Gregg Bendian has made a name for himself as an innovative drummer/percussionist collaborating with some of contemporary music's strongest personalities. He has worked with Derek Bailey, Pat Metheny, Cecil Taylor, William Parker, Roscoe Mitchell, John Zorn, Peter Brotzmann, Zoot Horn Rollo and Evan Parker.

He leads the bands Gregg Bendian's Interzone and Trio Pianissimo and is frequently heard with repertory ensembles The Mahavishnu Project and The Musical Box.

Gregg's critically acclaimed "Interstellar Space Revisited: The Music of John Coltrane" (Atavistic, 1998) with guitarist Nels Cline of Wilco was enthusiastically supported by both Alice Coltrane and Rashied Ali, who described the recording as "incredible" and "very daring".

Throughout the first ten years of his career as a jazz violinist, Zach Brock has shunned conventional notions of his instrument's role in the jazz idiom. He has been heralded by Blue Note artist and MacArthur Grant recipient Patricia Barber as "the one on whom to place your bets in jazz" and lionized as "the great bright hope for jazz violin" by the Chicago Tribune. Brock's wide-ranging accomplishments as a performer, composer, bandleader, and producer place him in the company of today's leading independent jazz innovators.

Brock's latest creative project emerges from his role in the upcoming independent documentary film “Passion," a tribute to the late Polish virtuoso jazz violinist Zbigniew Seifert, produced and directed by Erin Harper. This new project offers a fresh take on the music of Seifert while presenting new music and arrangements by Brock that are inspired by the late violinist’s life and work, as well as Brock’s own personal journey during the filming of the documentary.

Brock's arrival on the international jazz scene is a culmination of five years with his first ensemble, The Coffee Achievers. Originally convened for Brock's debut recording, The Coffee Achievers progressed from a circuit of Midwest jazz clubs to performing at the Tudo e Jazz Festival in Ouro Preto, Brazil. The group also produced three recordings and a live DVD on Brock's own label, Secret Fort Records.

Brock's growing reputation as a jazz performer has recently been heralded by magazines such as Downbeat, which confirmed his status as a "rising star," Strings magazine, and the College Music Journal. The Los Angeles Times called Brock "an intriguing young artist with a bright future"; the Chicago Tribune praised Brock's "rising stature as the rare jazz fiddler with something significant to say."

While working as bandleader, composer and producer, Brock still makes time to expand his resume, collaborating with an impressive roster of celebrated artists such as bassist Stanley Clarke, vocalist/pianist Patricia Barber, and drummer Dennis Chambers, as well as Alice Coltrane, Jack DeJohnette, Mose Allison, Kurt Elling, Chris Potter, John McLean, Grazyna Auguscik, Matt Ulery, The Mahavishnu Project and Eastern Blok.

Jon Irabagon, winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition, has performed extensively as both a sideman and as a leader in an ever-expanding range of projects, from the most straight ahead to the most searching. Jon has studied under such divergent artists as Dave Liebman, Wynton Marsalis, Dick Oatts, Jason Moran and Victor Goines, and has performed and/or recorded with musical luminaries such as Billy Joel, Wynton Marsalis, Bright Eyes, Tom Harrell, Tommy Iago, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Deborah Gibson, John Abercrombie, Frank Wess, Wycliffe Gordon, Renee Fleming, Kenny Washington, Lou Reed, Jenny Lewis, Ron Sexsmith, and Ken Vandermark. Jon has performed and done clinics and workshops in the United States, Canada, Europe, Macau, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and Japan, and performs regularly in New York City’s top venues such as Birdland, the Jazz Standard, 55 Bar, the Jazz Gallery, Zebulon, Barbes, Sweet Rhythm, and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola.

Jon’s conception of complete musical inclusion in his improvisation and composition is apparent in the wide-ranging body of work he has compiled in his young career: his quintet Outright! (Innova) that embraces the complete history of jazz while wrapping it up in group improvisation, his continuous additive duo project with drummer Mike Pride “I Don’t Hear Nothin’ But the Blues” (Loyal Label), his unapologetic 80s cover band, his Sonny Rollins Tribute Trio, the straight-ahead modern jazz group Confluence (For the Artist Records) that he co-leads with fellow Manhattan School of Music graduates, the freely-improvising RIDD Quartet (Clean Feed), as well as his long-time tenure in the self-destructing bebop cyborg terrorist band Mostly Other People do the Killing (Hot Cup).

Peter Brendler is originally from Baltimore, but has been living in NYC since 2001. He mainly plays upright bass, but also electric bass, guitar, piano, wood flutes, marimba, theremin, etc. He has played and recorded with John Abercrombie, Rich Perry, and Jon Irabagon.