Sequoia 'REDWOOD' Snyder is a musician, composer, producer, singer, and educator who was born in Washington D.C. With bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Michigan State University, she has been mentored by jazz legends such as Rodney Whitaker and Dee Dee Bridgewater, and is a protege of the boundary-bursting artist Jason Moran. REDWOOD has also performed with esteemed musicians such as Kenny Barron, Cory Henry, and even popular R&B band The Internet.
Recently, she was among just seven artists chosen for the 2026 Next Jazz Legacy program, founded by NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington. That honor came on the heels of a busy year that saw REDWOOD play multiple shows with Carmen Lundy, while also performing as bandleader at the Kennedy Center and Jazz at Lincoln Center Dizzy’s Club. Additionally, she has headlined at Detroit’s legendary Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe, and Ann Arbor’s Blue Llama Jazz Club and Kerrytown Concert House. Other Michigan appearances have included “Black Women Rock” (with the renowned Jessica Care Moore) and Cliff Bell’s.
Since the end of REDWOOD’s stint in Michigan State’s Jazz Studies program, she has continued to blend contemporary jazz and other Black genres with sophisticated individuality. In 2022, she toured with international Afrobeat star CKay in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia (at The Roots Picnic). She also played with Teri Lynne Carrington, Patrice Rushen, and Jazzmeia Horn (as a Geri Allen Gathering Orchestra Fellow), and appeared twice with the New York City Ballet. In 2023, she was featured on “NEXT at the Kennedy Center,” which aired on PBS.
REDWOOD spent her early childhood in Fort Myers, Florida, and was heavily influenced by gospel, R&B, hip-hop funk, soul, and pop music while growing up. Upon returning to D.C. at 10 years old, she began singing and eventually entered the prestigious Duke Ellington School of the Arts as a vocal major. But she became enamored with the piano as a freshman and changed her major, swiftly becoming an accomplished performer and leader. REDWOOD earned tremendous opportunities at Ellington, including performances with legends like Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard and Terell Stafford.
REDWOOD’s multimedia piece on Black joy, “Delight,” won the Most Inspiring Performance Art Award at MSU’s 2021 Social Justice Festival. She won the Outstanding Piano award at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jack Rudin Jazz Competition in 2020 and performed alongside Kenny Barron and Cory Henry at NPR’s annual “A Jazz Piano Christmas” program. Her musical endeavors in 2019 included selection for the Kennedy Center’s Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency; JAS Aspen Snowmass Academy (directed by Christian McBride); and DeeDee Bridgewater’s pilot program for emerging women musicians, The Woodshed Network. In December 2018, REDWOOD won an Instagram competition for musicians to accompany The Internet on a national tour. She performed with the popular R&B band at its show in Detroit, where she’s among the city’s young lions in music.
Neither REDWOOD nor her music fits neatly into conventional boxes. Her originality shines through in her 2019 EP “Sempervirens.” Already distinguished as a musician, she went beyond the keys in her debut album, “Red 2 Go,” showcasing her vocal and production abilities. The 8-track mini-project received praise in publications such as Earmilk, Stereofox, and NUNAR magazine. Singles include the bouncy “Dub,” with vocal sensation Ekep Nkwelle, and “Nana,” a jazz tribute to REDWOOD’s great-grandmother.
REDWOOD has covered remarkable ground in a short period of time, with plans to go much farther.
