Dave Holland (born October 1, 1946) is a British jazz bassist and composer who is a significant representative of avant-garde jazz. Born in Wolverhampton, England, Holland learned to play bass as a child, and spent three years studying the instrument at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. By 1967 he was a regular player at Ronnie Scott's, the premier jazz club in London, backing visiting musicians.
Charles Lloyd (b. March 15, 1938) is an American jazz musician, playing mostly tenor saxophone along with flute and tarogato.
He started his career by playing together with Chico Hamilton and Cannonball Adderley.
In the latter half of the 60s, his own quartet with Keith Jarrett, Cecil McBee and Jack DeJohnette was one of the most popular jazz bands of the time. Their album Forest Flower is one of the best-selling jazz albums ever.
In the 70s Lloyd was mostly retired from music, but came back in the 80s after being persuaded doing so by French pianist Michel Petrucciani.
Marc Ribot is an avant-garde jazz guitarist and, to a lesser extent, singer, with a highly unique and recognizable style drawing on a number of influences including funk, Cuban music, soul and no wave. He has recorded and/or appeared live with such artists as Tom Waits, Keith Richards, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello, John Zorn, Electric Masada, The Lounge Lizards, Arto Lindsay and Medeski, Martin and Wood, as well as leading a number of his own bands such as Shrek, Los Cubanos Postizos and, currently, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog.
Michael Zerang was born in Chicago, Illinois and is a first generation American of Assyrian decent. He has been a professional musician, composer, and producer since 1976, focusing extensively on improvised music, free jazz, contemporary composition, puppet theater, experimental theater, and international musical forms. He has collaborated extensively with contemporary theater, dance, and other multidisciplinary forms and has received three Joseph Jefferson Awards for Original Music Composition in Theater, in 1996, 1998, and 2000.
Volcano the Bear was formed in May 1995, in leicester, england, by Daniel Padden, Laurence Coleman, Nick Mott and Aaron Moore. These four musicians encountered frustrations with the limitations of traditional musical endeavors and sought an outlet that could defy convention. Volcano the Bear quickly became the platform for their total artistic freedom and personal expression, where they could explore collective ideas and interests in a new and inventive manner.
David Murray (Tenor Saxophone, Bass Clarinet) was born in Oakland, California in 1955. He grew up in Berkeley and studied with Catherine Murray (organist and David's mother), Bobby Bradford, Arthur Blythe, Stanley Crouch, Margaret Kohn and many others before he left Pomona College (Los Angeles) for New York where he moved in 1975. In New York he met and played with Cecil Taylor, who along with Dewey Redman gave the young musician the encouragement he needed.
Lee Morgan (10 July 1938 - 19 February 1972) was an American hard-bop jazz trumpeter. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Morgan was a jazz prodigy, joining the Dizzy Gillespie big band at 18, remaining a member for two years. In 1956 he began recording as a leader, mainly for the Blue Note label; eventually he recorded twenty-five albums for the company. Morgan's principal influence as a player was Clifford Brown, having had direct contact with him before Brown's premature death.
Kent Kessler is an American jazz double-bassist, best known for his work in the Chicago jazz and avant garde music scene from the 1980s into the 2000s. Kessler grew up in Cape Cod and began playing trombone at age ten. He and his family moved to Chicago when he was 13, and a few years later Kessler became intensely interested in jazz. He dropped out of high school and began taking lessons in electric bass and jazz theory in the middle of the 1970s.[1] In 1977 he formed the ensemble Neutrino Orchestra with percussionist Michael Zerang and guitarists Dan Scanlan and Norbert Funk.