"Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb - if idiosyncratic - saxophonist." The Penguin Guide to Jazz described him as "one of the key figures" in avant-garde jazz; All About Jazz states that he has been "at the forefront of modern music" for the past 35 years. Critic Jon Pareles in The New York Times has mentioned that Mitchell "qualifies as an iconoclast." In addition to his own work as a bandleader, Mitchell is known for cofounding the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).

Mitchell was born in Chicago, Illinois. He also grew up in the Chicago area, where he played saxophone and clarinet at around age twelve. His family was always involved in music with many different styles playing in the house when he was a child as well as having a secular music background. His brother, Norman, in particular was the one who introduced Mitchell to jazz. While attending Englewood High School in Chicago, he furthered his study of the clarinet. In the 1950s, he joined the United States Army, during which time he was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany and played in a band with fellow saxophonists Albert Ayler and Rubin Cooper, the latter of which Mitchell commented "took me under his wing and taught me a lot of stuff." He also studied under the first clarinetist of the Heidelberg Symphony while in Germany. Mitchell returned to the United States in the early 1960s, relocated to the Chicago area, and performed in a band with Wilson Junior College undergraduates Malachi Favors (bass), Joseph Jarman, Henry Threadgill, and Anthony Braxton (all saxophonists). Mitchell also studied with Muhal Richard Abrams and played in his band, the Muhal Richard Abrams' Experimental Band, starting in 1961.

In 1965, Mitchell was one of the first members of the non-profit organization Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) along with Jodie Christian (piano), Steve McCall (drums), and Phil Cohran (composer). The following year Mitchell, Lester Bowie (trumpet), Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre (tenor saxophone), Favors, Lester Lashley (trombone), and Alvin Fielder (drums), recorded their first studio album, Sound. The album was "a departure from the more extroverted work of the New York-based free jazz players" due in part to the band recording with "unorthodox devices" such as toys and bicycle horns.

From 1967 Mitchell, Bowie, Favors and, on occasion, Jarman performed as the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble, then the Art Ensemble, and finally in 1969 were billed as the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The group included Phillip Wilson on drums for short span before he joined Paul Butterfield's band. The group lived and performed in Europe from 1969 to 1971, though they arrived without any percussionist after Wilson left. To fill the void, Mitchell commented that they "evolved into doing percussion ourselves." The band did eventually get a percussionist, Don Moye, who Mitchell had played with before and was living in Europe at that time. For performances, the band often wore brilliant African costumes and painted their faces. The Art Ensemble of Chicago have been described as becoming "possibly the most highly acclaimed jazz band" in the 1970s and 1980s.

Mitchell and the others returned to the States in 1971. After having been back in Chicago for three years, Mitchell then established the Creative Arts Collective (CAC) in 1974 that had a similar musical aesthetic to the AACM. The group was based in East Lansing, Michigan and frequently performed in auditoriums at Michigan State University. Mitchell also formed the Sound Ensemble in the early 1970s, an "outgrowth of the CAC" in his words, that consisted mainly of Mitchell, Hugh Ragin, Jaribu Shahid, Tani Tabbal, and Spencer Barefield.

In the 1990s, Mitchell started to experiment in classical music with such composers/artists such as Pauline Oliveros, Thomas Buckner, and Borah Bergman, the latter two of which formed a trio with Mitchell called Trio Space. Buckner was also part of another group with Mitchell and Gerald Oshita called Space in the late 1990s. He then conceived the Note Factory in 1992 with various old and new collaborators as another evolution of the Sound Ensemble.

He lived in the area of Madison, Wisconsin and performed with a re-assembled Art Ensemble of Chicago. In 1999, the band was hit hard with the death of Bowie, but Mitchell fought off the urge to recast his position in the group, stating simply "You can't do that" in an interview with Allaboutjazz.com editor-in-chief Fred Jung. The band continued on despite the loss.

Mitchell has made a point of working with younger musicians in various ensembles and combinations, many of whom were not yet born when the first Art Ensemble recordings were made. Mainly from Chicago, these players include trumpeter Corey Wilkes, bassist Karl E. H. Seigfried, and drummer Isaiah Spencer.

In 2007, Mitchell was named Darius Milhaud Chair of Composition at Mills College in Oakland, California, where he currently lives. Mitchell was chosen by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in March 2012 in Minehead, England."

"Famoudou Don Moye, (born May 23, 1946) is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percussion instruments and rhythmic techniques.

Early life and Detroit Free Jazz

Moye was born in Rochester, New York and performed in various drum and bugle corps during his youth, as well as church choir. Moye has commented that he really "didn't have an affinity for the bugle ... and just kind of gravitated towards drums." He also took violin lessons during this time. Moye was exposed to jazz at an early age since his mother worked for a local social club that had a jazz club next door that hosted musicians such as Kenny Burrell and Jimmy McGriff. His family was also musically inclined; his uncles played saxophones and his father played drums. Also, his mother used to take him to various performances as a child, such as "opera under the stars" and to see Mahalia Jackson.

Moye went on to study percussion at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Moye lived in a building with trumpeter Charles Moore, who became his mentor. Moye also played in the groups African Cultural Ensemble, which included musicians from African countries such as Ghana, and Detroit Free Jazz, which was Moore's band. It was at this time that he first encountered the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) due to the revolving door of musicians in and out of Moore's residence. In early 1968, Moore's band traveled to Europe and Moye decided to live there for the next couple of years, touring and visiting the continent as well as Northern Africa.Art Ensemble of Chicago and The Leaders

By 1969, the AEC had augmented into the percussion-less quartet of Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman (saxophones), Lester Bowie (trumpet) and Malachi Favors Maghostut (bass). The group crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Europe to perform throughout the continent. Moye at the time was rehearsing and performing in Paris, France, at the American Center for Students and Artists, where musicians such as Art Taylor and Johnny Griffin practiced collectively. When Mitchell met with Moye again at the Center, he asked Moye to join his group, which was already known as the Art Ensemble of Chicago and had issued several recordings including three releases on the European label BYG Actual. These recordings did feature percussion but all percussion was played by Mitchell, Bowie, Favors, or Jarman.

After Moye returned to the States in the early 1970s, he played with the Black Artists Group in St. Louis, Missouri before settling in the Chicago, Illinois area. He was also in a duo with fellow percussionist Steve McCall who later was a member of Air with Henry Threadgil while still playing with the AEC. In the mid-1980s, Moye joined The Leaders, a jazz group consisting of AEC member Bowie, Chico Freeman, Arthur Blythe, Cecil McBee, and Kirk Lightsey. Moye has also recorded numerous solo albums as leader of his own band. Moye toured and recorded again with the AEC in the 1990s, which was dealt a blow with the 1999 death of Bowie. Famadou Don Moye refers to his own style of drumming as "Sun Percussion". Other groups he led in the '90s include the Joseph Jarman/Famoudou Don Moye Magic Triangle Band and the Sun Percussion Summit (with Enoch Williamson), the latter of which was "a group dedicated to exploring the traditions of African-American percussion music." "

"Philadelphia-based Moor Mother (formerly Moor Mother Goddess) is the solo outlet for Maryland-born artist Camae Ayewa. Moor Mother's music combines social issues with a visceral blend of hardcore electronics and her intense poetry, as if Saul Williams and Noname joined Death Grips. Ayewa - who is also an educator, coach, and social activist - grew up rapping and "playing guitar" with broomstick handles, influenced as much by Patti LaBelle, Public Enemy, and the Beastie Boys as Malcolm X and Maya Angelou. As a teenager, she delved into the punk scene, preferring its hard edge and D.I.Y. spirit as a vehicle for authentic expression. Ayewa created her Moor Mother project in 2012, after her politically charged hip-hop punk group the Mighty Paradocs went on hiatus. Blending spoken word, jazz rhythms, harsh dissonance, and an almost industrial rawness, Ayewa shifted her focus to beats and textures, which would bring her socially conscious lyrics to life. Her debut EP, Alpha Serpentis, was released at the end of 2012. In the ensuing years - in addition to co-founding the Rockers! Philadelphia series with the AfroFuturist Affair's Rasheedah Phillips and the Black Quantum Futurism Collective - she would release dozens more. Her LP Fetish Bones (Don Giovanni Records) was issued in 2016. Focusing on historical trauma and the black experience, Ayewa utilized Afrocentric tribal beats and abrasive, unsettling textures, resulting in a cathartic expression of pain and bloodletting (Neil Z. Yeung). Another project, Irreversible Entanglements, co-led with Keir Neuringer and Luke Stewart, released its self-titled debut on Don Giovanni Records and International Anthem in December 2017."

"Acclaimed for her versatility, musicianship and acting ability, Erina Newkirk's operatic and concert repertoire embraces works from the Baroque Period to premiering Contemporary Operas and Song Cycles. She has sung with opera companies, festivals and symphonies throughout the United States and Europe. Erina has performed leading roles and as concert soloist at the John F. Kennedy Center, Opera North, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Lancaster Festival, Marin Symphony, Long Leaf Opera Festival, New York Opera Studio, Ottocento Festival Saludecio, American Philharmonic, Chicago Jazz Festival, Opera San Jose, Townsend Opera, Island City Opera, Livermore Valley Opera, Delaware Valley Opera, Baroque Orchestra Festival, Montefeltro Music Festival, Old First Concerts, Marin Oratorio, San Francisco Opera Guild, Opera Project Columbus, Il Teatro Sociale di Novafeltria, Villa Sinfonia, Sonic Harvest, Golden Gate Opera, Pocket Opera, Lamplighters Music Theatre, Cinnabar Opera, West Marin Music Festival, Berkeley Opera, and Oakland Opera.

Ms. Newkirk recently performed at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC as soprano soloist with The Art Ensemble of Chicago, recorded an aria and excerpts for Laurence Rosenthal's opera, Gilgamesh, performed Antonia in Les Contes d'Hoffman for Pocket Opera of San Francisco and was soprano soloist for The Art Ensemble of Chicago at the 41st Annual Chicago Jazz Festival.

Upcoming engagements include soprano soloist at Son's d'Hiver in Paris, France for The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Thirza cover in The Wreckers for Island City Opera and soprano soloist at the Bang On A Can Contemporary Music Festival in New York City for The Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Having a special affinity for French music, Erina worked intensively with internationally acclaimed tenor and expert in French Style, Michele Sénéchal in Lanquais, France. While there, she performed French operatic repertoire for the L'Art du Chant Français Concerts at the Château de Lanquais.

Erina's career has consistently involved premiering and recording new works. Recent performances and premieres of new works include the US premiere of Roscoe Mitchell's orchestral work, Hymn to Beauty, Roscoe Mitchell's art song, This (poem by E.E. Cummings), Laurence Rosenthal's Orchestral Song Cycle, Songs to the Beloved, The Coroner in Ann Callaway's opera, The Spirit of the Moth, Nonnie in Chandler Carter's opera, Strange Fruit and Sonora in Ann Callaway's opera, Vladimer in Butterfly Country. Recent recordings of new works include Shamhat in Laurence Rosenthal's Gilgamesh, Charmaine in Matthew Owens' City of Saint Francis, and Sonora in Ann Callaway's, The Spirit of the Moth.

Scholarships Ms. Newkirk has been awarded include the Marin Symphony Scholarship, the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation Scholarship for Exceptional Artists, the New York Opera Studio Scholarship, the Italian Cultural Institute for Study Abroad Scholarship, the W.E.B. Dubois Fellowship for two consecutive years, Opera in The Ozarks Most Outstanding Colleague Award, and the Alice Pickett Franklin Scholarship Fund.

After receiving the Italian Cultural Institute for Study Abroad Scholarship, Erina lived in Italy for four months, where she coached intensively with former Rossini Opera Festival collaborator and Montefeltro Music Festival artistic director, Ubaldo Fabbri on Italian operatic repertoire. While there, she performed as soprano soloist in several concerts for the Montefeltro Music Festival and attended CLA Italy for Italian language study and Italian music study.

Awards Ms. Newkirk has received include First Place in The Marin Symphony Scholarship Competition, First Place in the Art Song Division of The National Association of Teachers and Singing, Third Place in Metropolitan Opera Competition - Pacific Region, Second Place in the Leontyne Price National Competition, National finalist for Orlando Opera's Refuss Competition for Singing Actors, and Third Place in National Society of Arts and Letters."

"Nicole Mitchell (b. 1967) is a creative flutist, composer, bandleader and educator. As the founder of Black Earth Ensemble, Black Earth Strings, Ice Crystal and Sonic Projections, Mitchell has been repeatedly awarded by DownBeat Critics Poll and the Jazz Journalists Association as "Top Flutist of the Year" for the last four years (2010-2014). Mitchell's music celebrates African American culture while reaching across genres and integrating new ideas with moments in the legacy of jazz, gospel, experimentalism, pop and African percussion through albums such as Black Unstoppable (Delmark, 2007), Awakening (Delmark, 2011), and Xenogenesis Suite: A Tribute to Octavia Butler (Firehouse 12, 2008), which received commissioning support from Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works.

Mitchell formerly served as the first woman president of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), and has been a member since 1995. In recognition of her impact within the Chicago music and arts education communities, she was named "Chicagoan of the Year" in 2006 by the Chicago Tribune. With her ensembles, as a featured flutist and composer, Mitchell has been a highlight at festivals and art venues throughout Europe, the U.S. and Canada.

Ms. Mitchell is a recipient of the prestigious Alpert Award in the Arts (2011) and has been commissioned by Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art, the Ravinia Festival, the Chicago Jazz Festival, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra and Maggio Fiorentino Chamber Orchestra (Florence, Italy). In 2009, she created Honoring Grace: Michelle Obama for the Jazz Institute of Chicago. She has been a faculty member at the Vancouver Creative Music Institute, the Sherwood Flute Institute, Banff International Jazz Workshop and the University of Illinois, Chicago. Her work has been featured on National Public Radio, and in magazines including Ebony, Downbeat, JazzIz, Jazz Times, Jazz Wise, and American Legacy.

Nicole MItchell is currently a Professor of Music, teaching in "Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology," (ICIT) a new and expansively-minded graduate program at the University of California, Irvine. In November 2014, ICIT was approved for the unleashing of a new MA/PhD program, which will be offered starting fall 2015. Mitchell's recent composition, Flight for Freedom for Creative Flute and Orchestra, a Tribute to Harriet Tubman, premiered with the Chicago Composers' Orchestra in December 2011 and was presented again with CCO in May 2014. She was also commisisoned by Chicago Sinfonietta for Harambee: Road to Victory, for Solo Flute, Choir and Orchestra in January 2012. Her latest commission was from the French Ministry of Culture and the Royaumont Foundation in October 2014, which supported the development and French tour of Beyond Black - a collaboration with kora master Ballake Sissoko, Black Earth Ensemble and friends. Currently Mitchell is preparing her next commission supported by the French American Jazz Exchange, entitled Moments of Fatherhood, featuring Black Earth Ensemble and the Parisian chamber group L'Ensemble Laborintus, to premiere at the Sons d'hiver Jazz Festival in late January 2015.

Among the first class of Doris Duke Artists (2012), Mitchell works to raise respect and integrity for the improvised flute, to contribute her innovative voice to the jazz legacy, and to continue the bold and exciting directions that the AACM has charted for decades. With contemporary ensembles of varying instrumentation and size (from solo to orchestra), Mitchell's mission is to celebrate the power of endless possibility by "creating visionary worlds through music that bridge the familiar and the unknown." She is endorsed by Powell flutes."

"Hugh Ragin is an American jazz trumpeter.

Ragin was raised in Houston, Texas, and began playing trumpet in his early teens, taking lessons in classical music, and was a member of the Houston All-City High School Orchestra. He received a degree in music education from the University of Houston and a degree in classical trumpet performance from Colorado State University. He continued his education in 1978 at the Creative Music Studio with Roscoe Mitchell. One year later he performed with Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, and the Creative Orchestra at the Moers Festival in Germany. He then toured with Anthony Braxton. During the early 1980s he toured with jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. He began an association with David Murray, becoming a member of Murray's band in the 1980s."

"Simon Sieger, born in France in 1986, is brought up in a family where jazz and improvised music, as well as literature and philosophy are the main interests. Taught by his father, saxophonist and improviser Pascal Sieger, he rapidly becomes a talented pianist, oriented towards free jazz and the exceptions of jazz history like Monk, Tristano, Sun Ra, or Cecil Taylor and very influenced by the early piano styles of James P. Johnson and Pete Johnson. He also plays the trombone, influenced by George Lewis, Albert Mangelsdorff and Gary Valente.He starts working with Thomas Weirich in 2006 and Raphael Imbert in 2010, and extends his field of play to contemporary music, electronic music and fabrication of instruments. In 2011, he completes the jazz course in Conservatory of Marseille, and is expecting a grant for his doctorate in 2012, which will be a re-writing of the multiple histories of improvisation. His style is diverse and very open to new ways of expression, like the one through the O'Max software, developed by the IRCAM. He recently recorded a trio with Thomas Weirich (guitar) and Famoudou Don Moyé (Drums) in the album "Improvisation Music Vol. 1", and with Raphael Imbert for his album "Heaven"."

"Jean Cook, violinist and Treasurer

Jean Cook has been playing violin since 1979. She is part of the 11tet, a New York based jazz composers workshop, and is a founding member of the PnR Salon in Washington, DC, which brings together post-punk rockers and classically trained musicians. In 2000, she appeared at the Kennedy Center's Hip-Hop Festival and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival with the Hip-Hop Philharmonic, a DC based live hip hop orchestra. Occasionally she plays around New York with the Dixieland group "Wriggle's Red-Hot Agate-Cracking Jassers". She currently records and performs with Beauty Pill, Gena Rowlands Band, Ida, Jenny Toomey, and Jon Langford/Ship and Pilot.

Jean produced and hosted "The Twentieth Century String Quartet" on WKCR-FM, New York from 1995-1996. She was the publicist for Washington Performing Arts Society for three years before moving to New York in 2000. Recently, she curated a western classical recital series for WPAS and produced the multimedia DIY opera, The Nitrate Hymnal. She currently works for a political group called Air Traffic Control that helps musicians to be more effective in the current election cycle."

"Eddy Kwon (b. 1989 - aka edi kwon) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn, New York). Her practice connects composition, performance, improvisation, dance, and ceremony to explore transformation & transgression, ritual practice as a tool to queer ancestral lineage, and the use of mythology to connect, obscure, and reveal.

As a composer-performer and improviser, she is inspired by Korean folk timbres & inflections, textures & movement from natural environments, and American experimentalism as shaped by the AACM. Her work as a choreographer and movement artist embodies an expressive release and reclamation of colonialism's spiritual imprints, connecting to both Japanese Butoh and a lineage of queer/trans practitioners of Korean shamanic ritual.

She is a United States Artists Ford Fellow, Van Lier Fellow & Resident Artist at Roulette Intermedium, Johnson Fellow at Americans for the Arts, Andrew W. Mellon Artist-in-Residence at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, Hermitage Fellow, and a recipient of the National Performance Network Creation Fund Award. Recently, eddy was described as "absolutely stunning" in a feature in Wire Magazine, and was listed as one of the Washington Post's "22 for '22: Composers and performers to watch this year."

In addition to an evolving, interdisciplinary solo practice, she collaborates with artists of diverse disciplines, including The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Du Yun, Tomeka Reid, Satomi Matsuzaki of Deerhoof, Holland Andrews, tombstar (with Isabel Crespo Pardo, Zekkereya El-magharbel, and Lesley Mok), and as part of the artist collective Juni One Set with Senga Nengudi and Degenerate Art Ensemble co-directors Haruko Crow Nishimura and Joshua Kohl.

She has performed as a violinist/violist in ensembles with Roscoe Mitchell, Famoudou Don Moye, Mary Halvorson, Nicole Mitchell, Susan Alcorn, Moor Mother, Junius Paul, Carla Kihlstedt, Jaribu Shahid, Ryan Sawyer, Michael Formanek, Hugh Ragin, Tomas Fujiwara, International Contemporary Ensemble, and more. She has performed throughout the Americas and Europe, including the Kennedy Center, Big Ears Festival, Kaufman Center, Roulette Intermedium, SESC Pompeia, SESC Santos, Barbican Centre, Jazzfest Berlin, Festival Sons d'hivers, Festival Banlieues Bleues, and more. Recent commissions include Bang On A Can, Roulette Intermedium, Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati, National Performance Network, and Colorado College Creativity & Innovation.

In 2023, eddy will present new work as an Artist-in-Residence at Roulette Intermedium with collaborators Jessie Cox (percussion), Laura Cocks (flutes), DoYeon Kim (gayageum), and Lester St. Louis (cello); perform solo at Dia Beacon as part of Senga Nengudi's historic exhibition; celebrate the release of the Art Ensemble of Chicago's new album The Sixth Decade and join the band in live performance again after the pandemic-enforced pause; present the NYC premiere of Boy mother / faceless bloom (Juni One Set) with Dia Art Foundation; and begin work on a new co-created opera with vocalist and composer Holland Andrews.

eddy was born and raised on the ancestral land of the Dakhóta and Anishinaabeg (Minneapolis, Minnesota)."

"Chicago based cellist, composer and educator, Tomeka Reid has been described as "a remarkably versatile player," (Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune). Equally adept in classical and jazz contexts, Ms. Reid predominantly finds herself in experimental and improvisatory settings and composes for a wide range of instrumentation, from big band to chamber ensemble. Ms. Reid's music combines her love for groove along with freer concepts.

Ms. Reid is an integral part of Dee Alexander's Evolution Ensemble, Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble/Strings, Mike Reed's Loose Assembly, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) Great Black Music Ensemble, and co-leads the internationally recognized string trio, Hear in Now with performances in Poznan, Poland; Paris, France; Rome, Venice, Milan, Italy; Soazza, Switzerland; and in the US: Chicago, New York and Vermont. In addition to the aforementioned ensembles, Ms. Reid performs with many of today's forward thinking musicians in the world of jazz and creative music including Anthony Braxton, George Lewis, Roscoe Mitchell, Jeb Bishop, Myra Melford, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Mary Halvorson, Denis Fournier, Edward Wilkerson and Harrison Bankhead. Ms. Reid also leads her own trio featuring guitarist Matt Schneider and bassist Josh Abrams, for which she composes. Ms. Reid can be heard on numerous studio recordings.

As an educator, Ms. Reid has led string improvisation workshops in Italy and the US. Most recently she co-directed the 2012 Vancouver Jazz Festival’s High School Jazz Intensive. For seven years, Ms. Reid co-directed the string program at the University of Chicago’s Laboratory School for students grade 5 thru 12. Ms. Reid is also an ABD doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois: Urbana-Champaign.

As a composer, Ms. Reid has been commissioned by the AACM, the Chicago Jazz Festival and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble and has had several opportunities to showcase her work abroad at festivals such as Umbria Jazz, An Insolent Noise and Vignola Jazz. She has been nominated and awarded residencies for composition with the Ragdale Foundation and the 2nd Annual Make Jazz Fellowship hosted by the 18th Street Arts Organization. Ms. Reid was selected as a 2012 participant in the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute held at the University of California: Los Angeles."

"Brett Carson explores the dynamic intersection of materials and the excavation of myth through his compositions, at once volatile and highly structured. Using architectural elements borrowed from composers such as Braxton, Cage, and Messiaen, and deriving inspiration from such fields as mysticism, science, and archaeology, his work aims toward the deconstruction of a musical reality, to be reassembled in a way that is fragmented though still recognizable.

A native of Georgia, Brett became active in Atlanta's experimental music scene while working in more conventional contexts, particularly as a jazz pianist. In 2012, he released two independent recordings with his group Alembic Circle. He moved to Oakland the same year, and is currently involved with his project Quattuor Elephantis in addition to several Bay Area groups including the Medium-Sized Band and Noertker's Moxie. As a performer he has worked with a wide variety of musicians, including Bill Baird, Nicolas Collins, George Lewis, Rent Romus, Wolter Wierbos, and William Winant. He holds an MA in Composition from Mills College, where he studied with Roscoe Mitchell, Zeena Parkins, Fred Frith, Les Stuck, Joan Jeanrenaud, and Robert Schwartz."

"Silvia Bolognesi is a double bass player, composer and arranger.

Graduated in double bass at the R.Franci Institute of Siena with Maestro Andrea Granai, perfecting with Maestro Alberto Bocini.She approached jazz studying at the Siena Jazz Accademy with Paolino dalla Porta, Furio di Castri and Ferruccio Spinetti.

The most significant encounters in his musical training are those with William Parker, Muhal Richard Abrams, Lawrence "Butch" Morris, Roscoe Mitchell and Antony Braxton.

Winner of the "Top Jazz 2010", by "Musica Jazz" as best new talent and in the same year winner of the "In Sound" trophy for double bass category.

She leads several bands: Open Combo, Almond Tree, Xilo Ensemble, Ju-Ju Sounds, Fonterossa Open Orchestra, Young Shouts, Sly Family...

Since 2009 she is part of the international string trio Hear In Now with Tomeka Reid on cello and Mazz Swift on violin and vocals; with this trio they completed Roscoe Mitchell's sextet in his Homage to John Coltrane in 2017.She's part of the "Art Ensemble of Chicago 50th Anniversary" special project.

In 2010 she founded her own label "Fonterossa Records".

She teaches double bass and combo class at the Siena Jazz Academy and at "Associazione Mosaico" in Colle Val d'Elsa (Siena).

Since 2016 she is part of the "European exchange-Erasmus +" program for the Conservatory of Maastricht (Holland), Tbilisi (Georgia), Riga (Latvia), Birmingham (UK). She runs workshops on Improvisation and "Conduction" since 2008."

"Junius Paul, composer, bandleader & acoustic and electric bassist, was born and raised in the Chicago area and is a graduate of St. Xavier University (Chicago). An internationally established bassist, some of Junius' performance and/or recording credits include The Art Ensemble Of Chicago, numerous configurations of ensembles led by Roscoe Mitchell, Famoudou Don Moye Sun Percussion Summit, AACM Small Ensemble & Big Band, Makaya McCraven, The Fred Anderson Trio, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Dee Alexander, The Curtis Fuller Quintet, Willie Pickens, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Marquis Hill, KRS-One and Donald Byrd among others. In 2013-14, Junius served as music department faculty for Trinity Christian College (Palos Heights, IL). In 2017, Junius was the featured artist and honoree for his alma mater, St. Xavier University's Jazz Weekend. Junius is scheduled to perform the 2018 Chicago Jazz Festival with his quartet and is finishing his debut album, set for release in early 2019 via International Anthem Recording Company."

"Jaribu Shahid hails from Detroit, Michigan, and was raised in a diverse musical climate, playing with local luminaries such as Kenn Cox, Wendell Harrison, Jimmy Wilkins, J.C. Heard, Martha and the Vandellas and others. Principally self-taught, Jaribu's training began in the band of friend Kamau kenyatta and in bass studies with Bob Collins.

Around 1975 he was mentored by Faruq Z. Bey and joined the sci-fi band Griot Galaxy. This explorative music, greatly influenced by Sun Ra and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, featured the original concepts by Faruq Z. Bey. This was further realized in 1976 when Tanni Tabal moved to Detroit, establishing the principal rhythm section of his career. In 1978, he moved to Philadelphia and lived with the core of the Sun Ra Arkestra with whom he played intermittenly untils Sonny's passing.

In 1979 he had his first opportunity to work with Roscoe Mitchell. This led to his career-long involvement with Roscoe in the Roscoe Mitchell Sound Ensemble and, currently, the Roscoe Mitchell Note Factory. In recent years, Jaribu has been a member of various groups led by master saxophonist David Murray and the Freedom Arts Quartet.

Jaribu has recorded with Sun Ra, Roscoe Mitchell, James Carter, David Murray, Geri Allen, Rod Williams, Craig Taborn, Hugh Ragin, Abdoulaye Ndiaye and Blue Dog. He can be heard on the Milt Jackson DVD Vibes Surprise recorded live in Munich. After Malachi Favors' passing, he was invited to perform with the Art Ensemble of Chicago."

"Dudu' (Doudou) Kouate: Born in Senegal in 1963 by a family of griots, known to be the custodians of African cultural tradition and music. After humanistic studies in his country he moved to Europe. He lives in Bergamo, where he teaches African percussion since many years. He gives clinics on the history of traditional African instruments, trying to trace the territorial boundaries of the populations. Percussionist, instrumentalist, playing in various bands and theatrical productions. The constant search for the sound (sound of elements), has always lead him to new experiences in the world music. Recognized enhancer of traditional instruments, especially percussion and idiophones, he has managed to devise their inclusion within the diversity of musical contexts. In Italy he has made with the director and musician Alberto Nacci the soundtrack for the short film "The moving town" presented at the Locarno Film Festival. Has recorded with the group Odwalla, with whom he's been playing for years, two DVDs and two CDs including the latest production: "Medusa, the world of percussion and voice". He has recorded with Bergamo saxophonist Guido Bombardieri the album "African Thought". He recently collaborated with Bakan Seck in the Youssou Ndour's JOLOLI Dakar recording studio. He plays also with Pietro Tonolo who is decleared the best italian saxophonist. Recently he's formed his own trio band with an israelian singer,african percussions and xalam melodies,and at last a jazz sax player."

Enoch Williamson is a Chicago drummer percussionist, known for Sun Percussion Summit & More, performing with Famoudou Don Moye, Malachi Thompson and Africa Brass, Ari Brown, and Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Babu Atiba is a Chicago drummer and percusionist. He has played the african drums for almost 50 years and also co-founded the Muntu Dance Theatre in Chicago, Ill. Atibais also an educator on the drums. He has performed with Famoudou Don Moye & Enoch Williamson, Sun Percussion Summit & More, Kahil El'Zabar, and Art Ensemble Of Chicago.

"Originally from Casamance -Senegal-, Doussou Touré has been playing percussion since childhood. He is a djembe soloist in several jazz and traditional music groups. He has been teaching percussion for many years. It also works in crèches and places dedicated to early childhood. He loves the spontaneity of children and their creativity. He likes to transmit his music and feel the audience vibrate."

"Composer and conductor Steed Cowart is most interested in the progressive areas of new music, especially American experimental music. His compositions are for an array of instrumental and vocal combinations, electronics and inter-media. Timbre, harmonic definition, hocket, mobiles, and chance are among his compositional interests.

His work has been performed around the United States and Canada by such groups as the Abel-Steinberg-Winant Trio, SONOR, Ensemble Nova, Mills Contemporary Performance Ensemble, Shakespeare/Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz New Music Works, Heliotrope, the Club Foot Orchestra, the Ellen Webb Dance Company, the Gus Solomons Dance Company, Sincronia, performers Ellen Ruth Rose (viola), Paul Vorwerk (tenor), Curtis Nash (trumpet), William Winant (percussion), Bernhardt Batschelet (flute), Gino Robair (percussion), Andy Connell (clarinet), and at the CalArts Contemporary Music Festival.

Born May 11, 1953 in Shelbyville, a small town in the rolling hills of middle Tennessee. He grew up in the country outside Dalton, Georgia, a textile producing town nestled in the red clay foothills of the southern-most Appalachians near Chattanooga. At about age ten he began school band at the urging of his mother. He initially played cornet, later trumpet, then French horn. Although a resident of a rural community, he had very good early teachers. Herman Johnson, then William R. Lee were band directors who were his earliest contacts with musicians. In fact, his first attempt at writing music was in response to an assignment from Johnson to his sixth-grade band to compose a solo to play for the class. Early in high school he began piano lessons with Richard Winchell, a composer. In addition to piano, Winchell taught him elementary music theory, and sparked his interest in composition.

Cowart's education included study at Florida State University (composition with Roy Johnson, Harold Schiffman, and John Boda). It was here in Tallahassee the first public performances of his original compositions took place. These earliest pieces included Fanfare and Ricercare for brass quintet, Movements for piano, and a choral work, Dona Nobis Pacem. He transferred to The College of Wooster (composition with Ruth Still, conducting with Marshall Haddock), where he earned a BMus degree. He holds an MA and a PhD from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied with Bernard Rands, Pauline Oliveros, Robert Erickson, Roger Reynolds, and Edwin Harkins. Further professional studies include: the Centre Acanthes 1983 at the Conservatoire Darius Milhaud in Aix-en-Provence for a program devoted to the music of Luciano Berio (Berio, David Osmond-Smith, Stuart Dempster), The Dartington Summer School of Music near Totnes, England (Richard Rodney Bennett, Peter Maxwell Davies, Charles Rosen), the Composers' Summer Seminars at California State University Long Beach (Donald Erb, Miles Anderson), The Conductors Institute Workshop (The Camellia Symphony Orchestra, Harold Farberman, Conductors Institute Director/Instructor). He surreptitiously attended the Fromm New Music Weeks at Aspen in 1985, hearing lectures and concerts by Berio, Subotnick, Rands, Druckman, Brown, Lucier, Sperry, and the Kronos Quartet.

His musical life has been fortunately and profoundly influenced by associations with some of the most remarkable musicians of our time. After an auspicious meeting over frozen Finlandia vodka chased by Guinness stout during Cage's guest lectureship at UC, San Diego in 1980, he remained a friendly acquaintance of John Cage until the elder composer's death in 1992. Also at UCSD he became friends with Toru Takemitsu, worked with the amazingly virtuosic [THE] - Edwin Harkins and Philip Larson, and established enduring and enriching friendships with his teachers Bernard Rands and Pauline Oliveros that are invaluable to him. At each juncture, there have been amazing composers, performers, and musical intellects -- either teachers, colleagues, students, or others -- far too numerous to name, who have made a deep and lasting impact on his artistic and personal life.

A California resident beginning in 1977, Steed Cowart currently lives in downtown Oakland near Lake Merritt. Since 1986, he has taught at Mills College where, along with Fred Frith, he co-directs the Contemporary Performance Ensemble, and is the Concert Coordinator for the Music Department Concert Series. He also worked at UC Santa Cruz where he taught musicianship studies, composition, conducted the faculty new music group Ensemble Nova, and was director of the new music festival April in Santa Cruz.

Cowart discovered an aptitude for conducting in his mid-teen years. Experienced almost exclusively with conducting new music, his conducting is informed by his compositional knowledge, and vice versa. With the SONOR ensemble at UCSD he was Bernard Rand's assistant conductor. At UCSC he conducted Ensemble Nova and many performances of student compositions and student ensembles. He led the San Francisco-based Club Foot Orchestra in touring performances accompanying silent films, beginning with the premiere of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari at the Mill Valley Film Festival in 1988. He has appeared as guest conductor with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and has conducted many ad hoc ensembles in performances of new music. Christian Wolff, Eliane Radigue, Pauline Oliveros, Lou Harrison, Luciano Berio, David Behrman, Luc Ferrari, James Tenney, Bernard Rands, Robert Erickson, John Bischoff, Wadada Leo Smith, Alvin Curran, José Maceda, David Rosenboom, Malcolm Goldstein, Bun-Ching Lam, Brenda Hutchinson, Amy Denio, Philip Collins, David Felder, George Barati, Robert Morris, Olivia Block, Terry Riley, Meredith Monk, and Roscoe Mitchell are but a few of the many composers whose music he has conducted or directed with the composer's supervision."