"Horace Elva Tapscott (April 6, 1934 Ð February 27, 1999) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (also known as P.A.P.A., or The Ark) in 1961 and led the ensemble through the 1990s.

Tapscott was born in Houston, Texas, and moved to Los Angeles, California, at the age of nine. By this time he had begun to study piano and trombone. He played with Frank Morgan, Don Cherry, and Billy Higgins as a teenager.

After service in the Air Force in Wyoming, he returned to Los Angeles and played trombone with various bands, notably Lionel Hampton (1959Ð61). Soon after, though, he quit playing trombone and focused on piano.

In 1961 Tapscott formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, with the aim of preserving, developing and performing African-American music. As his vision grew, this became just one part of a larger organization in 1963, the Underground Musicians Association (UGMA), which later changed name to the Union of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension (UGMAA). Arthur Blythe, Stanley Crouch, Butch Morris, Wilber Morris, David Murray, Jimmy Woods, Nate Morgan and Guido Sinclair all performed in Tapscott's Arkestra at one time or another. Tapscott and his work are the subjects of the UCLA Horace Tapscott Jazz Collection.

Enthusiasts of his music formed two labels in the 1970s and 1980s, Interplay and Nimbus, for which he recorded."

Michael Session is a jazz saxophonist, known for the groups Horace Tapscott Quintet, The Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, A Touch Of Jazz, Brüning V. Alten's Sunrise Orchestra, Dennis Gonzalez New Dallasangeles, Jazz Workshop Ensemble, Silvan Koopmann Bigband, and The Gathering.

"Thurman Green (August 12, 1940 - June 19, 1997) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of the Horace Tapscott Quintet and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.

Green and Hamiet Bluiett were at the Navy School of Music together in 1962. More than thirty years later, Bluiett produced and performed on Green's only album as a leader, Dance of the Night Creatures on Mapleshade Records. They began recording in 1994, and Green died in 1997 at the age of 57. Mapleshade released the album in 1999."

"Roberto Miranda, Bass. Adjunct Assoc. Professor, Global Jazz Studies. String bass; Director, Jazz Combo

Roberto Miranda is a dynamic bassist who is noted for his inventive, high-energy improvisations. He is adept in both soulful passages and fleet percussive lines, and is fluent in all jazz idioms. He has toured, played and recorded with an impressive array of jazz artists, including Kenny Burrell, Horace Tapscott, Bobby Bradford, John Carter, David Murray, Cecil Taylor, Charles Lloyd, and Bobby Hutcherson. He has recorded extensively including albums with his own group, showcasing his successful blend of African-American, Latin, and experimental jazz.

Miranda released his CD With Groaning Too Deep for Words in 2002. He also wrote the appendix for the book The Dark Tree, by Steven L. Isoardi (University of California Press, 2006).

As a young player Miranda studied with jazz legends Ray Brown, Red Mitchell, and master classical musicians Bob Stone, Dennis Trembly and Fred Tinsley of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. While studying for his M.M. at USC, he received two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. These grants enabled him to score two compositions for symphony strings, jazz bass, bassoon, and trombone, one of which was performed by the Carson Symphony Orchestra.

Today, Miranda balances a dual career as a performer and teacher. Besides teaching for the UCLA Jazz Studies Program, he is a retired middle school teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District, where he worked for twenty-four years."

Fritz Wise is an American drummer, best known for his work with the Horace Tapscott Quintet.

"Dwight Trible is an American jazz singer, living in Los Angeles. He has made albums in collaboration with Carlos Gabriel Niño, John Beasley, and Matthew Halsall, releasing them on Ninja Tune and Gondwana Records. He was an original member of Pure Essence.

Mike Hobart, wrote in the Financial Times that "Trible has been forging his particular slant on spiritual-modal jazz for decades, delivering his love-is-the-answer message with clear diction, rich tones and a beautifully controlled vibrato. Trible's sonic range adds a dash of Isaac Hayes gravel to the imperious sonorities of Barry White, and, like them, he steeps his voice in the inflections of gospel-soul and the blues. But, having worked with the likes of Pharaoh Sanders and Charles Lloyd, he is equally in control of the nuances and demands of jazz."

Andrew Gilbert wrote in JazzTimes that "few musicians have done more to cultivate the L.A. [jazz] scene over the past four decades" than Trible. "