"Dustin Carlson is a Brooklyn based guitarist and composer who creates musical artworks.Dustin has performed with: Ches Smith, Anna Webber, Mike Bisio, Michael Attias, Susan Alcorn, Kim Cass, Jeremy Viner, Bruce Harris, and others."

"Matt Mitchell is a pianist and composer interested in the intersections of various strains of acoustic, electric, composed, and improvised new music. He currently composes for and leads several ensembles featuring many of the current foremost musicians and improvisers, including Tim Berne, Kim Cass, Caroline Davis, Kate Gentile, Ben Gerstein, Sylvaine Hélary, Jon Irabagon, Travis Laplante, Ava Mendoza, Miles Okazaki, Ches Smith, Chris Speed, Tyshawn Sorey, Chris Tordini, Anna Webber, Dan Weiss, and Katie Young.

He is an anchor member of several significant creative music ensembles which integrate composed and improvised music, including Tim Berne's Snakeoil, the Dave Douglas Quintet, John Hollenbeck's Large Ensemble, Rudresh Mahanthappa's Bird Calls, Jonathan Finlayson's Sicilian Defense, Dan Weiss's Large Ensemble, Steve Coleman's Natal Eclipse, the Darius Jones Quartet, Kate Gentile's Mannequins, Mario Pavone's Blue Dialect Trio, Anna Webber's Simple Trio, Ches Smith's We All Break, Michael Attias' Spun Tree, Ohad Talmor's Grand Ensemble, and Quinsin Nachoff's Flux. He is also among the core performers of John Zorn's Bagatelles.

Musicians with whom he performs and has performed include Jon Irabagon, Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth, John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet + 1, JD Allen, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green's Apex, Rez Abbasi's Invocation, Lee Konitz, Kenny Wheeler, Ralph Alessi's Baida Quartet, Dave King's Indelicate duo, Amir ElSaffar, Marc Ducret, David Torn, Vernon Reid, Clarence Penn and Penn Station, Linda Oh, Rudy Royston, Allison Miller, Donny McCaslin, Brad Shepik, and Darcy James Argue's Secret Society.

He has taught extensively with the Brooklyn-based School for Improvisational Music, as well as at the New School, NYU, and the Siena Jazz Workshop. He is also a 2015 receipient of a Doris Duke Impact Award and a 2012 recipient of a Pew Fellowship from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage."

"Kate Gentile is a Brooklyn-based drummer and composer interested in forward-thinking creative music, including the synthesis of elements from many kinds of music.

In addition to her quartet with Jeremy Viner, Matt Mitchell and Adam Hopkins on her debut album Mannequins (June 2017, Skirl Records), other projects Kate is a part of include Snark Horse, in which she co-leads and shares compositional duties with pianist Matt Mitchell; Mitchell's projects Phalanx Ambassadors and A Pouting Grimace, Dustin Carlson's septet Air Ceremony, and Davy Lazar's trumpet/drums duo Pluto's Lawyer.

Kate has also worked with Michael Attias, Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Cloud Becomes Your Hand, Marty Ehrlich, Michael Formanek, God Is My Co-Pilot, Helado Negro, Chris Speed, Anna Webber, and John Zorn."

"Adam Hopkins: Bassist, composer, educator, and semi-professional parallel parker from Baltimore MD-the Land of Pleasant Living. Relocated to Brooklyn NY in 2011, but Baltimore will always be home.

Extended Bio:

Adam Hopkins is a bassist, composer, and educator born and raised in Baltimore MD and relocated to Brooklyn NY in 2011. He has extensive experience performing jazz and improvised music and has played with professional orchestras in Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and the DC metro area.

Adam currently appears in a number of NYC-based ensembles both as a leader and sideman. As a sideman he closed 2017 with performances led by Henry Threadgill as well as a European tour with John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet. He performs regularly with BeepHonk, Laila & Smitty, Anna Webber's Rectangles, Danny Gouker's Signal Problems, Christopher Hoffman Trio, Kate Gentile Mannequins, Dustin Carlson's Air Ceremony, Ideal Bread, Patrick Breiner's Double Double & Practical Mysticism. He currently leads three NYC-based bands (Adam Hopkins' Crickets, Bells + Wires, and Party Pack ICE) - for more information about any of these groups please refer to the Projects section of this site. Adam has studied double bass with many great performers and teachers of the instrument, including Michael Formanek, Jeffrey Weisner, Jack Budrow, Rodney Whitaker, and Sam Cross and additional studies with Drew Gress and Gary Thomas.

In August of 2018 Adam will launch his own record label called Out Of Your Head Records, with the intention of releasing his own albums, and albums of music he loves made by his friends. Also there will be t-shirts and stickers, because who doesn't love t-shirts and stickers?

In addition to being a performer he has extensive experience as a curator. In 2009 he co-founded an improvised music collective called the Out of Your Head Collective, which maintained weekly performances in Baltimore for 5+ years at The Windup Space. Upon moving to New York in 2011 he started a Brooklyn-based chapter which involved over 100 of the city's greatest improvisers. He currently co-curates a weekly performance series in Crown Heights called A.E. Randolph Presents, now in its fourth year, and previously curated the weekly performance series 65Fen.

Adam held a faculty position at Loyola University for six years as a professor of double and electric bass, music theory, ear training, and jazz ensembles. Currently he teaches privately in his home studio and designs improvisation-based workshops for business through sfz Creative, a company he co-founded with musical associates Eric Trudel and Danny Gouker. He holds a graduate performance diploma from Peabody Conservatory in Jazz Studies, a master's degree from Michigan State University in Orchestral Bass Performance, and a bachelor's degree from James Madison University in Music Industry."

"Originally from Ventura, California saxophonist and composer Nathaniel Morgan has been an active participant to New York City's improvised music scene for almost a decade. His current projects include Darkminster (formally Buckminster) with saxophonist Peter Hanson and trumpeter Brad Henkle; Vavatican with Weston Minissali on synthesizer Owen Stewart-Robertson on guitar and Booker Startdrum on percussion, Jason Ajemian's Folklords with Owen Stewart-Robertson on guitar, Jason Ajemian on double bass and Jason Nazary on drums; Yolt with Weston Minissali on synthesizer and David Grollman on prepared snare drum; and Dybbuk a duo with percussionist David Grollman. Nathaniel is co-founder and member of the new music label Prom Night Records."

"Eric Trudel is a saxophonist, composer, and educator originally from Baltimore, Maryland. Eric attended Towson University on scholarship where he earned a Bachelors Degree in jazz performance before moving to New York City to earn his master's degree from NYU, also on scholarship. He was also a winner of the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award grant for non-classical solo performance. Eric has nearly ten years of teaching experience, including holding faculty positions at NYU, Loyola University in Maryland, and his alma mater, Towson University. Eric has led and co-led workshops and master classes both in the United States and abroad, covering topics about music, improvisation, and creativity. Eric currently lives in Brooklyn and keeps an active performance schedule both as a leader of his own groups, and as a sideman."

"Danny is a trumpet player currently in Brooklyn, New York, where he is active in the improvised music scene. He released his debut album in 2014 on the pfMentum record label with Signal Problems, a long-standing group with a unique way of improvising, guided by Danny's compositions. He leads additional projects under his name, featuring his compositions: "DG's Misfit Toys", and "DG's Dog and Pony Show" and is set to release a recording for 3 trumpets and 3 basses entitled "Sanctuary" on the pfMENTUM label in the fall of 2017. He is active as a sideman and contributor in numerous groups, including Will McEvoy's Curriculum Quextet, Dustin Carlson's Air Ceremony, and the Wing Walker Orchestra. Danny also curates a weekly improvised music series in Brooklyn, A.E. Randolph Presents, which has presented over 100 musicians from around the world since 2015.

Guided by great bands and bandleaders throughout the history of jazz, Danny is particularly interested in the ways in which musicians can develop as a group. When looking for inspiration, he looks to the ways composers/bandleaders like Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Don Cherry, Henry Threadgill, Duke Ellington, and Ornette Coleman crafted not only beautiful compositions, but also created one-of-a-kind ensembles to play said music.

Danny is also active in education and a wider understanding of the arts in society. Since the fall of 2013 he has served on the national faculty for The Art of Science Learning, a NSF funded project investigating the link between art and science education and has co-founded SFZ Creative, a group that uses improvisation to help organizations practice innovative behaviors.

Danny has a Bachelor's Degree from Towson University, where he studied closely with Dave Ballou, and a Master's Degree from NYU where he worked with Ralph Alessi and Laurie Frink among other esteemed faculty."