"Marilyn Crispell is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music where she studied classical piano and composition, and has been a resident of Woodstock, New York since 1977 when she came to study and teach at the Creative Music Studio. She discovered jazz through the music of John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor and other contemporary jazz players and composers. For ten years she was a member of the Anthony Braxton Quartet and the Reggie Workman Ensemble and has been a member of the Barry Guy New Orchestra and guest with his London Jazz Composers Orchestra, as well as a member of the Henry Grimes Trio, Quartet Noir (with Urs Leimgruber, Fritz Hauser and Joelle Leandre), and Anders Jormin's Bortom Quintet. In 2005 she performed and recorded with the NOW Orchestra in Vancouver, Canada and in 2006 she was co-director of the Vancouver Creative Music Institute and a faculty member at the Banff Centre International Workshop in Jazz. In 2014 she led a three-week music residency at the Atlantic Center For the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, and in 2016 led a one-week residency at the Conservatory Manuel de Falla in Buenos Aires.

Besides working as a soloist and leader of her own groups, Crispell has performed and recorded extensively with well-known players on the American and international jazz scene. She's also performed and recorded music by contemporary composers Robert Cogan, Pozzi Escot, John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, Manfred Niehaus and Anthony Davis (including four performances of his opera "X" with the New York City Opera).

In addition to playing, she has taught improvisation workshops and given lecture/demonstrations at universities and art centers in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and has collaborated with videographers, filmmakers, dancers and poets.

Crispell has been the recipient of three New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship grants (1988-1989, 1994-1995 and 2006-2007), a Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust composition commission (1988-1989), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2005-2006). In 1996 she was given an Outstanding Alumni Award by the New England Conservatory, and in 2004, was cited as being one of their 100 most outstanding alumni of the past 100 years."

"Joe Fonda is a composer, bassist, recording artist, interdisciplinary performer, producer and educator.

An accomplished international Jazz artist, Fonda has performed with his own ensembles throughout the United States ,Canada , Europe and Asia. He has collaborated and performed with such artists as Anthony Braxton ,Archie Shepp, Ken McIntyre, Lou Donaldson, Bill and Kenny Barron, Leo Smith, Perry Robinson, Dave Douglas, Curtis Fuller, , Bill Dixon, Han Bennink, Bobby Naughton, Xu Fengia, Randy Weston, Gebhard Ullmann, Carla Bley, Carlo Zingaro, Barry Altschul, Billy Bang.

Fonda was the bassist with the renowned Anthony Braxton sextet, octet, tentet, from 1984 through 1999. Fonda also sat on the Board of Directors from 1994 to 1999, and was the President from 1997 to 1999 of the newly formed Tri-Centric Foundation. He has also performed with the 38-piece Tri-Centric orchestra under the direction of Anthony Braxton, and was the bassist for the premiere performance of Anthony Braxton's opera, Shalla Fears for the Poor, performed at the John Jay Theater in New York, New York, October 1996.

As a composer, Fonda has been the recipient of numerous grants and commissions From Meet the Composer New York and the New England Foundation on the Arts . He has released twelve recordings under his own name. (Reviews and recordings available). Fonda was also a member of The Creative Musicians Improvisors Forum directed by Leo Smith, and was the bassist with the American Tap Dance Orchestra in New York City, directed by world renowned tap dancer, Brenda Bufalino.

In 1989, Fonda performed with Fred Ho's Jazz and Peking opera in its world premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. From 1982 to 1986 Fonda was the bassist and dancer with the Sonomama Dance Company. An independent producer since 1978, Fonda is the founding director of Kaleidoscope Arts an interdisciplinary performance ensemble and is the producer and musicial director for the Connecticut Composers and improvisors Festival from 2001 to 2011.

Currently Fonda has been recording and touring extensively with the Fonda-Stevens Group, Conference Call , The Fab Trio, The Nu Band and Bottoms Out , with performances at the Bim huis in Amsterdam, Holland, Prague Jazz Festival, Czech Republic, Jazz Halo Festival, Belgium, Jazz Festival Thurinsen, Weimer, Germany, Berlin Jazz Festival Berlin Germany , Jazz Im Agusto Festival Lisbon Portugal, Natt Jazz Festival Bergen Norway, The Vision Festival New York, New York, Jazz and More Festival Sibiu Romania, Bakau Jazz Festival ,Azerbijan, Tondela Jazz Festival Tondala portugal , Vancouver Jazz Festival ,Vancouver Canada, Guelph Jazz Festival ,Guelph Canada .

Two of Fonda's most recent projects are From the Source, The Off Road Quartet.

From the Source is a group that incorporates the tap dancing and poetry of Brenda Bufalino and the healing arts of Vicki Dodd, and four jazz musicians. The group has released their first CD entitled, Joe Fonda and From the Source, on Konnex Records.

The Off Road Quartet is comprised of four musicians from four different countries. Ux Fengia from Beijing China , Carlos Zingaro from Lisbon Portugal , Lucas Niggle from Zurich Switzerland and Joe Fonda New York USA. The Off Road Quartet blends the musics from all four of these musicians cultures into a unique musicial and visual experence."

"In sound, motion and beauty....so to lays the groundwork for truth. All that I am becomes a part of my own way of communication. In striving for a lifestyle unfettered by my own limitations, I am eternally grateful to have created honest music with some of the greatest artists of our time. It's almost like I have to pinch myself sometimes to not forget how fortunate I am to have the love of my family, and the spirit to be open to what may appear to be right in front of me!!

Just a very few of the artists I have had the great fortune to record and/or perform with include:

Hot Tuna, Ahmad Jamal, Ted Dunbar, Michelle Shocked, Paul Simon, Dewey Redman, Frank Kimbrough, Dave Douglas, David Sancious, Mark Feldman, Karl Berger, Joe Mcphee, Julius Hemphill , Connie Bauer, Pete Levin, John Lindberg, Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hildago, Wadada Leo Smith, Peter Herbert, Cameron Brown, Steve Swell, Neil Rolnick, Anthony Braxton, Carter Jefferson, John Stubblefield, Bruce Hornsby, Brenda Buffalino, Jay Anderson, Istvan Grenesco, Honi Coles, Daunik Lazro, Todd Reynolds, Derrick Trucks, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Roswell Rudd, Phil Lesh, David Torn, Levon Helm, The Memphis Pilgrims, Bill Frisell, Fonda/Stevens group, Herb Robertson, Carlos Santana, Omar Tamez, Remi Alvarez, Dry Jack, Art Lande, John d'Earth, Bob Weir, Greg Allman, Marcel Monroe, The Mallards, Sorgen-Rust-Windbiel trio, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Samuels, Drew Gress, Tony Levin, Garth Hudson, Jimmy Vivino, amongst many, many others.

I have also written and performed pieces for film and the stage, including a solo percussion piece for the New Day Repertoire Theater's version of "Antigone".

One aspect of my joy has been in the workshops I give around the world in jazz ensembles, improvisation, percussion master classes and audio production. Some of these include:

University of Michigan - Jazz and Improvisation Dept. - Ed Sarath, director Virginia Commonwealth University - Jazz Dept. - Antonio Garcia, Director Schnittpunke Festival - Rudersdorf, Austria - Udo Preis, Director Jazz Initiative Marburg - Marburg, Germany - Roman Kloecker, Director Carre Blue - Poiters, France - Bernard Aimee, Director Onteora Central School District - Boiceville, N.Y. - Steven Murphy, Director Charles City Arts Council - Charles City, Va. - Julie Boyd, Director Naropa Institute - Boulder, Co. - in collaboration with Allan Ginsberg Jackson Field Home for Girls - Emporia, Va. - Donna Waldron, Director Numerous in- store clinics and private lessons throughout the U.S. and Europe. Recipient of New York State "Meet the Composer" and NYSCA grants.

I have also been interviewed in many publications including: Modern Drummer, DRUM!, Down Beat, All About Jazz, Jazz Podium (Germany), and Jazz Halo (Belgium).

Through Dreamland Recording Studio and freelance work, I have had the great pleasure to be involved in many great recording projects as an engineer and editor. One of my favorite projects was to remaster the entire ESP record label. My first instructional DVD " Drumming Made Easy " is currently available worldwide from Homespun Tapes Inc. / Hal Leonard publishing. I also appear on Jack DeJohnette's " Musical Expression On The Drum Set" and Jorma Kaukonen's " The Electric Guitar Of Jorma Kaukonen"