William Richard Frisell is an American jazz guitarist. He first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a participant in the Downtown Scene in New York City, where he formed a long working relationship with composer and saxophonist John Zorn. He was also a longtime member of veteran drummer Paul Motian's groups from the early 1980s until Motian's death in 2011. Since the late 1990s, Frisell's output as a bandleader has also integrated prominent elements of folk, country, rock ‘n’ roll and Americana. He has six Grammy nominations and one win.
Roy Anthony Hargrove was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles of jazz in 1998 and 2002. Hargrove primarily played in the hard bop style for the majority of his albums, but also had a penchant for genre-crossing exploration and collaboration with a variety of hip hop, neo soul, R&B and alternative rock artists. As Hargrove told one reporter, "I've been around all kinds of musicians, and if a cat can play, a cat can play. If it's gospel, funk, R&B, jazz or hip-hop, if it's something that gets in your ear and it's good, that's what matters."
The Klezmorim, founded in Berkeley, California, in 1975, was the world's first klezmer revival band, widely credited with spearheading the global renaissance of klezmer in the 1970s and 1980s. Initially featuring flute and strings—notably the exotic fiddling of co-founder David Skuse—the ensemble reorganized into a "loose, roaring, funky" brass/reed/percussion band fronted by co-founder Lev Liberman's saxophones and founding member David Julian Gray's clarinets. As a professional performing and recording ensemble focused on recreating the lost sounds of early 20th century klezmer bands, The Klezmorim achieved crossover success, garnering a Grammy nomination in 1982 for their album Metropolis and selling out major concert venues across North America and Europe, including Carnegie Hall and L'Olympia in Paris. The band performed steadily until 1993, regrouping in 2004 for a European tour.
Hans Wendl is a producer. He began his career in the music business with the record label ECM Records in his hometown of Munich in the mid-1970s and was associated with the German label for twelve years before moving to the United States in 1986. He was also director of the Gramavision Records label for Rykodisc for three years during the mid-1990s.
Barbara Higbie is an American Grammy nominated, Bammy award winning pianist, composer, violinist, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She has played on over 100 CDs including songs with Carlos Santana and Bonnie Raitt. The first female instrumentalist signed to Windham Hill records, she also recorded solo or duo projects for Olivia/Second Wave records and Slowbaby Records. Higbie is a folk, jazz, pop, and fusion composer and singer-songwriter, noted for her highly melodic, jazz/folk performances. She has toured nationally and internationally since the early 1980s, and performed with Bonnie Raitt, Terry Riley, Pete Seeger, The Kronos Quartet, Jaron Lanier, Cris Williamson, Holly Near, Teresa Trull and Ferron.
Peter Noah Apfelbaum is an American avant-garde jazz pianist, tenor saxophonist, drummer, and composer born in Berkeley, California.
Paul Hanson is an American bassoonist, saxophonist, duduk player, and composer with roots in jazz and classical music.
Will Bernard is a guitarist and band leader. He has led the Will Bernard Band, Will Bernard Trio, Will Bernard 4-tet, and Motherbug.
Kitty Margolis is an American jazz singer, educator, producer, and journalist. She founded Mad Kat Records in 1988 with vocalist Madeline Eastman and has released 5 albums. Her second album, Evolution (1994), featured Joe Henderson, and Joe Louis Walker, while her follow-up, Straight Up With a Twist (1997) had appearances by Charles Brown and Roy Hargrove. These were followed by Left Coast Life (2001) and Heart & Soul: Live in San Francisco (2004).
Village Life is an album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and Mandinka griot Foday Musa Suso. It was recorded in Japan and released in 1985. Hancock and Suso had worked together as part of a larger ensemble for Hancock's 1984 album Sound-System, and Village Life was recorded shortly after a world tour. There are no overdubs, Village Life was recorded live in the studio. The album was coproduced by Bill Laswell.
Edward Simon is a Venezuelan jazz pianist and composer.
Linda "Tui" Tillery is an American singer, percussionist, producer, songwriter, and music arranger. She began her professional singing career at age 19 with the Bay Area rock band The Loading Zone. She is recognized as a pioneer in women's music, with her second solo album titled Linda Tillery released on Olivia Records in 1977. In addition to performing, she was the producer on three of Olivia's first eight albums. Within the women's music genre, she has collaborated with June Millington, Deidre McCalla, Barbara Higbie, Holly Near, Margie Adam, and others. Tillery was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997 for Best Musical Album for Children.
Dmitri Matheny is an American jazz flugelhornist. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Matheny is “one of the jazz world’s most talented horn players.”
Natalie Cressman is an American jazz trombonist and vocalist.
MusicHound was a compiler of genre-specific music guides published in the United States by Visible Ink Press between 1996 and 2002. After publishing eleven album guides, the MusicHound series was sold to London-based Music Sales Group, whose company Omnibus Press had originally distributed the books outside America. The series' founding editor was Gary Graff, formerly a music critic with the Detroit Free Press.
Kicking Cans is an album by the Brazilian musician Dori Caymmi, released in 1993. "Brasil ", featuring Herbie Hancock, was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Jazz Instrumental Solo".
Spirit of the Black Territory Bands is an album by the American musician Johnny Otis, credited as Johnny Otis and His Orchestra. It was released in 1992. The album is a tribute to the music of the territory bands of Otis's youth; Otis played with several such bands in the 1940s.
Mbaqanga is an album by the South African musical group Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, released in 1991 and in the US in 1992. The group supported the album with a North American tour.
All My Life is an album by the American musician Charles Brown, released in 1990. It was Brown's first album for Bullseye Blues, and part of a comeback effort that began with his previous release, One More for the Road. Brown supported the album with a North American tour.
Txai is an album by the Brazilian musician Milton Nascimento, released in 1990 in Brazil and in 1991 in the United States. It is dedicated to Aliança dos Povos da Floresta, a Brazilian environmental organization. The album title translates roughly to "comrade" in the Kashinawa language. Nascimento supported the album with a North American tour. Txai peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's World Albums chart. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best World Music Album".
