"The cosmopolitan Ohad Talmor was born in Lyon, France, originally from Israel, grew up partly in Geneva, Switzerland and now American and long time Brooklyn resident.

A classically trained pianist, Talmor picked up the saxophone while attending High School in Florida.

Don't let it confuse you.

Talmor was mentored early on by the legendary Lee Konitz who helped him groom and foster his dual interests for Composition and Improvisation. Through Konitz's close relationship, they worked on and co-lead three distinct projects for which Talmor both composed/arranged and played: the Lee Konitz Nonet, the Konitz-Talmor String Project and the Konitz-Talmor Big Band.

On his own, Talmor leads a number of flexible groups mirroring his multi-faceted musical identity.

The Newsreel Sextet featuring Drummer Dan Weiss, Pianist Jacob Sacks, Guitarist Miles Okazaki, Trumpeter Shane Endsley and Bassist Matt Pavolka.

The Newsreel Trio featuring Guitarist Miles Okazaki and Drummer Dan Weiss.

The Ohad Talmor Grand Ensemble - a big band featuring many of New York's leading improvisers.

The Mass Transformation Nonet focuses on the Music of Anton Bruckner and beyond. It features Austria's Spring String 4tet, Singer Judith Berkson, Guitarist Pete McCann, Trumpeter Shane Endsley and Drummer Mark Ferber.

Talmor is a member of Drummer Adam Nussbaum's "Leadbelly Project" featuring Guitarists Steve Cardenas and Nate Radley, and a Collaborative Trio featuring Bassist Steve Swallow and Drummer Adam Nussbaum.

Other collaborators include Jason Moran, Josh Redman, Fred Hersch, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Cheek, Carla Bley, Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, Billy Hart and many others, most of whom do not have major recording contracts, which is just as well.

Talmor's interest for bringing together improvisation within the scope of highly sophisticated thru-composed music have him equally involved in writing for Jazz, Electronic or Contemporary Classical Music.

His music has been performed by various ensembles all over the world, including: Portugal's OJM Big Band, Germany's WDR Big Band, Brazil's SoundScape Orquestra, European Radio Jazz Orchestra, Belgium's Bruxelles Jazz Orchestra.

Ohad Talmor contribution in the Contemporary Classical genre includes music composed for the Spring String Quartet from Austria, Porto's "Casa da Musica" Orchestra, pianist Martha Argerich or Sao Paulo's Symphonic Band.

Talmor's Double Concerto for Piano/Drums and Double Orchestras was premiered in February 2010 by Porto "Casa da Musica" Orchestra, OJM Big Band and Pianist Jason Moran + Drummer Dan Weiss as featured soloists.

His film music credit includes the Sundance Festival Award Winner movie "Low Down", featuring actors Glenn Close, John Hawkes, Flea and Elle Fanning.

Ohad Talmor holds a Composition Degree from the Manhattan School of Music (now buried deeply in a trunk in his basement).

He is the recipient of several Awards, including:

"SUISA 2012 Swiss Musician of the Year" and

"2015 European Broadcasting Union Composer of the Year Award".

Talmor teaches Composition at the Geneva Conservatory (CPMDT/AMR).

He is also an Adjunct Professor at the New School and the City University of New York.

And everyday, Talmor spends a respectable amount of time playing the Bansuri (Indian bamboo flute) and studying the bottomless heritage of Hindustani music under the tutelage of Bansuri Master Pt Steve Gorn."

"Miles Okazaki is an American musician based in New York City. He is known for his technical command of the guitar, his rhythmic approach to improvisation and composition, and his work in contemporary music theory. Okazaki grew up in Port Townsend, Washington, a small town near the Olympic Mountains in the Pacific Northwest. He got his first classical guitar at age 6, and began playing regular gigs on electric guitar by age 14, after studying for several years at the Centrum Jazz Workshop. He received many awards as a guitarist throughout his early years, and eventually placed 2nd in the Thelonious Monk International Guitar Competition.

Okazaki moved to New York City in 1997 to pursue a career in music and begin writing his own material. His teacher on guitar at this time was Rodney Jones, who recommended him for his first gig, with Stanley Turrentine. Okazaki spent four years on the road with vocalist Jane Monheit, while also writing and rehearsing the music for his first album, Mirror, which was released independently. The album received a "Critics Pick" in the New York Times, calling it "a work of sustained collectivity as well as deep intricacy." He expanded to a septet for his second album, Generations, described by pianist Vijay Iyer "the sonic equivalent of Escher or Borges, but with real emotional heft,". His third album, Figurations, was recorded live with a quartet, and was selected as one of the New York Times top ten albums of 2012, described by Ben Ratliff as "slowly evolving puzzles of brilliant jazz logic." In January of 2016 Okazaki recorded a new album, Trickster, that will be released later this year. Okazaki wrote, produced, and illustrated these albums.

As a sideman, Okazaki works in many areas, ranging from Standard repertoire to experimental music. Recently he has been seen most frequently as the guitarist for Steve Coleman and Five Elements. In the last few years, he has worked with a wide variety of artists including Kenny Barron, Jonathan Finlayson, Amir El Saffar, Adam Rudolph, Dan Weiss, Linda Oh, Darcy James Argue, Jane Monheit, Vijay Iyer, Francois Moutin, Doug Hammond, Carl Allen, Ohad Talmor, Mary Halvorson, John Zorn, Jen Shyu, Mark Giuliana, Patrick Cornelius, Rajna Swaminatham, Matt Mitchell, Craig Taborn, Tony Moreno, Ben Wendel, Donny McCaslin, and many others.

Okazaki currently teaches guitar at the University of Michigan. His first book, Fundamentals of Guitar, was released in 2015. He has also taught at the Banff Institute, The New School, Queens College, The Juilliard School, Amsterdam Conservatory, and many other institutions. Outside of guitar, his past teachers include Anthony Davis (composition), Ganesh Kumar (Carnatic percussion), and Kendall Briggs (counterpoint). His awards and grants include Chamber Music America's "New Works" (2007), Chamber Music America's "French-American Jazz Exchange" (2009), the Jazz Gallery and Jerome Foundations Residency Commission (2010), the American Music Center's Composer Assistance Program (2011), the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation's US Artists International grant (2012), the Rockefeller Brother's Fund Artist Residency (2012), and the Jazz Gallery Mentorship program (2015). He holds degrees from Harvard University, Manhattan School of Music, and The Juilliard School, and lives in Brooklyn, NY."

"Shifting Foundation grantee Dan Weiss has been hailed as one of the top five jazz drummers in The New York Times, and his large ensemble recording "Fourteen" made the top ten list of their best recordings of 2014. Weiss's innovative drumming and forward thinking compositions have been pushing musical limits for years.

With his piano trio, he's released two recordings entitled, "Now Yes When" (2006) and "Timshel" (2011), which have been critically acclaimed for their unique approach to song structure and endless creative improvisation. Weiss also leads his sixteen piece large ensemble that features some of NYC's most gifted musicians. The two albums " Fourteen" (2014) and "Sixteen: Drummers Suite" (2016) released on the Pi record label have made numerous critic polls. His newest project features Craig Taborn, Matt Mitchell, Ben Monder, and Trevor Dunn and is an amalgam of jazz, metal, and new music. The recording will be released on the Pi record label in the Spring of 2018.

Weiss has been studying tabla under Pandit Samir Chatterjee for twenty years. He has performed with the legendary Ashish Khan and Ramesh Misra and recorded a solo tabla cd "3dcd" (2007). Weiss recorded two groundbreaking cds "Teental Drumset Solo" (2005) and "Jhaptal Drumset Solo" (2011) where he performs classical Indian repertoire on drum set.

Weiss was named 'The Top Up and Coming Percussionist' 2 years in a row in the 60th and 61st annual Downbeat's Critic's Poll and earned a spot in Modern Drummer's coveted Top 5 Jazz Drummers of 2014."