JILL GURR

Jill is originally from East Meadow, NY. She has traveled and lived all over the world and is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian. ​She is the CEO of the nonprofit organization Create Now, which she founded in 1996. Jill has devoted the last 23 years of her life helping more than 48,000 at-risk and high-risk youth in Los Angeles to heal and thrive through therapeutic programs in the arts.

She is a produced screenwriter, having adapted the book Hit and Run by James Hadley Chase into the screenplay “Rigged,” which stars George Kennedy. This film was distributed internationally by Kodiak Films. She also wrote “Socrates,” a PBS pilot that stars Ed Asner. Several of her original screenplays were optioned. One of Jill’s scripts placed as a Quarter-Finalist in five different writing competitions, and also as a Finalist in an international writing contest.

Jill graduated from Boston University with a B.S. degree in Broadcasting and Film. She worked for many years in the film industry as a Script Supervisor on international productions with famous actors and directors.

She founded Create Now in 1996 and serves as the CEO. Jill was featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360°. She was one of eight people in the U.S. selected to be in an exhibition at the Museum of Tolerance called “Everyday Heroes.” She was chosen by the British Council to participate in their Global Xchange program in South Africa and Northern Ireland in 2010, where she shared best practices with 25 other leaders from six countries. Jill gives presentations to global diplomats through adjuncts of the U.S. State Department.

She received a standing ovation after giving a TEDx Talk in Beverly Hills on October 29, 2016. Jill published a comprehensive book, Mentor Youth Now: A Guidebook for Transforming Young Lives, which is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and through other retailers. She’s available as a consultant, trainer and a speaker.

Palter Ego features Jesse Palter on Vocals and Sam Barsh on Keys.

Jesse Palter’s blazed a lot of trails in her life. Growing up she performed musical theatre, played piano, trumpet and oboe, and created tracks with legendary musicians Andrew Gold and the Grammy winning Bass Brothers. Establishing herself as a jazz singer, she studied at the University of Michigan School Of Music, won Outstanding Jazz Vocalist at three consecutive Detroit Music Awards, shared the stage with genre legends and headlined at legendary clubs like NYC’s Blue Note.

Honing her chops as a singer-songwriter, she recorded and toured as half of Palter Ego with keyboardist Sam Barsh. All of these musical trails laid the foundation for her emergence as a solo recording artist in her own right with her full-length debut album on Artistry Music (a division of Mack Avenue Music Group), featuring her most vulnerable, brave and brutally honest songs yet. Palter Ego is the brainchild of soulful/jazz-tinged singer-songwriter Jesse Palter and keyboardist/producer Sam Barsh, who join forces to create their own blend of upbeat pop, jazz and soul. 

Palter is a 5x Detroit Music Award Winner who recently released her debut album “Paper Trail” on Mack Avenue Records. Barsh’s work with the likes of Norah Jones, Avishai Cohen, Aloe Blacc and Kendrick Lamar has garnered 3 GRAMMY Awards and reached the top of the Billboard Charts. Together they have headlined major festivals in the US and abroad, and their music has been featured prominently in nationally-aired commercials and television.