SEATTLE, Wash., May 22, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Global Artists Collective, F-Rock Inc., and Seattle’s Artists at the Center program proudly present “Intersections of Soul, Jazz & Hip-Hop Across the Generations” on May 31, 2026. This rare performance unites generations of artists and music genres, featuring Grammy-nominated jazz artist Nathan Breedlove alongside his nephew, B-Boy Fidget (aka Marcus Sharpe), his brother Ted Sharpe, and the award-winning band Global Heat.

The 12-member ensemble will take you on a journey from the classic Jazz Hip Hop of Digable Planets, Soho, and more; to the Soul hits of Jill Scott and Kandace Springs; to present day fusion of Eric B & Rakim, Kendrick LaMar, and ensemble originals.

Join us for an inspiring cross-cultural, cross-generational celebration of music and community.

• When: Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 3 PM.
• Where: Seattle Center Armory, 305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA 98109
• Admission: Free; All-Ages.

FEATURED ARTISTS:

• Nathan Breedlove — Grammy-nominated trumpeter and composer, Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame inductee, and Lionel Hampton Orchestra
• B-boy Fidget — Dynamic rapper/producer and b-boy; credits include 2 Chainz, Black Eyed Peas, Usher, Waka Flocka, and Tech N9ne.
• Ted Sharpe — Percussionist formerly with the Caribbean All-Stars.
• Global Heat — Funky beats, heart-felt vocals, and positive vibes:
  “Truly remarkable and wonderful original music” [Joyce Taylor, NBC News, Seattle] and “High-caliber” [ Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, Reno].

ABOUT ARTISTS AT THE CENTER:

This performance is part of the City of Seattle’s Artists at the Center series, a collaboration between the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and Seattle Center. The program is supported by the Uptown Arts & Culture Coalition and funded by a 10-year grant from Climate Pledge Arena and the Seattle Kraken.

More information: https://www.seattlecenter.com/events/featured-events/artists-at-the-center

ABOUT GLOBAL ARTISTS COLLECTIVE:

Global Artists Collective is a Seattle-based performing arts nonprofit dedicated to creating cross-cultural programming that increases access for underrepresented artists and brings diverse communities together through shared artistic experiences.

Learn more: https://GlobalArtistsCollective.org

MULTIMEDIA — POSTER AND LOGOS:
https://bit.ly/4fyQL7l

No celebrity endorsement claimed or implied.

NEWS SOURCE: Global Artists Collective

Keywords: Music and Recording, Performing arts, Global Artists Collective, Artists at the Center, Seattle, Nathan Breedlove, F-Rock Inc, SEATTLE, Wash.

This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Global Artists Collective) who is solely responsible for its accuracy, by Send2Press® Newswire. Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Story ID: S2P135711 APDF15TBLLI

To view the original version, visit: https://www.send2press.com/wire/generations-of-seattle-talent-unite-for-intersections-of-soul-jazz-and-hip-hop-at-seattle-center/

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As defending Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks enter the 2026 season with one of the more complete rosters in the NFL. They did lose a few key players in free agency, but did an excellent job filling those holes in the draft, led by first-round pick Jadarian Price at running back.

Seattle will get together for their voluntary OTAs on May 26, and mandatory minicamp will begin on June 9. These practices will be vital to players on the roster bubble, especially the following three undrafted free agents who have a shot at stealing a spot on the Seahawks’ 53-man roster.

Uso Seumalo, NT

Seattle understands the importance of dominating at the line of scrimmage. Their expertise in this area was on full display during their Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots and will be a focus again in 2026.

Even with the talent already on their defensive line, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Uso Seumalo make a bid for a roster spot. A mammoth 6-foot-3, 330 pound nose tackle, Seumalo excelled at stopping the run while at Kansas State.

He didn’t fill up the stat sheet, but Seumalo does the dirty work and clogs up lanes, which allows others to make the splash plays. That doesn’t always get noticed but it will under a head coach like Mike Macdonald.

Devean Deal, LB

A former tight end, Devean Deal moved to linebacker and was an impactful player during his two seasons at TCU. He had 99 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, and eight sacks for the Horned Frogs.

Seattle has a crowded room at linebacker but there’s no reason Deal couldn’t push for a spot as a developmental prospect.

Aidan Hubbard, EDGE

Seattle lost Boye Mafe in free agency, but did great work in replacing him with Dante Fowler Jr. at a fraction of the price. Seattle could still use more depth, as well as a younger prospect to groom.

Enter Aidan Hubbard out of Northwestern. Seattle clearly likes Hubbard, signing him to a deal with $267,500 in guaranteed money, which is more than twice as much as any other UDFA they signed.

During his four years at Northwestern, Hubbard recorded 105 tackles and 20.5 sacks. Seahawks On SI writer Michael Hanich wrote that Hubbard doesn’t win with great speed or power, but gives relentless effort and knows how to get off blocks. That might be enough for him to find his way onto the Seahawks roster.

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Youth Ride Free

In 2022, youth began riding transit for free across Washington State. In that year’s transportation budget, Olympia began funding local transit operations for local agencies (except Sound Transit) and in return demanded agencies adopt “low-barrier, zero-fare policies for youth”. That forbids checking IDs, mandating Youth ORCA cards, or even filling out a form. WSDOT indicates that any rider who “identifies oneself as 18 years of age and under” can’t be denied service due to lack of fare media.

Youth Ride Free has been a huge win for parents and children but for transit agencies it’s added complexity to fare enforcement. Today, a large contingent of riders legally ride for free with no identification or fare media making enforcement and calculating a fare evasion rate difficult.

Outside Seattle, no tracking

Outside of Seattle, Community Transit (in Snohomish County), C-TRAN (in Vancouver), and Spokane Transit operate proof of payment BRT systems. We reached out to those agencies to understand their fare evasion rate and all three said fare evasion was not a metric they tracked. Spokane Transit does not have a fare enforcement program. Both Community Transit and C-TRAN cited Youth Ride Free as a reason why their agency is unable to track a fare evasion rate.

King County Metro

In 2019, King County Metro estimated that between 2.7% and 4.5% of riders weren’t paying on proof of payment routes (i.e RapidRides). Last month, the Urbanist broke that King County Metro issued zero citations for fare evasion in 2025 despite Metro estimating a systemwide 35% “nonpayment rate”.

With Youth Ride Free, “nonpayment” and “evasion” aren’t really synonyms anymore so we reached out to Metro for more clarity. Metro spokesperson Jeff Switzer clarified that “the systemwide non-payment rate of 35 percent does exclude youth ridership, based on our best estimates” (emphasis mine).

Coverage of this story in the Seattle Times also indicated that routes with fare enforcement (i.e. the 7, 36, 40, 106, and RapidRides A-F) now have just a 3% evasion rate, an almost 30 percentage point reduction since enforcement began. Metro clarified that they do not actually track fare evasion by route and the 3% figure cited by the Seattle Times is the percentage of fare checks in which riders had not paid, not the percentage of boardings in which riders had not paid.

Sound Transit

In 2019, fare evasion on Link was 2.4% of riders. After a brief hiatus for the pandemic, in Fall 2023 Sound Transit began enforcing fares again (with Fare Ambassadors instead of security).

In early May, staff gave an update to the Sound Transit Board on the Fare Engagement Program. Notably, only 63% of boardings have valid fare media (i.e. paid), a rate somewhat higher than the 56% in 2022. Youth (and those attesting to be youth) are included in the 37% of riders that do not pay. Before Youth Ride Free, youth represented roughly 6% of ridership.

In 2018, Fare Inspectors checked roughly 2.5M fares or 8.76% of riders. In 2025, Fare Ambassadors checked 986,304 fares, roughly 2.5% of riders and a far cry from Sound Transit’s goal of checking 10% of riders.

Of those checked by Fare Ambassadors in 2025, 15% did not have a valid fare. 7.5% were youth legally riding free. 7.8% were not youth and did not have a valid fare and of that number, 60% refused to show ID and were thus not issued a warning.

It is difficult to reconcile the discrepancy between only 63% of riders having paid but 85% of riders checked by Fare Ambassadors having a valid fare. Perhaps 20% of riders dodge the Fare Ambassadors? Or 20% of riders are on crushed trains Fare Ambassadors cannot check? Regardless, it is obvious that Fare Ambassadors are not checking a representative sample of riders.

In 2024, staff estimated that due to fare evasion, the agency lost $15M annually and is losing $30M annually now that ST2 is completed. Over the course of the 50 year ST3 program, that represents roughly $1.5 billion, or 10% of the cost overrun for the Ballard Link. The agency is now piloting “entrance inspections” (i.e. human fare gates), which do increase compliance but only when the inspections are active.

The Sound Transit board obviously sees fare evasion as a problem as they investigate fare gates. But BART, a fully gated system, had a 5% evasion rate in 2017 and has a 10% evasion rate now, both far higher than Sound Transit’s own fare gate-less 2.4% evasion rate from 2019 when over 2.5x more checks were happening.

Editor’s Note: Uncivil comments, especially those which make unsubstantiated claims about riders who do or do not pay fare, will be moderated in accordance with our Comment Policy.