"Joe McPhee, born November 3,1939 in Miami, Florida, USA, is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser, conceptualist and theoretician. He began playing the trumpet at age eight, taught by his father, himself a trumpet player. He continued on that instrument through his formative school years and later in a U.S. Army band stationed in Germany, at which time he was introduced to performing traditional jazz. Clifford Thornton's Freedom and Unity, released in 1969 on the Third World label, is the first recording on which he appears as a side man. In 1968, inspired by the music of Albert Ayler, he took up the saxophone and began an active involvement in both acoustic and electronic music.

His first recordings as leader appeared on the CJ Records label, founded in 1969 by painter Craig Johnson. These include Underground Railroad by the Joe McPhee Quartet (1969), Nation Time (1970), Trinity (1971) and Pieces of Light (1974). In 1975, Swiss entrepreneur Werner X. Uehlinger release Black Magic Man by McPhee, on what was to become Hat Hut Records.

In 1981, he met composer, accordionist, performer, and educator Pauline Oliveros, whose theories of "deep listening" strengthened his interests in extended instrumental and electronic techniques. he also discovered Edward de Bono's book Lateral Thinking: A Textbook of Creativity, which presents concepts for solving problems by "disrupting an apparent sequence and arriving at the solution from another angle." de Bono's theories inspired McPhee to apply this "sideways thinking" to his own work in creative improvisation, resulting in the concept of "Po Music." McPhee describes "Po Music" as a "process of provocation" (Po is a language indicator to show that provocation is being used) to "move from one fixed set of ideas in an attempt to discover new ones." He concludes, "It is a Positive, Possible, Poetic Hypothesis." The results of this application of Po principles to creative improvisation can be heard on several Hat Art recordings, including Topology, Linear B, and Oleo & a Future Retrospective.

In 1997, McPhee discovered two like-minded improvisers in bassist Dominic Duval and drummer Jay Rosen. The trio premiered at the Vision Jazz Festival in 1998 but the concert went unnoticed by the press. McPhee, Duval, and Rosen therefore decided that an apt title for the group would be Trio X. In 2004 he created Survival Unit III with Fred Lonberg-Holm and Michael Zerang to expand his musical horizons and with a career spanning nearly 50 years and over 100 recordings, he continues to tour internationally, forge new connections while reaching for music's outer limits."

"John Snyder has had an extremely eclectic musical background. Starting in 1972 he became involved in electronic music and recorded and toured with Joe McPhee, playing an ARP 2600 analog synthesizer. Later played with a collection of analog synths accompanied with laser light projections. Met the didjeridu in 1986, taught and performed extensively in NYC for several years. Worked with the didjeridu as a healing instrument as well and studied music/sound healing with various knowledgeable people. Currently John enjoys playing avant garde improvisational electro-acoustic music but his primary focus is that of a healer, using a variety of instruments and other techniques to facilitate healing and transformation."

"Makaya (or Makhaya) Ntshoko (born 29 October 1939, Cape Town) is a South African drummer.

He played with Dollar Brand's trio in 1958, and recorded in a sextet with Hugh Masekela and John Mehegan in 1959. He performed on the Jazz Epistles album, Jazz Epistle: Verse 1. After the breakup of the group Ntshoko founded his own group, the Jazz Giants, with Kippie Moeketsi, Dudu Pukwana, Gideon Nuxmalo, and Martin Mgijima. Ntshoko left South Africa in 1962, moving to Switzerland and playing with Johnny Gertze and Dollar Brand at the Club Africana in Zurich from 1963 to 1965.[citation needed]

Following Brand's move to New York City, Ntshoko played in Copenhagen (1966, 1969-70) and recorded with Stuff Smith (1967), Benny Bailey (1968), Dexter Gordon (1968-69), and Ben Webster (1969). He embarked on a tour of the United States and the Bahamas in the early 1970s. He and Masekela recorded again in 1972. In 1974, he founded an ensemble, Makaya and the Tsotsis, with Heinz Sauer, Bob Degen, and Isla Eckinger (later replaced by Jürgen Wuchner). Concomitantly he played in Nicra with Nick Evans and Radu Malfatti. In 1975, he appeared alongside Joe McPhee and Pepper Adams at the Willisau Jazz Festival. He collaborated with Mal Waldron (1977-79) and Johnny Dyani (1978). Little is known of Ntshoko's whereabouts in the 1980s. He played at the Montreux Jazz Festival with Stephan Kurmann in 1991."