"Håkan Fredrik Ljungkvist (born 29 November 1969 in Kristinehamn, Sweden), is a Swedish jazz musician (saxophone and clarinet), the son of saxophonist Håkan Ljungkvist and married to the jazz singer Lina Nyberg.

Ljungkvist was raised in Lidköping, and studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm (1989-93). As jazz student he played with jazz bands in Stockholm, like Fredrik Noren Band, Lina Nyberg Group and Per "Texas" Johansson band. In 1993 he formed his own Quartet with whom he released two albums.

In 2000 he composed a 30 minutes long piece for the Pipeline project, a collaboration between 16 Swedish and American musicians on initiative by the Svenska Rikskonserter. The piece was performed in Chicago and Sweden."

"Pianist-composer Kris Davis has blossomed as one of the singular talents on the New York jazz scene, a deeply thoughtful, resolutely individual artist who offers "uncommon creative adventure," according to JazzTimes. The Vancouver-born, Brooklyn-residing Davis was dubbed one of the music's top up-and-comers in a 2012 New York Times article titled "New Pilots at the Keyboard," with the newspaper saying: "Over the past couple years in New York, one method for deciding where to hear jazz on a given night has been to track down the pianist Kris Davis." Reviewing one of the series of striking albums Davis has released over the past half-decade, the Chicago Sun-Times lauded the "sense of kaleidoscopic possibilities" in her playing and compositions.

Long favored by her peers and jazz fans in the know, Davis has earned high praise from no less than star pianist and MacArthur "Genius" Grant honoree Jason Moran, who included her in his Best of 2012 piece in Art Forum, writing: "A freethinking, gifted pianist on the scene, Davis lives in each note that she plays. Her range is impeccable; she tackles prepared piano, minimalism and jazz standards, all under one umbrella. I consider her an honorary descendant of Cecil Taylor and a welcome addition to the fold."

The newest album from Davis as a leader is Capricorn Climber (Clean Feed, 2013), with the pianist joined by kindred spirits Ingrid Laubrock (tenor saxophone), Mat Maneri (viola), Trevor Dunn (double-bass) and Tom Rainey (drums). Davis made her debut on record as a leader with Lifespan (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2003), followed by three progressively inventive and acclaimed albums for the Fresh Sound label: the quartet discs The Slightest Shift (2006) and Rye Eclipse (2008), then the trio set Good Citizen (2010). Davis's 2011 solo piano album on Clean Feed, Aeriol Piano, appeared on Best of the Year lists in The New York Times, JazzTimes and Art Forum. Davis wrote the extraordinary arrangements for saxophonist-composer Tony Malaby's nonet project Novela, with the album Novela released by Clean Feed in 2011 and appearing on Best of the Year lists in DownBeat and JazzTimes. The pianist is also part of the collaborative Paradoxical Frog with Laubrock and drummer Tyshawn Sorey; their eponymous 2011 album on Clean Feed was included on Best of the Year lists by National Public Radio, The New York Times and All About Jazz.

In addition to her work as a leader, Davis has performed with such top figures as Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Tim Berne, John Hollenbeck, Michael Formanek and Mary Halvorson. Davis started playing piano at age 6, studying classical music through the Royal Conservatory in Canada and formulating her desire for a life in music by playing in the school jazz band at age 12. She earned a bachelor's degree in Jazz Piano from the University of Toronto and attended the Banff Centre for the Arts jazz program in 1997 and 2000. The pianist received a Canada Council grant to relocate to New York and study composition with Jim McNeely, then another to study extended piano techniques with Benoit Delbecq in Paris. She holds a master's in Classical Composition from the City College of New York, and she teaches at the School for Improvised Music.

The Jazz Gallery has given Davis a commissioning residency to write for her trio with Rainey and John Hébert to take place in May 2013, and the Shifting Foundation awarded her a grant to compose and record a large-ensemble project. About her art, JazzTimes has declared: "Davis draws you in so effortlessly that the brilliance of what she's doing doesn't hit you until the piece has slipped past." "

"Based in Oslo, Norwegian bass player Ole Morten Vågan has been a central part of the scandinavian jazz and impro community for the last decade, performing with among others Motif, The Deciders, Håvard Wiik Trio, The Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Maria Kannegaard Trio, Andratx, Bugge Wesseltofts NCOJ, Maciej Obara Int. Quartet, Audun Kleive´s Generator X and more recently also Joshua Redman Trio with Jorge Rossy and Ole Morten Vagan . After discovering jazz as a youngster in the Northern town of Brønnøysund (just below the polar circle), he went on to study with amongst others the fantastic bassist Mats Eilertsen, and attending the very influential Jazz Conservatory in Trondheim, Norway.

Also active as a composer, he has written commisions for a.o. the Grammy Nominated norwegian string orchestra The Trondheim Soloists, and more recently for the well renowned Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, of which he is now Artistic Director for 2017-2019 - In addition to steadily writing for bands like Motif and The Deciders for the last ten years. Folk music of different kinds has also been at the core of Vågans interests, and through collaborations with a.o. Jovan Pavlovic, Ola Kvernberg and Stian Carstensen, he has immersed himself in the gipsy music of eastern Europe, Indian Classical Music and also norwegian folk music. He has also had the pleasure of performing with artists from an array of different countries and cultures, including some of the premier Eastern European folk musicians, among them Giani Linca, Filip Simoneov, Ivo Papasov and Petar Ralchev (after a rehearsal with the latter two, Ole Morten experienced his first and probably also last odd meter-induced fever.)

A curious interest in folk music and also classical music is the main focus in the group Gammalgrass, where he plays alongside Carstensen and Kvernberg, two of the most talented musicians coming out of Norway in recent years. Vågan was also the recipient of the Dnb Nor/Kongsberg Jazz Festival Award in 2009, following in the footsteps of people like Sidsel Endresen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Christian Wallumrød, Audun Kleive, Nils Petter Molvaer and many more.

Over the years, Vågan has worked in a wide array of ensembles and settings, which have included some of the most central musicians and bands on the norwegian and international jazz scene. Among these are: Bugge Wesseltoft´s NCOJ, Maria Kannegaard, Thomas Strønen, John Scofield, The Joshua Redman Trio, Erlend Skomsvoll, Eirik Hegdal, Jason Moran, Jorge Rossy, Maciej Obara, Dominik Wania, Iain Bellamy, Ståle Storløkken, Nils Petter Molvær, Dhaffer Youssef, Ivo Papasov, Terje Rypdal, Audun Kleive, Perico Sambeat, Gard Nilssen, Jarle Vespestad, Stian Carstensen, Ola Kvernberg, Paal Nilssen Love, Håkon Kornstad, Tore Brunborg, Bobo Stenson, Jon Christensen, Axel Dörner, Rudi Mahall, Fredrik Ljungkvist, Tobias Delius, Kresten Osgood, Jon Fält, Christian Wallumrød, Eivind Lønning, Håvard Wiik, Jonas Kullhammar, Atle Nymo, , Håkon Mjåset Johansen, Michael Thieke, Arve Henriksen, Aaron Parks, Ambrose Akinmusire, Marcus Strickland and many others."

"Øyvind Skarbø, b. 1982, is a drummer, composer and producer based in Bergen, Norway. He studied with Terje Isungset from 2004-2006, and has also studied Norwegian, Cuban and Yoruba traditional music. Øyvind has performed on 28 albums, and played in 28 countries. He received the Vossajazz Prize in 2016."