Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Headhunters, and Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever is often cited as one of the core groups of the jazz-fusion movement of the 1970s. Several musicians, including Clarke, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira and Al Di Meola, came to prominence through their performances on Return to Forever albums.
Band of Susans was an American alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1986 and active until 1996. It originally consisted of Robert Poss (guitar/vocals), Susan Stenger (bass/vocals), Ron Spitzer (drums), with Susan Lyall (guitar), Susan Tallman (guitar), and Alva Rogers (vocals). The band would undergo several permutations over the years, usually involving three guitarists. Poss, Stenger, and Spitzer were the band's core members throughout its duration. They originated in the New York noise rock scene, but due to their layered guitar sound were sometimes seen as the American counterparts to the UK shoegazing bands and also drew influence from modern experimental composers Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca.
Kayo Dot is an American avant-garde metal group. Formed in 2003 by Toby Driver after the break-up of maudlin of the Well, they released their debut album Choirs of the Eye on John Zorn's Tzadik Records that same year. Since then, Kayo Dot's lineup has drastically changed over the years. Toby Driver is the only founding member of the band still remaining, save for frequent lyrical contributions from former motW member Jason Byron. Up until 2011, the lineup was constantly shifting, and Kayo Dot's sound consistently changed over the years, featuring a wide variety of instrumentation including guitar, drums, bass, violin, saxophone, vibraphone, synthesizers, clarinets and flutes. Underground metal audiences warmly received the group upon its early existence, with the 2003 album Choirs of the Eye and the 2006 album Dowsing Anemone with Copper Tongue both becoming underground hits in the progressive metal scene.
Timothy "Tim" George Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds, lap steel guitar, and keyboards. He first became known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968. After the demise of Henry Cow, he participated in numerous bands and projects, eventually concentrating on composing contemporary music and performing as an improviser.
Nicholas Bullen is an English musician and a founding member of the grindcore band Napalm Death.
iii Records is a Japanese record label founded in 1999 and dedicated to issuing music from jazz to classical with focus on avant-garde and experimental directions. The label's list consists of artists such as:
Igor Grigoriev, is a musician, composer, arranger, band leader, and improvisational guitarist. He taught himself to play the guitar as a young child, and later obtained his master's degree from a music institution in Russia.
Arto Tunçboyacıyan is a United States-based avant-garde folk and jazz multi-instrumentalist and singer of Armenian descent. He fronts his own group called the Armenian Navy Band, and is also a member of the instrumental quartet Night Ark.
The Lovetones are an Australian psychedelic rock band. Their current lineup includes:
Joggers and Smoggers is a double album by punk artists The Ex, released in 1989 as a double vinyl record album, and issued as a double CD in 1992. It is the first of the Ex's albums to feature extensive use of improvisation and instruments outside of the standard guitar/bass/drums arrangement of punk rock, as well as great numbers of international guest musicians, most notably New York's Sonic Youth, Glasgow's Dog Faced Hermans, Amsterdam's Instant Composers Pool, as well as numerous folk musicians from a variety of European and Middle Eastern traditions. The album marked a turning point in The Ex's artistry, foreshadowing many collaborations and delvings into avant-garde, experimental, improvisational, folk and world music that the band would mix with their abrasive trademark post-punk sound in the 20 years to come.
An organ trio is a form of jazz ensemble consisting of three musicians; a Hammond organ player, a drummer, and either a jazz guitarist or a saxophone player. In some cases the saxophonist will join a trio which consists of an organist, guitarist, and drummer, making it a quartet. Organ trios were a popular type of jazz ensemble for club and bar settings in the 1950s and 1960s, performing a blues-based style of jazz that incorporated elements of R&B. The organ trio format was characterized by long improvised solos and an exploration of different musical "moods".
Geoff Leigh is an English jazz and progressive rock musician, playing primarily soprano saxophone and flute. He was a member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow and founded several bands himself, including Red Balune, Random Bob, Black Sheep, Mirage, and Ex-Wise Heads.
Jindra Dolanský is a Czech musician. He was the saxophone player, backup vocalist and co-composer for the Czech avant garde punk rock group Už Jsme Doma from 1985–2001.
Jennifer Walshe is an Irish composer, vocalist and artist.
News for Lulu is an album of hard bop compositions performed by saxophonist John Zorn, trombonist George Lewis and guitarist Bill Frisell.
Havana Jam was a three-day music festival that took place at the Karl Marx Theatre, in Havana, Cuba, on 2–4 March 1979. It was sponsored by Bruce Lundvall, the president of Columbia Records, Jerry Masucci, the president of Fania Records, and the Cuban Ministry of Culture.
Instant is a double compact disc by the Dutch experimental post-punk band The Ex. The band recorded the album in conjunction with many guest musicians, notably members of Holland's Instant Composers Pool (ICP) for whom the album is partially named, the other part being that the Dutch term for "free improvisation" literally translates to "instant composition."
Roscoe Mitchell Quartet is an album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell recorded in 1975 and released on the Canadian Sackville label.
Janel Leppin is an American singer, jazz cellist and multi-instrumentalist. She has performed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and at many international festivals worldwide including the High Zero Festival, the Swedish Women in Jazz Festival, DC Jazz Festival and Washington Women in Jazz Festival. She has acted as curator for works shown at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the ISSUE Project Room.
Caleb Burhans is an American composer, singer, multi-instrumentalist in the contemporary/modern music scene. He has been commissioned by Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Library of Congress, and the Kronos Quartet, etc. His works have been performed by ensembles such as the JACK Quartet, Roomful of Teeth, and eighth blackbird, etc. He is a founding member of Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble Signal and the Wordless Music Orchestra. He has worked with a diverse array of artists from Arcade Fire, The National, and Paul McCartney to Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, George Crumb and Steve Reich, etc.