"Aki Takase ( ) (born January 26, 1948) is a Japanese jazz pianist and composer.

Takase was born in Osaka and started to play piano at age 3. Raised in Tokyo, Takase studied classical piano at Toho Gakuen School of Music. Starting in 1978, she performed and recorded in the US. Her collaborators included with Lester Bowie, Sheila Jordan, David Liebman, and John Zorn. Her first Euopean appearance was in 1981 at the Berlin Jazz Festival in Germany. She instantly became one of the most sought after musicians, who was touring constantly the main international jazzfestivals.

For many years, she has been working with her husband Alexander von Schlippenbach, as well as with Eugene Chadbourne, Han Bennink, Evan Parker, Paul Lovens, Fred Frith and others, and in duets with Maria Jo‹o, David Murray and Rudi Mahall.

In various projects, Takase has dealt with famous jazz musicians: Duke Ellington (1990), Thelonious Monk (1994), Eric Dolphy (1998), W.C. Handy (2002), Fats Waller (2004), and Ornette Coleman (2006).

In 2002, Takase recorded with writer Yoko Tawada. Takase had read some of Tawada's poems, and, as the writer reported, she "started composing melodies and settings for my texts. When we got together, I read my poems in the same way that I always read them out loud. Aki played, listened carefully to the poems, and started improvising." In later performances, Takase used more unconventional instruments when accompanying Tawada.

Since 1987, Takase has lived in Berlin."

"One of Europe's premier free jazz bandleaders, pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach's music mixes free and contemporary classical elements, with his slashing solos often the link between the two in his compositions. Schlippenbach formed The Globe Unity Orchestra in 1966 to perform the piece"Globe Unity, which had been commissioned by the Berliner Jazztage.

He remained involved with the orchestra into the '80s. Schlippenbach began taking lessons at eight, and studied at the Staatliche Hochschule for Musik in Cologne with composers Bernd Alois Zimmermann and Rudolf Petzold. He played with Gunther Hampel in 1963, and was in Manfred Schoof's quintet from 1964 to 1967.Schlippenbach began heading various bands after 1967, among them 1970 trio with Evan Parker and Paul Lovens and a duo with Sven-Ake Johansson which they co-formed in 1976. Schlippenbach has also given many solos performances. In the late '80s, he formed the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra,which has featured a number ofesteemed European avant-garde jazz musicians including Evan Parker, Paul Lovens, KennyWheeler, Misha Mengelberg and Aki Takase. During the 90`s Duo work with Tony Oxley, Sam Rivers and Aki Takase. 1999 started performance and radiorecording of Thelonius Monks complete works, (all the compositions) with Rudi Mahall and his group "Die Enttäuschung"."

"Karl Berger is a six time winner of the Downbeat Critics Poll as a jazz soloist, recipient of numerous Composition Awards ( commissions by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, European Radio and Television: WDR, NDR, SWF, Radio France, Rai Italy. SWF-Prize 1994 ). Professor of Composition, Artist-in-Residence at universities, schools and festivals worldwide; PhD in Music Esthetics.

Karl Berger became noted for his innovative arrangements for recordings by Jeff Buckley ("Grace"), Natalie Merchant ("Ophelia"), Better Than Ezra, The Cardigans, Jonatha Brooke, Buckethead, Bootsie Collins, The Swans, Sly + Robbie, Angelique Kidjo a.o.; and for his collaborations with producers Bill Laswell, Alan Douglas ("Operazone"), Peter Collins, Andy Wallace, Craig Street, Alain Mallet, Malcolm Burn, Bob Marlett a.m.o. in Woodstock, NY. New York City, Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, Paris, Rome.

He recorded and performed with Don Cherry, Lee Konitz, John McLaughlin, Gunther Schuller, the Mingus Epitaph Orchestra, Dave Brubeck, Ingrid Sertso, Dave Holland, Ed Blackwell, Ray Anderson, Carlos Ward, Pharoah Sanders, Blood Ulmer, Hozan Yamamoto and many others at festivals and concerts in the US, Canada, Europe, Africa, India, Phillippines, Japan, Mexico, Brazil.

His recordings and arrangements appear on the Atlantic, Axiom, Black Saint, Blue Note, Capitol, CBS, Columbia Double Moon, Douglas Music, Elektra , EMI, Enja, Island, JVC, Knitting Factory, In&Out, MCA, Milestone, Polygram, Pye , RCA, SONY, Stockholm, Vogue a.o.

Founder and director of the Creative Music Foundation, Inc., dba The Creative Music Studio, a not-for-profit corporation, dedicated to the research of the power of music and sound and the elements common to all of the world's music forms; and to educational presentations through workshops, concerts, recordings, with a growing network of artists and CMS members worldwide.Conducted CMS Residencies worldwide. In the 90s, Dr. Berger was Professor of Composition and Dean of Music Education at the Hochschule fuer Musik, Frankfurt / Germany. Chairman of the Music Department at UMass Dartmouth till 2006.Now re-establishing CMS programming in collaboration with producer Rob Saffer, directing the CMS Archive Project, recording and producing. Performing internationally with the Allstar Ensemble "In the Spirit of Don Cherry" and with numerous projects, collaborating with vocalist/poet Ingrid Sertso ( contact CreativeMusicAgency@gmail.com ). Recording a Trlogy of Piano Music for Tzadik Records. Collaborating with bassist Ken Filiano, vocalist Ingrid Sertso (KIK) + guitarist Kenny Wessel (KIKK). The Karl Berger Improvisers Orchestra, completed 75 performances in New York since the Spring of 2011 (see BLOG at www.karlberger.org). New collaboration in Europe with drummer Baby Sommer, bassist Antonio Borghini, guitarist Carsten Radtke, vocalist/poet Ingrid Sertso (DIFFERENT STANDARDS). Collaborating with cornetist Ken Knuffke, violinist Jason Hwang, saxophonists Ivo Perelman, Peter Apfelbaum, Mercedes Figueras, drummers Harvey Sorgen, Tani Tabbal, Warren Smith, Tyshawn Sorey. bassists Joe Fonda, Mark Helias, Max Johnson, William Parker, trumpeter Steven Bernstein and others for recordings and performances."

"Rudi Mahall (born 1966 in Nürnberg, Germany) is a contemporary jazz bass clarinetist.

While studying classical clarinet, Mahall shifted towards contemporary music, improvisation and jazz. He is, or was a member of following bands: Avantgardeband Die Hartmann 8, Der Rote Bereich (initially comprehending Frank Möbus, Marty Cook, Jim Black und Henning Sievert), the Trio Tiefe töne für Augen und Ohren (with Sievert and Bill Elgart), Carlos Bicas Azul and Die Enttäuschung (amongst others with Axel Dörner, Jan Roder). He carried out several projects and published CDs with Aki Takase, about the work of Eric Dolphy and others. Mahall participated to Alexander von Schlippenbach's recording of the complete works of Thelonious Monk, published by a prestigious Swiss label, and he is a member of the Globe Unity Orchestra. Moreover, he performed with Conny Bauer, Lee Konitz, Barry Guy, Karl Berger, Paul Lovens, Sven-Åke Johansson, Radu Malfatti, Ed Schuller, Ray Anderson, Kenny Wheeler, Hannes Bauer and many others.

Mahall performed at the Free Music Festival Jazz à Mulhouse in 2008, at the Moers Festival, the JazzFest Berlin, the Leverkusener Jazztage and jazz festivals in New York City, Amsterdam, München, Würzburg, Nürnberg, and he toured in Portugal, southern and eastern Africa."

"Tobias Delius was born on 15 July 1964 in Oxford, England. He began playing saxophone in 1980 in the German Ruhr region. In 1983/84 he lived in Mexico City where he played in the "Cuarteto Mexicano de Jazz" led by pianist Francixco Téllez.

Delius moved to Amsterdam in 1984 and studied for a short while at the Sweelinck Conservatorium. He quickly became involved with Amsterdam improvisers and dropped his studies to immerse himself in the improvised music scene. In 1990 he was awarded the Podiumprijs from the organisation Stichting Jazz in Nederland. He has worked in Europe and overseas with such musicians as Steve Lacy (October Meeting '91), Louis Moholo's Viva-la-black (South Africa '93), Bill Frisell, Mark Feldman and Trio Clusone (Clusone Jazz '93), Misha Mengelberg ("Pollo de Mare", Angelica '96 in Bologna), Steve Beresford ("Signals for Tea", Vancouver '98), Jeb Bishop, Kent Kessler, Hamid Drake (Chicago 2001) and Ray Anderson (Rotterdam, '01).

Tibias is currently based in Berlin where ihe is an active member of the improvised community performing regularly with Axel Dörner, Christian Lillinger, Clayton Thomas, Liz Albee and many others."

"Henrik Walsdorff (* February 8, 1965 in Braunschweig) is a German jazz saxophonist.

Walsdorff, who has been living in Berlin since 1994, studied saxophone at Herb Geller. He played in the bands of Aki Takase, Marty Cook and Sven-Åke Johansson. In addition to John Schröder and Colin Vallon, he is a member of the Fabian Gisler Quartet. With Martin High de Prime, Kay Lübke and Jan Roder, he is the group The Real Latinos, with John Schröder and Uli Jenneßen the group Freedom of Speech and with Rudi Mahall, Jan Roder and Oliver Steidle the SoKo Steidle. He is also a member of the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Alexander von Schlippenbach, with whom he also directs a quartet.

In 1994, Walsdorf founded the group LAX with John Schröder, Gerold Genßler and Uli Jenneßen, whose album Time was created in 60 Seconds 2002. In the field of pop music he worked with the groups Seeed and We are heroes together."

"Axel Dörner (born 26 April 1964 in Cologne, Germany) is a German jazz musician (trumpet and piano) and composer.

Dörner studied piano in the Dutch town Arnhem (1988-89) and at the Music Academy in Cologne (1989-1996). From 1991 he studied trumpet with Malte Burba, and during his studies he collaborated with trumpeter Bruno Light in the "The Street Fighters Duo". At this time he also joined the ensembles "The Street Fighters Quartet" and "The Street Fighters Double Quartet" together with Matthias Schubert, Bruno Leicht, and Claudio Puntin. In addition the "Axel Dörner Quartet" was initiated (with Frank Gratkowski, Hans Schneider and Martin Blume). With saxophonist Matthias Petzold. he participated on the albums Lifelines and Psalmen Und Lobgesänge.

Dörner has resided in Berlin since 1994, and occurs in the most diverse settings like "The London Jazz Composers Orchestra" and with "Hedros" (together with Mats Gustafsson, Günter Christmann, Barry Guy and others). Since then he has contributed on more than 50 album recordings.

Dörner is distinguished mainly by his versatility. He bouth play the more traditional Bebop, just like he fits in to classic Free Jazz or electronic music. He playd with Otomo Yoshihide at the Donaueschinger Musiktage in 2005. Dörner play both solo concerts and collaborates with his trio "TOOT" (together with Phil Minton and Thomas Lehn) and "Die Anreicherung" with Christian Lillinger, Håvard Wiik and Jan Roder, and in Ken Vandermarks "Territory-Band". Dörner is an integral part of the Berlin scene of experimental new improvisational music. Dörner was given special attention for his interpretation of all compositions by Thelonious Monk, with the pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and his own band "Die Enttäuschung" released on a three CD album (Monks Casino, Complete 2005)."-Wikipedia

"Nils Wogram (born 1972 in Braunschweig, Germany) started playing the trombone at the age of 15. He started classical and jazz trombone simultaneously. He was a member in the national german youth big band, paricipated in classical competitions and formed his own bands at the age of 16. From 1992 to 1994 he studied in New York City and continiued at Cologne university until 1999 when he graduated. Since then Nils has relased 23 albums as a bandleader.

Nils Wogram counts as one of the most important jazz musicians in europe. He appears on many important festivals and tours worldwide with his own bands and as a featured soloist. He is mainly known for his highly virtuous trombone playing, his very original compositions and as a band leader of long-term working bands with a unique ensemble sound. In 2010 he started his own record label nwog-records on which he releases his albums. Nils Wogram`s bands play exclusively his own music and other ensembles commission pieces by him.

Nils Wogram`s music is highly rooted in the jazz tradition. Nevertheless he tries to find new ways in expanding this language by using chordal, formal, meldodic and rhythmic material originally coming from other musical genres than jazz. Nils is a big fan of real bands with a unique ensemble sound. Most of his ensembles exist since a long time (e.g. Root 70 since the year 2000). He believes that the best music in history was played by working bands."

"Wilbert de Joode (1955) is a veritable research scientist of bass pizzicato and bowing techniques. A self-taught musician, he has been playing the double-bass since 1982. He began working in groups that improvised within a jazz framework. Other musicians were soon drawn to his idiosyncratic style, and in the mid 80s he played in groups led by Vera Vingerhoeds, Armando Cairo and Ig Henneman where he further developed his improvisation skills. He came into contact with such musicians as J.C.Tans, Rinus Groeneveld, Michiel Braam, Han Bennink, Han Buhrs (Schismatics) and Ab Baars.

De Joode is currently one of the most active bass players on the European improvised music circuit. His individual style and musicality transforms the double bass into an equal partner in the most varied ensembles. A personal tone colour, exploration of the outer registers, quirky improvisations and the use of gut strings contribute to an instantly recognizable and intriguing sound.

The seventeen improvised pieces on his first solo cd Olo (distributed by ToonDist) show how rich and complex his sound on the double bass is."

"Antonio Borghini: Double bass player and composer.

Born in Milan in 1977, he grows up in Rome where, at the age of ten, begins his musical studies privately and later on at "G.B. Martini" conservatory in Bologna. Based there, he joins in the late 90's the musicians collective "Bassesfere", and starts collaborating with many bands (Cristina Zavalloni "Open quartet", "Orange room", "Headless cat", "Mrafi", "Chant trio" a.o.)

In 2003 begins his long term collaboration with cellist Tristan Honsinger playing in the group "Small Talk". In the years 2004-2006 he plays concerts around Europe with many projects such as "Domino quartet" with Sean Bergin, Gianluca Petrella and Hamid Drake; David Murray trio and quartet; the "Anthony Braxton quartet" and the Butch Morris Orchestra. His sextet "Memorial Barbecue" is invited to the international jazz festival in S.Anna Arresi. From 2007 till 2010 he's the bass player in Mike Patton's project "Mondo Cane". In 2008 he publishes the first record of his music with the group "Malebranche"; the quartet "Eco d'Alberi" is the first italian group playing at the Vision festival in New York.

Through these years he played, toured and recorded with many other musicians such as Han Bennink, Taylor Ho Bynum, Mary Halvorson, John Tchicai, Leo Smith, Cristiano Calcagnile, Edoardo Marraffa, Pasquale Mirra, Vincenzo Vasi, Mirko Sabatini, Fabrizio Puglisi, Francesco Bigoni, Stefano Bollani, Aldo Romano.

In 2009 he moves to Berlin and quickly becomes part of the so-called "echtzeitmusik" scene. Out of countless musical meetings he co-founded "Hook, Line and Sinker", a music theater ensemble with Tristan Honsinger, Axel Dörner and Tobias Delius; "Der Lange Schatten" with Michael Thieke and Håvard Wiik; "Die Hochstapler", with Pierre Borel, Louis Laurain and Hannes Lingens; "Schnell", a bebop-trance trio with Christian Lillinger and Pierre Borel.

He is also regularly playing in Tristan Honsinger's company "Hopscotch"; Alexander Von Schlippenbach quartet; "Quartetto trionfale" with Günter Sommer, Manfred Schoof and Gianluigi Trovesi; the double bass quartet "Sequoia" featuring Klaus Kürvers, Meinrad Kneer and Miles Perkin; the piano trio "Frisk" with Håvard Wiik and Steve Heather and "Parrot's feathers" with Matthias Schubert and Rudi Fischerlehner.Furthermore he plays in various combinations with many others such as Achim Kaufmann, Olaf Rupp, Henrik Walsdorff, Hilary Jeffery, Tony Buck, Rudi Mahall, Almut Kühne, Aki Takase, Sven-Åke Johanson and Chino Suichi."

"Drummer and multi-instrumentalist Han Bennink was born in Zaandam near Amsterdam in 1942. His first percussion instrument was a kitchen chair. Later his father, an orchestra percussionist, supplied him with a more conventional outfit, but Han never lost his taste for coaxing sounds from unlikely objects he finds backstage at concerts. He is still very fond of playing chairs.

In Holland in the 1960s, Bennink was quickly recognized as an uncommonly versatile drummer. As a hard swinger in the tradition of his hero Kenny Clarke, he accompanied touring American jazz stars, including Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, Wes Montgomery, Johnny Griffin, Eric Dolphy and Dexter Gordon. He is heard with Gordon on the 1969 album "Live at Amsterdam Paradiso" (on the Affinity label) and with Dolphy on 1964s "Last Date" (PolyGram). At the same time, Bennink participated in the creation of a European improvised music which began to evolve a new identity, apart from its jazz roots. With fellow Dutch pioneers, pianist Misha Mengelberg and saxophonist Willem Breuker, he founded the musicians collective Instant Composers Pool in 1967. Bennink anchored various bands led by Mengelberg or Breuker, and appeared in their comic music-theater productions.

Bennink attended art school in the 1960s, and is also a successful visual artist in several media, often constructing sculpture from found objects, which may include broken drum heads and sticks. He has designed the covers for many LPs and CDs on which he appears. Bennink is represented by Amsterdam's Galerie Espace, and has been the subject of several one-man shows, including one at the Gemeente Museum in the Hague in 1995.

In 1966, Bennink played the US's Newport Jazz Festival with the Mengelberg quartet. From the late 1960s through the '70s Bennink collaborated frequently with Danish, German, English and Belgian musicians, notably saxophonists John Tchicai and Peter Broetzmann, guitarist Derek Bailey and pianist Fred van Hove. Bennink, Broetzmann and van Hove had a longstanding trio well documented on FMP Records. There Bennink also showcased his talents on clarinet, trombone, soprano saxophone and many other instruments, also featured in a series of solo albums he began in 1971.

Bennink's many recordings from the 1980s include sessions with Mengelberg's ICP Orchestra (where he remains), South African bassist Harry Miller, soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy, trombonists Roswell Rudd and George Lewis, and big-bandleaders Sean Bergin and Andy Sheppard.

From 1988 to'98 Bennink's main vehicle was Clusone 3, with saxophonist and clarinetist Michael Moore and cellist Ernst Reijseger, a band noted for its free-wheeling mix of swinging jazz standards, wide-open improvising, and tender ballads. Clusone played Europe and North America, West Africa, China, Vietnam and Australia, and recorded five CDs for Gramavision, hat Art and Ramboy.

Nowadays he is frequently heard with tenor saxophonist Tobias Delius's quartet and in a trio with pianist/keyboardist Cor Fuhler and bassist Wilbert de Joode, and he still collaborates occasionally with jazz luminaries such as Johnny Griffin, Von Freeman and Ray Anderson.

A conspicuous feature of Bennink's musical life since the 1960s is the spontaneous duo concert with musicians of many nationalities and musical inclinations; in the '90s he recorded in duo with among others pianists Mengelberg, Irene Schweizer and Myra Melford, guitarist Eugene Chadbourne, trumpeter Dave Douglas and tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin.

Since 2008 Han Bennink has his own Han Bennink Trio consisting of Han Bennink, Joachim Badenhorst on clarinet and Simon Toldam on piano."

"Heinrich Köbberling (* February 23, 1967 in Bad Arolsen, Hessen, Germany) is a German jazz drummer.

Köbberling studied drums at the Hamburg University of Music and Theaters and the New School in New York. He taught at the Musikhochschulen in Hanover and Hamburg and has been a professor for drums at the Leipzig University of Music and Drama since 2007.

Köbberling collaborated with musicians such as Richie Beirach, Ernie Watts, Benny Bailey, Ben Monder, Attila Zoller, Anat Fort and Jan Delay. He is a member of several bands, including Aki Takase and the Goodboys, Ernie Watts Quartet Europe, Julia Hülsmann Trio, Rolf Zielke Trio, Lyambiko & Band and Three Words (with Andreas Henze and Kai Brückner). In addition to forty albums as Sideman, Köbberling released two albums under his own name."