"David Schnug was born in Wayne, NJ in 1985. Living and atttending school there until the age of 21, David moved to Brooklyn in 2006 to pursue his musical career.

Since his arrrival, he has played across the nation in various creative projects (see Performance section).David is a multi-instrumentalist, playing on alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones, as well as flute and clarinet. His music embraces the entire jazz spectrum- from the collective dixiland, to the individualistic small group, to collective free jazz.

A special place in his heart is saved for the legacy of Lennie Tristano, a prime inspiration and influence. The nuance and sophistication of Tristano's playing are at the forefront of David's musical ambitions.

David currently resides in Astoria, Queens, where he teaches, composes, and lives with his wife."

"Trumpeter and composer Michael Irwin grew up in New York City. Inspired by the sounds he heard throughout his youth, he studied Jazz at the Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase where he was the student of trumpet legend Jon Faddis.

Michael has contributed to albums by The Chieftains, Vampire Weekend, Brazilian Girls, The Budos Band, and TV on the Radio. A presence on the vibrant New York Jazz and new music scene, he has played in ensembles led by Kenny Wollesen, Federico Ughi, Joel Forrester and others. He also leads the Highline Jazz Quartet, a group exploring the American songbook and jazz canon, as well as The Brooklyn Bears, a trio that plays original and improvised compositions.

Michael's musical interests have led to fruitful collaborations and international tours with singer/songwriters such as Elvis Perkins and Jocie Adams, The Walkmen, The Low Anthem, and The Woes.

Michael loves sharing his insights on music and trumpet technique. His teaching experience includes co-leading jazz and improvisation workshops in Talkeetna, Alaska through a grant from Chamber Music America as well as maintaining a studio for private instruction."

"Jeff Snyder (b.1978) is a composer, improviser and instrument-designer living in Princeton, New Jersey, and active in the New York City area.

As founder and lead designer of Snyderphonics, Jeff designs and builds unusual electronic musical instruments. His creations include the Manta, which is played by over 150 musicians around the world; the JD-1 Keyboard/Sequencer, which was commissioned as a specialty controller for Buchla synthesizers; and the custom analog modular synthesizer on which he regularly performs.

Jeff is a member of experimental electronic duo exclusiveOr, avant jazz group The Federico Ughi Quartet , improvisatory noise trio The Mizries, and laptop ensemble Sideband. He fronts the band Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves as his electro-country alter-ego, Owen Lake. He also composes alternate-reality Early Music for an ensemble of his invented instruments.

In 2009, Jeff co-founded an experimental music record label, Carrier Records , which continues to release strange and exciting experimental music. In 2011, he received a doctorate with distinction in Music Composition from Columbia University. He currently is the Director of Electronic Music at Princeton University, and the Director of PLOrk , the Princeton Laptop Orchestra."

"Federico Ughi is a drummer and composer based in New York. Federico Ughi's music infuses the New York avant-garde sound with a sense of melody inspired by the Italian classical and folk traditions of his childhood in Rome. Ornette Coleman has been a major influence for Federico as well as a mentor.

Born in Rome, Italy Federico relocated to London at age 21 to play music, from there moving to New York in 2000 again to play music. He has been based in Brooklyn, NY ever since.

He has performed or recorded with Daniel Carter, William Parker, The Cinematic Orchestra, Blue Foundation among others. Federico Ughi has performed throughout Italy, the UK, France, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Slovenia, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, Lithuania, China, Mexico, Canada and the US."

"Leila Adu travels the spaceways of music without limits. From tours of the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East, London's Time Out says, 'Avante-garde pop that recalls Nina Simone and Tim Buckley," and Italy's popular music mag Blow Up describes her last album Ode to the Unknown Factory Worker as "splinters of folk and blues but also hypnotic and ghostly prog." Steve Albini who produced her second album dubbed her "Spooky Adu."

Leila's unreleased fifth album and new live set take a new direction into Avantronica, replacing her acoustic sound for layers of, both live and pre-recorded, organ and vintage synth mixed with Ableton Live music software. The live set is a duo of Leila's vocals, synth and piano with New York based Italian drummer, Federico Ughi who divides his time between New York and international tours with legends such as Daniel Carter, William Parker and spends time playing with Ornette Coleman and her latest recordings with kiwi beatmaker/drummer, Riki Gooch.

Leila is currently a Doctoral Fellow at Princeton University and recently wrote for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Brentano String Quartet and So Percussion. She is 2014′s Wellington Orchestra's Emerging-Composer-In-Residence and will première and perform in a new work for voice and orchestra on tour in New Zealand in 2015."

"Zachary Swanson is a versatile bassist performing music in an array of styles, with focus on improvised, experimental, original and folk music. Using gut strings and a personalized technique, Zachary has developed a conception of the double bass that heightens the integrity of various musical environments; from playing adventurous improvised music to backing singer-songwriters.

In the summer of 2018, Swanson toured Italy and appeared at the Sile Jazz Festival with guitarist Nico Soffiato for their duo project, Dogwood, promoting their album 'Hecate's Hounds' on the Italian label nusica.org. Dogwood features an introspective approach to composition and improvised music with focus on exploring space and timbre. In March of 2019, the band Harbinger with Jarvis Earnshaw and Daniel Carter released their self-titled debut album. The music occupies a unique realm, with Earnshaw on sitar, tape-delay, and voice, Carter on a rotating cast of wind instruments, and Swanson on double bass. He has also appeared on Gaucimusic records as part of the 'Live At The Bushwick Series' releases. In March of 2020, 577 Records will be releasing 'Astroturf Noise', a trio with Sam Day Harmet on mandolin and Sana Nagano on violin. This group explores the intersection between free improvisation and bluegrass. In January of 2020, The Nick Horner Family self-released the album 'Sans Sebastienne' with Swanson on electric bass.

Zachary is currently working on a forthcoming duo album with violinist Tom Swafford, and an improvised trio record with saxophonist Derrick Michaels and drummer Dalius Naujo, among being active in many other projects in the greater New York area.

Swanson has appeared on albums released by 577 Records (Astroturf Noise, Federico Ughi Quartet's Heart Talk and The Listening Group), pfMentum (Sanctuary by Trumpets and Basses), Gaucimusic (Live At The Bushwick Series with Aron Namenwirth, Daniel Carter and Joe Hertenstein) and nusica.org (Dogwood's Hecate's Hounds). As an independent artist, he has been a part of many self-released albums over the years including Ghost Narratives, a duo with Tomchess, Harbinger (2019), Chamber Music (2016), a duo release with guitarist Stelios Mihas, Antenna (2015), the Movement Trio's Back of the Room (2012) among others.17883923_275106216282135_1898542423907972316_n-1Photo by Douglas Lowinger

Zachary has performed at series' and festivals such as the Red Hook Jazz Festival with Tomchess' Moonship Quartet, the Inside Out music series at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, the 577 Forward Festival, AE Randolph Presents, and is a regular performer at the Bushwick Improvised Music Series. He has also appeared at the Great Eastern Music Festival in Montauk, Falcon Ridge, Take me to the River, and Charm City Folk and Bluegrass Festival backing folk and Americana artists such as Letitia VanSant, He-Bird She-Bird, Greg Cornell, and Pluck & Rail.

As an educator, Zachary has visited McDaniel College and Towson University to give a improvisation workshops with Derrick Michaels, Stelios Mihas and Jon Seligman. He has also given performances and hosted Q&A's at Marlboro College in duo with vocalist Amanda Bloom, a duo with Rodney "Godfather Don" Champman, and again with the ensemble No Land Bands, a project that combines jazz and Syrian music to promote awareness of the Syrian refugee crisis.

Zachary began his bass studies at the age of 6 in his home state of Massachusetts, and is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University. He can be seen performing regularly throughout New York City and beyond."