"Alex Asher is a trombonist and producer from Brooklyn, NY. He's performed and recorded with groups in almost every style of music, including luminary pop artists like Beyoncé and Boy George. His horn section, The Superpower Horns, wrote and arranged the horn lines on Grammy-award winning songs from Beyoncé's 2011 album '4′. Alex was a U.S. Department of State-sponsored OneBeat Fellow in 2014 and 2019 and was an Artist-in-Residence at the Montalvo Center for the Arts in California from 2016-2018.

Alex is the bandleader and primary songwriter for experimental soul band People's Champs, which has toured throughout the USA. He also organizes Los Cumpleaños, a genre-bending project with musicians from Colombia, Argentina and the USA. Alex has performed with Slavic Soul Party! (Jazz/Balkan), Porfi Baloa & Sus Adolocentes (Latin), Rubblebucket (Indie Pop), Mostly Other People Do the Killing (Avant-Jazz), John Brown's Body (Reggae) and many others.

Alex has a B.M. in Jazz & Classical Trombone from Oberlin Conservatory, and a M.M. from New England Conservatory in Jazz Performance. He is the Band Director at the Lycée Français De New York and teaches Low Brass at The Green Vale School in Long Island."

"Living in the United States since 1980, Argentine-born bassist and composer Pablo Aslan is recognized internationally as one of the leading figures in traditional and contemporary tango. His extensive discography includes Piazzolla in Brooklyn, a jazz-tango tribute to Astor Piazzolla, and Tango Grill. The latter earned him nominations for a Latin Grammy Award ("Best Tango Album") and a Grammy Award ("Best Latin Jazz Album").

He performs and tours with a variety of ensembles, including his own 50's tango dance band The Aces of Rhythm, with the Emilio Solla Tango Jazz Orchestra, Meg Okura's Pan Asian Ensemble, composer Frank London's ensembles, Brian Marsella's Gatos do Sul, and with members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Lalo Schifrin's "Letters from Argentina".

As a producer, he has shaped more than a dozen albums, including the 2007 Latin Grammy Winner Te Amo Tango by Uruguayan bandoneonist Raul Jaurena. Most recently, he worked on albums by the Glass House Orchestra, Tributango quartet, and pianists Håkon Skogstad , Brian Marsella, Emilio Solla. In 2016, he founded Avantango Records as a home for his productions, and other tango related projects.

Aslan has also performed and recorded with many world-class artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Shakira, Lalo Schifrin, Denyce Graves, Osvaldo Golijov, Pablo Ziegler, the New World Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Aslan has also performed with clarinetist David Krakauer's band Klezmer Madness! in the U.S. and Europe, and collaborated with other leading klezmer musicians such as composer-trumpeter Frank London and violinist Alicia Svigals.

Aslan is an active researcher and educator producing educational programs for Lincoln Center Institute, Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concerts, and Arts Connection in New York City. As a guest lecturer, he has taught at several universities throughout the United States, including Harvard, Yale, and UCLA. Serving as Artistic Director of the Reed Tango Music Institute for the 2013-14 season, Aslan has also been a Featured Artist at the Indiana University Tangueros Conference."

"Cyro Baptista (born December 23, 1950) is a Brazilian musician, teacher, and recording artist specializing in percussion in the genres of jazz and world music.

Born in S‹o Paulo, Brazil, Baptista arrived in the U.S. in 1980 with a scholarship to Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, New York. He has recorded and toured regularly with popular musicians and groups. Baptista creates many of the percussion instruments he plays.

Baptista recorded with pianist Herbie Hancock on his 2005 release, Possibilities. In 2002 Baptista toured with Yo-Yo MaÕs Brazil Project and also appeared on the Obrigado Brazil album Ð winner of two Grammy awards. He also toured with Trey Anastasio of Phish and John Zorn. He recorded and performed worldwide with Herbie HancockÕs Grammy award-winning GershwinÕs World. Baptista collaborated with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra for a Brazilian Carnival modern jazz concert. For over two years, he toured with Paul Simon's Rhythm of the Saints tour and appears on his Concert in Central Park release. He also toured worldwide with Sting in 2001.

Baptista has performed or recorded with many artists, including: Trey Anastasio, Laurie Anderson, Derek Bailey, Gato Barbieri, Daniel Barenboim, Kathleen Battle, David Byrne, Dr. John, Brian Eno, Melissa Etheridge, Stephen Kent, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, Medeski Martin & Wood, Robert Palmer, Carlos Santana, Tim Sparks, Spyro Gyra, Sting, James Taylor, Michael Tilson Thomas, Yo-Yo Ma, and John Zorn. He has also played with many noted Brazilian artists such as Badi Assad, Ivan Lins, Marisa Monte, Milton Nascimento, Nana Vasconcelos and Caetano Veloso.

Baptista has performed on five Grammy award-winning albums: Yo-Yo MaÕs Obrigado Brazil, Cassandra WilsonÕs Blue Light 'Til Dawn, The ChieftainsÕ Santiago, Ivan LinsÕ A Love Affair, and Herbie HancockÕs GershwinÕs World. A documentary on BaptistaÕs project, Beat the Donkey, recorded for the WGBH-TV Boston program ÔLa PlazaÕ, won 3 New England EMMY Awards in 2002.

Baptista appeared in Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel's 1990 documentary film on Fred Frith, Step Across the Border. He has also composed music for programs on the children's television network Nickelodeon.

Baptista formed Beat the Donkey, a percussion and dance ensemble in 2002. The debut self-titled album Beat the Donkey (Tzadik) was picked by Jon Pareles of The New York Times as one of the ten best alternative albums of 2002. Readers of JAZZIZ magazine and DRUM magazine voted it "Best Brazilian CD of the Year" and named Baptista "Best Percussionist of 2002." Down Beat magazine's 51st annual critics' poll selected Baptista as 'Rising Star' in percussion. The group released its second album, Love the Donkey on John Zorn's independent Tzadik record label in 2005.

Baptista's first solo recording in 1997, Villa Lobos/Vira Loucos, is a mix of his own compositions with the work of the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. It was called "the most courageous, bright, funny, dramatic, and imaginative work in recent memory."

Blue Note Records released Supergenerous, a duo CD recorded with guitarist Kevin Breit (KD Lang, Cassandra Wilson). Billboard called Supergenerous "pure aural pleasure" and the Washington Post noted it "a marvelous debut that manages to feel outside and intimate at the same time."

Baptista conducts educational "rhythm workshops" in a variety of formats. He has provided presentations for a range of audiences, from elementary school children to professional musicians.

He has conducted workshops and master classes at numerous institutions throughout the world. These include Berklee College of Music (Boston), The New School (New York City), Drummer's Collective (New York City), Mannes College of Music (New York City), New World Symphony Orchestra (Miami) and Rimon School of Music (Tel-Aviv, Israel).

In 2009 Baptista won a Fellow Award in Music from United States Artists.

Baptista plays congas, bongos, tambourine, maracas, caxixi, agogo bells, pandeiro, pandora, cuica, bells, gong, drums, ceramic drums, surdo, berimbau, shaker, triangle, temple blocks, bass drum, metal percussion, campana, caja, udu, arrelegos, bell tree, bottles, washboard, rubboard, hadgini, cowbell, timbales, shekere, wood block, repique, Rototoms, cabasa, apito, mark tree, whistles, shekere, tabla, talking drum, finger cymbals, Chinese bells, tamborim, snare drum, whistles, typewriter, Alfaia, bird calls, clay drums, cymbals, kalimba, wind chimes, tom-toms, water gong, vacuum cleaner, water phone, peneira cheia, alarm clock, and other percussion."

"Jason Fraticelli is a Philadelphia native upright bassist, composer and bandleader who has been immersed in the Philadelphia and New York jazz and original music scenes for over 25 years. He has won awards from prestigious organizations such as the Pew grant to record one of his most extensive works entitled the Mothers' Suite that was released on Ropeadope records in 2014. Jason has played, recorded with and toured both nationally and Internationally with artists such as Cyro Baptista, Melody Gardot, John Medeski, Billy Martin, Robert Glasper, Taylor McFerrin, Bernie Worrell, G Love, and the Brian Marsella trio with Kenny Wollesen playing John Zorn's music. Ongoing musical performing organizations in which Jason's artistry is involved are currently with American jewish reggae singer Matisyahu and with Spaga, a jazz jam band trio formed by Aron Magnor of the Disco Biscuits. Jason also leads his own art rock band often described as Frank Zappa-esque called the J Frat Band that released their debut record entitled Dream Diaries which is on Ropeadope records. Jason currently teaches at La Salle College High School.

"Zachary Hann is a clarinetist based in New York City. He performs primarily with the Bridge Arts Ensemble, a group of instrumentalists and singers who perform and give educational workshops in public schools throughout New York State. He also teaches clarinet lessons in the Music Program at Bard College. Zachary moved to New York City in 2013 to study at the Juilliard School. Since then, he has performed at most of the major city's major concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall and Alice Tully Hall. In 2014 he performed with Alan Gilbert, then conductor of the New York Philharmonic, in the inaugural New York Philharmonic biennial at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recently, he has been invited to perform with the American Ballet Theater Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Lukes. In 2018, Zachary joined the Colburn Orchestra, under the direction of Stéphane Denève, on their first-ever international tour. As a soloist, Zachary has given recitals in New York City, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Taiwan. Also an accomplished saxophonist, Zachary gave the American premiere of Tajik composer Farangis Nurulla-Khoja's Saxophone Concerto, entitled Ravishi Nur, with the New Juilliard Ensemble. Born and raised in New Jersey, Zachary began his musical studies in his public elementary school. He later enrolled in the Manhattan School of Music Precollege, where he studied both clarinet and saxophone. Zachary received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Juilliard School in 2017."

"Drummer and percussionist Tim Keiper transcends categorization. Based in NYC, he has spent the last 15 years touring the world, playing and recording with such diverse artists as Cyro Baptista, Vieux Farka Touré, John Zorn, Matisyahu, Dirty Projectors, Hazmat Modine, and Skeleton Key. Equally at home rocking explosive rhythms in the West African desert, laying down grooves in a jazz club, or constructing an avant-garde sound experience bordering on performance art, Keiper has a deep knowledge of an eclectic set of music traditions and genres. His ability to speak each musical language so authentically, yet imprint the music with his rich experience and canny sensibility, defines his inimitable playing.

Born in Red Bank, NJ, Keiper moved to New York City in 1999 to play music. It was here that he was able to open his musical universe by immersing himself in the thriving Downtown music scene while at the same time studying the music of Brazil, West Africa, and India. This was the beginning of his ongoing pursuit to embrace a multitude of cultural and musical traditions and assimilate them into his own pioneering approach to drumming.

By the time he finished college, Keiper was playing with Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista's 10-piece percussion ensemble Beat the Donkey. Baptista taught him about the world of Brazilian music and rhythms as well as the infinite possibilities of building instruments and creating the sounds of one's environment.

In 2002, he took a gig as junk percussionist with art rock band Skeleton Key. It was his role to create the sounds of New York City with an original set up of things foraged from the garbage: propane tanks, fire extinguishers, chains, saw blades, crank sirens, and a pogo stick, some of which still grace his kit today. This spurred his fascination with creating captivating sounds in unorthodox ways.

In 2005, Keiper played on the debut record of Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré. After spending a year on the road together, Touré invited him to his home village of Niafunké and the ancient city of Timbuktu to play the Festival in the Desert. He was introduced to the doson ngoni, or sorcerer's harp, as well as the calabash, one of the primary traditional drums of Mali. Both instruments, with their distinctive sounds, have since become essential parts of his music. Keiper has played on all of Touré's studio records in addition to performing at the opening ceremony to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg.

Earlier this year, he reconnected with long-time friend Matisyahu and recorded Live at Stubb's, Vol. III. With Aaron Dugan on guitar and Rob Marscher on keys, this more stripped down setting creates the perfect space to capture the group's spontaneous experimentation and improvisation. They will tour the new record this fall.

Keiper is also spending 2015 on the road with Vieux Farka Touré's new project Touristes, Cyro Baptista's Banquet of the Spirits, John Zorn, and Hazmat Modine. His own band, Eclipticalia, influenced by the sounds of NYC, Timbuktu, and Outer Space, has a record due out later this year.

Keiper teaches at New York University."

"Josh Lawrence is a critically acclaimed

trumpeter and composer. His ensemble was dubbed "an all-star outfit" by The New York Times.

Bandmates include alto saxophonist Caleb Curtis, drummer Anwar Marshall, pianist Zaccai Curtis, and bassist Luques Curtis.

The quintet's third album Triptych is now available on Posi-Tone Records.

A "preeminent voice among young composers" (Downbeat 2017), Lawrence has received awards from Chamber Music America, the American Composers Forum, the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.

Lawrence also codirects the Fresh Cut Orchestra and is a member of pianist Orrin Evans' GRAMMY nominated Captain Black Big Band."

"Jessica Lurie is an American composer, performance artist and woodwind player, originally hailing from Seattle and now living in Brooklyn, New York.

Lurie first gained notice as a member of The Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, an all-female horn ensemble who released its first album in 1993. In 1995, she also had a first release with the group Living Daylights, which performs jazz-jamband music. She has also performed as the leader of the Jessica Lurie Ensemble since 2002.

Jessica has performed, toured or recorded with international artists such as Bill Frisell, The Indigo Girls, Vinicio Capossela, Marc Ribot, Marty Ehrlich, Wayne Horvitz, Sleater-Kinney, Circus Amok, Les Claypool, Nels Cline, Mike Clark, and Great Small Works, among others.[citation needed] Lurie started her music label Zipa!Music in 2000.

Jessica's touring groups include jazz and alternative music artists. Her current New York line-up features Todd Sickafoose on acoustic bass (best known for his work with Ani DiFranco), Allison Miller on drums (Natalie Merchant) and Erik Deutsch on keyboard.[citation needed] Other regular guests include Scott Amendola (drums, Madeline Peyroux), Jon Evans (bass, Tori Amos), Nels Cline (guitar, Wilco) and Julie Wolf (piano, Ani diFranco) as well as Italian musicians Zeno de Rossi (drums), Danilo Gallo (bass) and Giorgio Pacorig (piano)."

"Eyal Maoz (born 1969, Haifa) is an Israeli-born American guitarist, bandleader, solo performer and composer. His music has been described as a synthesis of rock, jazz and avant-garde, tinged with deep electronic and radical Jewish-middle-eastern music.[1]

He leads a number of original music ensembles, including Edom, Dimyon, and Crazy Slavic Band. He also co-leads the Maoz-Sirkis Duet, the Maoz-Masaoka Duet (with koto player Miya Masaoka) and Hypercolor (with Lukas Ligeti and James Ilgenfritz), and is a guest member of John Zorn's Cobra.

Eyal's ensembles have performed at major music festivals worldwide such as the Montreal International Jazz Festival, NYC 2007 Winter Jazz Fest, Brooklyn BAM Next Festival, Verizon Jazz Festival, the New York Jewish Music and Heritage Festival, Florida Music Harvest, The Jewzapalooza Festival in NYC and many more.

His music was featured in the movie Keepers of Eden by Yoram Porath, Israeli's Cinema History documentary by Raphaël Nadjari, as well as at the MTV show Undress. WNYC/NPR recently interviewed him and dedicated a 90-minute program to his music.

Eyal started to explore jazz, rock and avant-garde music at an early age. He led the Lemon Juice Quartet which performed regularly at the Red Sea International Jazz Festival, released three CDs and was heralded for their CD Peasant Songs, a version of Béla Bartók and Erik Satie's music on Piadrum Records.

Eyal's collaboration with long-time childhood friend and drummer Asaf Sirkis has resulted in two duo CDs; the most recent "Elementary Dialogues" released in June 2009 by Ayler Records (France).

His Jewish music acoustic ensemble, Dimyon, has earned critical acclaim after performances in Israel and Italy. After a solo tour in Austria, Eyal completed a guitar tour in China,

Hope and Destruction, his second CD on Tzadik Records, with his ensemble Edom was released in 2009. The group's debut CD, featured Maozwith, John Medeski, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, and Ben Perowsky."

"Brian Marsella is an emerging artist in the improv music community. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Brian learned music by ear at age three from listening to his father, an amateur jazz musician, play the saxophone and vibraphone. His first music loves were Tchaikovsky, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Scott Joplin. At five, Brian started to study classical piano and gave his first public performance. Most of Brian's childhood was filled with the struggle of learning music and the exhilaration of performance. At age eleven, Brian had has first professional "gig." Throughout his teen years, Brian performed extensively around the Philadelphia area in a myriad of settings. A friendship at that time with Philadelphia bassist, Lance Walker, whom had worked with Patti LaBelle and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, opened Brian to the world of R&B, blues, funk, and fusion, working with bands The Dukes of Destiny, The Elgins, and countless others. While doing club dates at night and weddings on the weekends, Brian kept up his classical career as well. At fourteen, Brian was the music director, conductor, and harpsichordist for the New Hope Performing Arts Festival's production of Mozart's opera, Bastien and Batienna, which received rave reviews. At sixteen, Brian gave his first full length concert at The James Lorah House, in Doylestown, Pa. The concert included works of D. Scarlatti, Chopin, Brahms and the world premier of Peter Cody's Sonata for Clarinet and Piano. Throughout this time, Brian was studying classical piano with master, David Ancker.

Brian went on to study composition at the Westminster Choir College, and piano performance at The Juilliard School and The Peabody Conservatory, having studied with teachers such as David Dubal and Robert MacDonald. After a year hiatus from music, Brian moved to NYC and received his BFA in jazz performance from the New School Jazz and Contemporary Music Program. There he studied with Richie Beirach, George Garzone, Reggie Workman, Junior Mance, Joanne Brackeen, and LeAnn Ledgerwood.

Since 2000, Brian has been a busy performing and recording artist, playing around the world with some of the world's finest musicians. Brian has been a member of Brazilian percussionist, Cyro Baptista's internationally acclaimed band, Beat the Donkey, since 2004. With Beat the Donkey, Brian has performed throughout the US and Europe, having played Central Park Summer Stage, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Bethel Woods Jazz Festival, and the Planet Arlington World Music Festival. This past year, Cyro and Brian have collaborated in forming the band, Vira Loucos, with bassist, Shanir Blumenkrantz and drummer, Tim Keiper. The group has played Tonic, The Jazz Standard, and MOMA, to frenzied audiences. Their debut album will be out this fall.

Brian is also a founding member of long-time band of friends, Caveman. Caveman has played over 300 shows in the US and Canada, including performances at the 2002 Endless Mountain Music Festival, 2003 New Orleans Jazz Festival, and Camp Bisco VI. Caveman has self-released two albums, 'Before the World' (which features a track with friend, Matisyahu) and 'totem'. Brian has also toured with Tzadik recording artist, Eyal Maoz's, 'Edom'. With Edom, Brian has performed at The New York City Winter Jazz Festival, The Montreal Jazz Festival, and the oy!hoo festival in NYC. The group will be recording a new album for Tzadik this year and will be performing in Russia this fall. Brian's other touring and recording credits include work with artists: Billy Martin, G. Calvin Weston, Marshall Allen, Odean Pope, Dave Fuszinski, Anat Cohen, Byard Lancatser, Jamaladeen Tacuma, Matisyahu, Trevor Dunn, Mary Halvorson, Briggan Kraus, Romero Lubambo, D.J. Logic, Taylor McFerrin, George Garzone, Rick Iannicone, Elliot Levin, Warren Oree, Dennis Irwin, Jason Smart, Edmar Castenada, Stephen Bernstein, Jon Madof, Erik Friedlander, Ches Smith, Baye Kouyate; and groups: Mad Cow, Big Tree, Leana Song, Pharoah's Daughter, UB313, Chris Tunkle Band, Circuit Breaker, Mother of All Bombs, Brentwood Estates, Exoskeleton, and Group Therapy."

"Violinist and composer Meg Okura is the latest winner of the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers (ISJAC) Fundamental Freedoms Commission Prize. The New York Times called her music "grandiloquent beauty that transitions easily from grooves to big cascades to buoyant swing"(Giovanni Russonello), Meg Okura is the leader and the founder of the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble based in New York. A Tokyo native, Okura is a Grammy-nominated violinist and award-winning composer based in New York. She toured Asia as the soloist and concertmaster of the Asian Youth Orchestra in her teenage years. Her journey in the U.S. began with a solo concerto debut at the Kennedy Center in 1992 with the late Alexander Schneider's New York String Orchestra. She earned B.M. and M.M. degrees from the Juilliard School in violin performance, where she studied the violin with Lewis Kaplan and Masao Kawasaki, chamber music with Robert Mann, Samuel Sanders, and Seymour Lipkin, and was the concertmaster of the Juilliard Opera Orchestra. She has performed at esteemed venues worldwide, including Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center, Barbican Hall in the U.K., Village Vanguard, Blue Note Tokyo, Hollywood Bowl, and numerous international jazz and Jewish music festivals.

"As a violinist, she has performed and recorded with many jazz greats, including Lee Konitz, Steve Swallow, and Tom Harrell. She also toured Japan and the U.S. with the late Michael Brecker's Quindectet with musical director Gil Goldstein. Okura has contributed to over 100 projects, including film, TV, live videos, and albums with artists like David Bowie, Diane Reeves, JC Sanford, Erica Seguine, and Emilio Solla y La Inestable de Brooklyn, earning her a Grammy nomination as a violinist.

Dubbed "the queen of chamber jazz" by All About Jazz, Ms. Okura leads her Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, appearing in its hometown of New York at Birdland Jazz Club, Blue Note, Knitting Factory, Roulette, Dizzy's JALC, Winter JazzFest, as well as Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., K.L. Jazz Festival in Malaysia, and sold-out concerts in Japan.

Ms. Okura has released seven albums under her name, and "Lingering" her duo project with pianist Kevin Hays was released on May 10, 2024. Her 10-piece Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble's highly anticipated fifth album, featuring Randy Brecker is to be released later this year. In 2018, Meg placed No. 6 Jazz Violinist in the International Critics Polls.

Meg Okura and the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble have released four critically acclaimed albums: a self-titled debut album (2006), Naima (2010,) Music of Ryuichi Sakamoto (2013), and Ima Ima (2018), chosen the "Best Releases of 2018" by Dan Bilawsky on All About Jazz as well as the New York Times Editor's Pick, and her release of 2018 NPO Trio Live at The Stone (Sam Newsome, Jean-Michel Pilc, Meg Okura) was Bandcamp's Best of March 2018.

Okura is also the musical director and arranger of the Sakamoto Tribute Ensemble, an ensemble dedicated to performing works by composer Ryuichi Sakamoto who passed away in 2023. She is also a classical chamber musician, touring and recording with such artists as cellist Dave Eggar and clarinetist Tasha Warren, playing anything from Dvorak to Messiaen to Okura. [...]"

"A native of Osaka, Japan, Sae Hashimoto is a 24 year old percussionist based in New York City. She is high in demand as a freelance orchestral musician, serving as principal timpanist of New Jersey-based Symphony in C, and subbing with groups such as the New York Philharmonic. She is also a passionate advocate for contemporary music. While she was studying at Juilliard, she eagerly performed in contemporary music ensembles such as New Juilliard Ensemble and AXIOM, where she had a chance to meet John Zorn. In April of 2017, she gave the private premiere of two of Zorn's newest works for solo vibraphone and improvised rhythm section, alongside MacArthur fellow Tyshawn Sorey and bassist Shanir Blumenkranz. Active in the classical percussion field and a rising figure in the jazz scene, Sae is a unique performer bridging the gap between classical and jazz music."

"The winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition, Irabagon has since topped both the Rising Star Alto Saxophone and the Rising Star Tenor Saxophone categories in the DownBeat Magazine Critics' Poll and been named one of Time Out New York's 25 New York City Jazz Icons. Jon was also named 2012 Musician of the Year in The New York City Jazz Record and is an integral member of such high-profile ensembles as the Mary Halvorson Quintet, the Dave Douglas Quintet and Barry Altschul's 3Dom Factor, as well as an established bandleader in his own right.

For Perpetual Motion, a project of Moondog arrangements, Jon (along with French saxophonist/clarinetist/composer Sylvain Rifflet) has been awarded a French-American Cultural Exchange grant from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, with generous funding from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Florence Gould Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Institut Français, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, and Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs de Musique ("SACEM"). In addition, Jon has received a 2012 Mabuhay Award by the National Association of Filipino-Americans and a 2014 Philippine Presidential Award.

Jon's own record label, Irabbagast Records, has currently released five of his efforts, including I Don't Hear Nothin' but the Blues Volume 2: Appalachian Haze (with Mike Pride and Mick Barr), Outright! Unhinged (with Ralph Alessi, Jacob Sacks, John Hebert and Tom Rainey) and It Takes All Kinds (featuring Mark Helias and Barry Altschul), and most recently, the dual release of Behind the Sky (featuring Tom Harrell, Luis Perdomo, Yasushi Nakamura and Rudy Royston) as well as Jon's first solo saxophone recording, Inaction is an Action."

"Itai Kriss, a Grammy nominated recording artist praised by Jazzwax as "one of the most exciting new flutist-composers" on the scene, commands a variety of musical genres with an eclectic style infused with Jazz, Latin and Middle Eastern sounds.

According to Downbeat Magazine, there is a "tangy, exotic flavor" to the New York musician's style, which can be heard on his debut album, The Shark (2010) as well as on his subsequent releases TELAVANA (2018) and SUPERMOON (2021). The Shark features Kriss' "soaring technique and phrasing that is both aggressive and pastoral," which displays the versatility of his command of the flute, shifting through genres from funk and reggae to salsa and Arabic stylings with fluid ease.

After spending the past 20 years working at the forefront of New York City's Jazz scene while performing, recording and touring with some of the world's top Afro-Cuban, Latin and Salsa artists, flute virtuoso Itai Kriss fuses the sounds of his native Israel with those of his adopted homelands in the Americas to create TELAVANA. From the desert shores of Israel to the tropical beaches of Cuba, TELAVANA bridges the musical spheres of the Middle East and the Caribbean by combining Timba, Soul, North African music and Jazz to create a unique and lively mix of rhythms and textures.

When not touring and recording with likes of Orquesta Akokán, Dafnis Prieto, Brian Charette, Edmar Castañeda, Yemen Blues, Burning Spear, Los Hacheros, Pedrito Martinez, Omer Avital, Cuarteto Guataca, David Broza, Avishai Cohen, Eric McPherson & Elio Villafranca, Kriss performs regularly at premiere New York music venues including The Blue Note, Birdland, and Lincoln Center."

Guitarist John Lee is an improviser and jazz musician based in Washington, DC. He is also a lecturer of Jazz and Commercial Guitar at Towson University and Guitar Instructor at MusiCorps. He graduated in Jazz Guitar at The New School in 2002. He is originally from Oakton, VA.

Anwar Marshall is a Philadelphia based drummer, in groups Brian Marsella Trio, and Irene Reig 5tet. He has played on albums by Orrin Evans, Mike Boone, Fresh Cut Orchestra, Ed Cherry, Dave Douglas, Josh Lawrence, and MAST.

"Folklore and futurism, graceful elegance and raw passion, virtuosic precision and spontaneous exploration - all merge together in the music of award-winning vocalist, songwriter and producer Sofia Rei. Redefining authenticity from an intensely personal perspective, Rei has carried diverse Latin American traditions from her native Buenos Aires to the multi-cultural mecca of New York City, where she's fused those sounds with jazz, classical, pop, and electronic music influences to forge a singular and ever-evolving sound.

With a voice that's been hailed for its captivating beauty and versatility by such prestigious publications as the New York Times and DownBeat Magazine, Rei's talents fit comfortably into any number of genres. Her restless curiosity, however, makes her uncomfortable dwelling in any single category for very long. A self-described "frog from another pond," Rei's natural inclination is to leap, an instinct that has taken her on a circuitous route from early classical training and Argentinean folk music through the punk rock nightlife of Buenos Aires, into some of the most prestigious jazz venues in the U.S. and on to a wealth of festival stages around the world.

Along the way she's connected with like-minded innovators including John Zorn, Maria Schneider, Marc Ribot, Bobby McFerrin, Pedrito Martinez, John Medeski, Susana Baca, Guillermo Klein and countless others. Rei also continues to inspire a future generation of adventurous musicians through her educational efforts at such renowned institutions as New York University and Berklee College of Music. She's even shared a sip of mate, the traditional Argentinean tea, with a flirtatious Conan O'Brien from the window of her Greenwich Village apartment on an episode of his TBS talk show.

Rei's latest release, Keter (Tzadik), is a duo outing with frequent collaborator JC Maillard as part of John Zorn's Masada Book 3, the culmination of his 25-year Masada project. With Rei transforming her extraordinary voice through the use of electronics and Maillard playing the SazBass, a hybrid electroacoustic instrument combining elements of the Turkish saz, the Greek bouzouki and the electric guitar, the pairing finds echoes of the ancient in the urgency of the modern.

That tradition-spanning approach is central to Rei's artistic identity. In recent years she's increasingly incorporated looping and electronics into her performances, expanding the potential of the human voice into radical new territories. Her new project Umbral is a breathtakingly imaginative fusion of her broad spectrum of influences, devised during a soul-searching trek through Chile's stunning Elqui Valley. At the same time she continues to delve deeply into the folk musics of a number of South American countries, including Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and, naturally, Argentina. Discovering a profound connection between such musical traditions and the lifeblood of the cultures from which they spring, she's honed a fearless voice that remains deeply rooted while striving continually to stretch new branches into the unexplored.

Sofia started her professional career as a member of the Colon Theater Children's Choir at age 9. In high school she made her first leap, briefly rejecting the strictures of classical composition to bash out punk rock rhythms on a drumset in her parents' basement. She returned to formal training at Buenos Aires' National Conservatory of Music, intending to become an opera singer. While at the Conservatory, Rei found herself dividing her time between performing early music with Renaissance ensembles and premiering new works by contemporary composers - initiating a trend for straddling past and present that would mark her whole career. Her belated exposure to jazz led her to pursue the improvisatory music to Boston's New England Conservatory, where she formed relationships with many of the musicians who would become her closest collaborators, including bassist Jorge Roeder, pianist Leo Genovese, saxophonist Daniel Blake and percussionist Jorge Pérez-Albela. In 2005 Rei moved to New York City and embarked on enriching experiences with Bobby McFerrin and the Maria Schneider Orchestra.

Just as her music has sought inspiration from various corners of the globe, it has also allowed her to traverse the world to share it. Rei has toured Europe, North and South America singing at renowned international festivals and venues, from North America (Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, Lincoln Center and the Village Vanguard in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., SFJAZZ in the Bay Area, the Chicago World Music Festival and the Montreal International Jazz Festival), to Central and South America (International Jazz en Lima Festival and International Cajón Festival in Peru, Teatro Sucre in Ecuador, Mexico City's Teatro de la Ciudad, Teatro Jorge Eliecer Gaitán in Colombia, Uruguay's Lapataia Jazz and World Music Festival, World Music Panama and Teatro Colón in Argentina), to Europe (Wien Konzerthaus and Glatt Und Verkehrt in Austria, Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Barbican in London, the Netherlands' North Sea Jazz, Festival Grec in Spain, Teatro Manzoni in Italy, Tom de Festa in Portugal) and beyond (Israel's Beit Avi Chai, the Festival Iberoamericano de las Artes in Puerto Rico).

Having carved a unique pathway through a wide range of styles and traditions, Rei is also dedicated to guiding others not to follow, but to find their own ways forward. After teaching at both NEC and Berklee, she is now a Professor at New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, where she's helping students navigate the confluence of contemporary music, technology and business. She's also helped bring innovative voices to new audiences as producer and co-founder of two events, Berklee's Latin America Vive Music Festival and the NYC South American Music Festival, and as founder of El Colectivo Sur, an arts collective that aims to increase public awareness of South American music throughout the world and bring together diverse communities."