Avant-Garde

Phil Minton is a vocalist who can also play the trumpet.

Matthew Shipp (born December 7, 1960) is an American free jazz pianist. Shipp has been very active in the 1990s, appearing on dozens of albums as a leader, sideman or producer. His dense, percussive style was often compared to Cecil Taylor's, though in recent years Taylor's influence is less pronounced. Shipp was raised in Washington, DC and began playing piano at six years old. He was strongly attracted to jazz, but also played in rock music groups while in high school. Shipp attended the University of Delaware for one year, then the New England Conservatory of Music.

Born: October 9, 1958 Critics and fans alike hail pianist and composer SATOKO FUJII as one of the most original new voices in jazz. A truly global artist, she splits her time between New York City and Japan and has toured internationally leading several different ensembles. Just as her career spans international borders, her music spans many genres, blending jazz, contemporary classical music, and traditional Japanese folk music into an innovative synthesis instantly recognizable as hers alone. “I would like to try many things with my compositions,” she told Don Williamson in a jazzreview.

Arthur Russell (May 21 1951 - April 4, 1992) was a prodigious talent. Classically trained on cello while growing up in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Arthur studied with Ali Akbar Khan in San Francisco in the early 1970's. During this period he also collaborated with Allen Ginsberg, accompanying him on cello while Ginsberg read or sang. Russell also spent time in a Buddhist commune in California; he left when they decided to collectivize his cello.