop and neither does this band. Navegante's full-length album is being co-produced by Grammy-winning and platinum achieving mix engineer, Jimmy Douglass, who has worked with the likes of The Rolling Stones and Timbaland. When Jimmy heard the band's sound he proclaimed them as a "game-changing artist". They plan to release the album in the fall of 2011.