"Mars Williams is an open-minded musician, composer and educator who commutes easily between free jazz, funk, hip-hop and rock, Mars has played and recorded with The Psychedelic Furs, Billy Idol, Massacre, Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, Ministry, Power Station, Die Warzau, The Waitresses, Kiki Dee, Pete Cosey, Billy Squier, DJ Logic, Wayne Kramer, John Scoffield, Charlie Hunter, Kurt Elling, Swollen Monkeys, Mike Clark, Jerry Garcia, Naked Raygun, Friendly Fires, The Untouchables, Blow Monkeys and virtually every leading figure of Chicago's and New York City's "downtown" scene.

John Zorn credits Mars as "one of the true saxophone players--someone who takes pleasure in the sheer act of blowing the horn. This tremendous enthusiasm is an essential part of his sound, and it comes through each note every time he plays. Whatever the situation, Mars plays exciting music. In many ways he has succeeded in redefining what versatility means to the modern saxophone player."

In 2001 Mars received a Grammy Nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Record with his group Liquid Soul.

Despite his busy touring schedule with Liquid Soul and The Psychedelic Furs, Mars manages to stay active on the Chicago underground improvising scene. In recent years he has toured and recorded with the Peter Brötzmann Tentet, Switchback, Full Blast, Scorch Trio, the Vandermark 5, Boneshaker, Chicago Reed Quartet and Cinghiale, teaming him with such musicians as Ken Vandermark, Hamid Drake, Michael Zerang, William Parker, Ikue Mori, Kent Kessler, Fredric Lonberg Holm, Peter Brotzmann, Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love, Ab Baars, Mike Reed, Jeb Bishop, Harrison Bankhead, Dave Rempis, Kidd Jordan and Matts Gustafson.

He performs weekly in Chicago along with Jim Baker, Steve Hunt, and Brian Sandstrom in the improvising quartet "Extraordinary Popular Delusions". As a bandleader, he continues to perform and record CDs with his own free-jazz groups, the NRG Ensemble, Witches & Devils, Slam, XmarsX, Mars Trio, Boneshaker and The Soul Sonic Sirkus which features improvising musicians and aerial circus performers. Along with Die Warsau's Van Christie, Mars has started Ratking Music, a production company focusing on music for film and television.

In addition to performing and creating music, Mars has been an educator in the field of woodwinds and jazz improvisation for over thirty years. Mars held the position of Woodwind Instructor at Bard College for two years. In the last few years Mars has presented Master classes and clinics to a number of private and public institutions including, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, the University of Chicago, Roosevelt University (Chicago, IL), and June Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art (Auburn, AL)."

"Jaimie Breezy Branch (born 17 June 1983) is an American jazz trumpeter and composer.

Branch was raised in Red Hook, Brooklyn and started playing trumpet at age nine. At 14, she moved to Wilmette, a suburb of Chicago, before attending the New England Conservatory of Music (graduating in 2005). Later she moved back to Chicago, working as a musician, organizer and sound engineer on the local music scene, including with Jason Ajemian (on The Art of Dying, 2006), Keefe Jackson's Project Project (on Just Like This, 2007), and Tim Daisy' s New Fracture Quartet (on 1000 Lights, 2008), Anton Hatwich and Ken Vandermark. She has performed in Chicago and New York with her trio Princess, Princess, with bassist Toby Summerfield and drummer Frank Rosaly, and in trios with Tim Daisy and Daniel Levin, Matt Schneider and Jason Adasiewicz, and with Chris Velkommen/Sam Weinberg. Together with Jason Stein, Jeb Bishop and Jason Roebke, she founded the band Block and Tackle. To jazz she has contributed on five albums between 2006 and 2008.

In 2012 Branch moved to Baltimore, where she earned a master's degree in Jazz performance from Towson University. At this time she also founded the record label Pionic Records, where she releases the music of her group Bomb Shelter. In New York she has worked with Brandon Lopez, Fred Lonberg-Holm and Mike Stolthet among others. In addition, she performed on albums with the independent rock groups Never Enough Hope, Local H and Atlas Math. Currently, she works in a quartet with Chad Taylor (drums), Jason Ajemian (bass) and Tomeka Reid (cello), as well as with Brandon Lopez, Mike Pride, Shayna Dulberger and Weasel Walter, and with Yoni Kretzmer and Tobey Cederberg. She names Don Cherry, Axel Dörner, Booker Lite and Miles Davis among her musical influences. In 2017 she released her debut solo album, Fly or Die, with Tomeka Reid, Jason Ajemian, Chad Taylor, Matt Schneider (guitar), Ben LaMar Gay, and Josh Berman (cornet)."

"Knox Chandler's career has spanned for over three decades, including performing, recording, arranging and producing, with such acts as REM, Depeche Mode, Grace Jones, Marianne Faithful, Natalie Merchant, The Creatures, and The Golden Palominos etc.. His long stints as a member of The Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Cyndi Lauper's band; has given Knox the experience of a worldwide touring musician. Knox attended Bard College in the late 70's. He was regarded as a brilliant musician who was willing to experiment. After graduating from college with honors in composition and performance his professional career took off. Recent shows with X-Patsy's (Robert Longo, Barbara Sukowa), J.G.Thirwell, Butterfly Percussion Parade (Budgie, Mabi, Sugizo, Leonard Eto) and his solo guitar performances demonstrate his current importance in contemporary music. He has recently scored a documentary-installation at the Deutsches Historisches Museum."

"Mark Tokar originally studied classical guitar at S. Lyudkevych Music College. During this time he began to play double bass, which became his main instrument.

During 2002-2004 he repeatedly participated in the Krakow Jazz Workshop, directed by M. Parkinson (USA). In 2006, via the "Gaude Polonia" scholarship program, Mark studied at K. Szymanowski Jazz Academy under the direction of Professor Jacek Niedzela. The program was granted by the Minister of Culture in Poland. Since 2006 he has given private lessons at various jazz schools. During 2005-2006 Mark worked as art director of the Ukrainian-Polish Jazz Bez festival. He organized a series of Metro Jazz Philharmonic musical performances in Lviv.

Mark has performed with various bands at numerous festivals in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, USA, Austria, France, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, Hungary, Georgia, Luxembourg, and the Czech Republic. He participates in Ken Vandermark's international project "Resonance". He also plays in the groups Undivided, Five Spot, Four, Varpaj, and Yatoku. Additionally, he is the leader of the international projects Leo'm'art, Mark Tokar's Quintet and Avtokar. Mark Tokar has performed with Ken Vandermark, Bobby Few, Perry Robinson, Steve Swell, Michael Zerang, Tim Daisy, Dave Rempis, Roberta Piket, Fred Frith (USA), Klaus Kugel, Arkadij Shylkloper (Germany), Petras Vishniauskas (Lithuania), Mirchea Tiberian (Romania), Mazzol, Mikolaj Trzaska, Waclaw Zimpel, Piotr Baron, Kazimierz Jonkisz (Poland), Jurij Jaremczuk (Ukraine), Magnus Broo, Per-Ake Holmlander (Sweden), and Mark Sanders (England)."

"Klaus Kugel studied at the School of Jazz in Munich. Since 1989 he attracted attention worldwide through projects with Petras Vysniauskas, Karl Berger, Tomasz Stanko, Charlie Mariano, Kent Carter, Michel Pilz, Theo Jorgensmann, Kenny Wheeler, Vyacheslav Ganelin, Bobo Stenson, Glen Moore, Steve Swell, Sabir Mateen, Robert Dick, Peter Evans, Perry Robinson, Hilliard Greene, John Lindberg, Gerd Dudek, William Parker, Bobby Few, Roy Campbell, Jemeel Moondoc, Waclaw Zimpel, Mars Williams, Charles Gayle, Conny Bauer, Ken Vandermark, Joe McPhee, John Edwards a.m.o..

Over the past 30 years, he gave numerous concerts and appeared at festivals throughout Europe, the Baltic States, Canada, USA, Syria, Japan, Mexico, Russia, China, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Israel."