Henry Threadgill is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He has performed and recorded with several ensembles: Air, Aggregation Orb, Make a Move, the seven-piece Henry Threadgill Sextett, the twenty-piece Society Situation Dance Band, Very Very Circus, X-75, and Zooid.
Fred Hopkins was an American double bassist who played a major role in the development of the avant-garde jazz movement. He was best known for his association with the trio Air with Henry Threadgill and Steve McCall, and for his numerous performances and extensive recordings with major jazz musicians such as Muhal Richard Abrams, Arthur Blythe, Oliver Lake, and David Murray. He was a member of the AACM, and a frequent participant in the loft jazz scene of the 1970s. He also co-led a number of albums with the composer and cellist Diedre Murray. Gary Giddins wrote that Hopkins' playing "fused audacious power with mercuric reflexes." Howard Reich, writing in the Chicago Tribune, stated that "many connoisseurs considered [Hopkins] the most accomplished jazz bassist of his generation" and praised him for "the extraordinarily fluid technique, sumptuous tone and innovative methods he brought to his instrument."
Newman Taylor Baker is a jazz drummer and a washboard player.
Diedre Murray is an American cellist and composer specializing in jazz and musical theater. She also works as a record producer and curator.
Jim Nolet is an American jazz violinist, artist, performer, and educator known internationally as a composer/improviser in world and jazz idioms. He has a particular interest in the music of Brazil. He has performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Latin America.
Raymond Mantilla was an American percussionist.
Space is the Place is an album by Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra. The music was recorded in early 1972 in San Francisco, California for the film Space Is the Place. However, the music remained unreleased until Evidence Music issued a compact disc in 1993.
Live at Sweet Basil Volume 2 is an album by David Murray released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1984 and the second to feature his Big Band. It features performances by Murray, Olu Dara, Baikida Carroll, Craig Harris, Bob Stewart, Vincent Chancey, Steve Coleman, John Purcell, Rod Williams, Fred Hopkins and Billy Higgins conducted by Lawrence "Butch" Morris. The album was preceded by Live at Sweet Basil Volume 1.
The Hearinga Suite is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1989 and features performances of seven of Abrams compositions by an eighteen-member orchestra. Abrams dedicated the music on the album to Steve McCall and Donald Raphael Garrett.
View from Within is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams released on the Italian Black Saint label in 1985 and featuring performances of six of Abrams' compositions by an octet.
Easily Slip Into Another World is an album by saxophonist/composer Henry Threadgill, recorded for the RCA Novus label in 1987.
Rag, Bush and All is an album by Henry Threadgill released on the RCA Novus label in 1989. The album and features four of Threadgill's compositions performed by Threadgill's Sextett with Bill Lowe, Ted Daniel, Fred Hopkins, Diedre Murray, Newman Baker and Reggie Nicholson.
Song Out of My Trees is an album by Henry Threadgill released on the Black Saint label in 1994. The album features five of Threadgill's compositions performed by a variety of ensembles that include Threadgill, Ted Daniel, Brandon Ross, Jerome Richardson, James Emery, Ed Cherry, Myra Melford, Tony Cedras, Amina Claudine Myers, Diedre Murray, Michelle Kinney, Gene Lake, and Reggie Nicholson.
Air Mail is an album by the improvisational collective Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins recorded for the Italian Black Saint label. The album consists of three compositions dedicated to the photographer Bobbie Kingsley, Ronnie Boykins, and Cecil Taylor & Jimmy Lyons.
Live at Montreal International Jazz Festival is a live album recorded for the Italian Black Saint label by the improvisational collective New Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Fred Hopkins and Pheeroan akLaff performing at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in 1983. The album was the first release to feature akLaff who replaced original Air drummer Steve McCall.
Lemuria-Seascape is an album by pianist Kenny Barron which was recorded in early 1991 and released on the Candid label.
Ahmed Abdullah and the Solomonic Quintet is an album by trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah's featuring saxophonist David S. Ware, guitarist Masujaa, bassist Fred Hopkins, and drummer Charles Moffett, recorded in late 1987 and released on the Swedish Silkheart label.
Marvin Sewell is a blues/jazz guitarist, who has been called maybe "the greatest guitarist you've never heard of". He was born and grew up in Chicago, where he attended the Chicago Musical College at Roosevelt University.
Prophecy is an album by bassist Fred Hopkins and cellist and composer Diedre Murray. It was recorded in August 1990 at RPM Studios in New York City, and was released by About Time Records in 1998. On the album, Hopkins and Murray are joined by guitarist Brandon Ross and drummer Newman Baker.
Firestorm is an album by cellist Diedre Murray and bassist Fred Hopkins. It was recorded at East Side Sound Studio in New York City during July 1992, and was released later that year by Les Disques Victo.
