"Paul Dunmall was born 1953, Welling, Kent; saxophones, clarinets, bagpipes, miscellaneous wind instruments.

As told to Watson (1989), Paul Dunmall was a working class lad from Welling who left school at 15 and spent two years repairing instruments at Bill Lewington's shop in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. He turned professional at 17 and, following two years touring Europe with a progressive rock band (Marsupilami), joined the Divine Light Mission, a spiritual movement led by Guru Maharaj Ji and moved from London to an ashram in America. He told Isham (1997), 'I moved to an ashram full of musicians - a music ashram - but it was still spiritual practice. That gave me a spiritual understanding through meditation, Coltrane's music, and all the rest of it, led me to that, and that's been a fundament in my life ever since - that I can actually sit down and meditate and forget my body. I realise how important meditation is in my life... but I don't do it so much these days.' During the three years he lived in America, Dunmall played with Alice Coltrane (in a big band with the Divine Light Mission) and toured for twelve months with Johnny 'Guitar' Watson.

Back in England, he played with Danny Thompson and John Stevens as well as folk musicians Kevin Dempsey, Martin Jenkins and Polly Bolton and then, in 1979 he became a founder member of Spirit Level (Tim Richards, piano; Paul Anstey, bass; Tony Orrell, drums), staying with the group until 1989. During his time with Spirit Level, Dunmall joined the two-tenor front line group Tenor Tonic with Alan Skidmore (1985), played and broadcast with Dave Alexander and Tony Moore in the DAM trio (1986) and formed the Paul Dunmall Quartet with Alex Maguire, Tony Moore and Steve Noble (1986).

In 1987 Paul Dunmall joined the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, being a constant member and appearing on all their recorded output from that date onward. The following year the improvising collective quartet Mujician was formed by Keith Tippett, Dunmall, Paul Rogers and Tony Levin and has continued to be a regular performing, touring and recording group, sometimes augmented by other musicians. Dunmall has also played in a trio with Keith and Julie Tippetts and in Keith Tippett's big band Tapestry. Two other duos have also sprung out of Mujician: Dunmall with Tony Levin (two CD releases) and Dunmall in folk-influenced outings with Paul Rogers. Another regular playing partner throughout this period and up until the present includes Elton Dean.

In 1995, two trios were formed, the first with Oren Marshall, tuba and Steve Noble, percussion, the second with John Adams, guitar and Mark Sanders, percussion, these sometimes coming together as a quintet. More recently, Dunmall has played in another reeds/guitar/drums trio with Philip Gibbs and Tony Marsh and there appears to be regular crossover between all these players. The Paul Dunmall Octet was founded in 1997."

Dunmall also has released a large number of albums and a box set on the UK FMR label, in various configurations and instrumentation.

"Sophia Domancich, piano. Born : January 25th, 1955 - Paris (France).

Past Bands : Laurent Cugny, Quoi D'Neuf Docteur?, Pip Pyle's Equip'Out (1984-90), Trio Davenport, Quartet Hors-Série, John Greaves Group, Hatfield and the North (1990), Elton Dean Quintet (1995), Sophia Domancich Trio, Orchestre National de Jazz

Current Activity : Sophia Domancich Trio, Quartet & 'Pentacle' Quintet, Simon Goubert Quartet, John Greaves JazzSongs

Over the last twenty years, Sophia Domancich has become closely associated with the Canterbury scene in the hearts of its fans. Like fellow French citizen Patrice Meyer, she has worked with most of the key figures of the genre : Pip Pyle, Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, John Greaves, Richard Sinclair, Phil Miller and Didier Malherbe all played with her at one point, often over a long period of time.

Domancich started learning the piano at the age of six. In 1968, she entered the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris, where she studied for seven years. Between 1976 and 1978, she earned her living as accompanist for singing and dance lessons in various academies of music, and also at the Caen theatre and the Opera de Paris.

Her first contact with the jazz scene came in 1979 when she played improvised music with such jazz greats as Steve Lacy, Bernard Lubat and Jean-Louis Chautemps. In the early 80's, she worked extensively with band leader Laurent Cugny, both in piano duo and big band contexts (in the latter she met drummer Bruno Tocanne). She also played with various West-Indian and African combos and took part in the Quoi D'Neuf Docteur? big band which also featured Steve Grossman, Jack Walrath and Glenn Ferrys.

In 1983, Sophia Domancich became acquainted with musicians from the Canterbury scene : Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper and Pip Pyle, the latter becoming her boyfriend for several years. The following year, she and Pip formed L'Equip'Out, a jazz band which went on to record two albums for which she provided most of the original material.

In the meantime, Domancich continued to take part in various jazz bands, including the Trio Davenport, the Quartet Hors-Série, eventually forming her own jazz trio with double bass player Paul Rogers and drummer Bruno Tocanne, later replaced by Tony Levin. This line-up has released three albums to date.

In 1990, Sophia Domancich was invited to perform with the reformed Hatfield and the North for a one-off TV show. She also joined John Greaves' backing band (also featuring Pip Pyle and guitarist François Ovide), playing on "La Petite Bouteille De Linge" and later the acoustic "Songs" (by which time Pyle had left and Rogers joined on double bass).

In 1991, she left L'Equip'Out, and concentrated on her trio work with Rogers and Levin, which eventually gained a lot of attention from the specialised media. In 1997, she was offered to become the pianist in the prestigious Orchestre National de Jazz by its director, Didier Levallet - a major recognition at last! This lasted two years, and Domancich is now back to leading her own small group, now either a trio or a quintet, with Simon Goubert on drums and Claude Tchamitchian (double bass). She is also a member of Goubert's own quartet and sextet."

"James Owston is a Birmingham based double and electric bassist playing regularly in the UK Jazz Scene.

James was born in Sutton, London in 1996 and moved to Gloucestershire in 2000. After taking up the electric bass at age 14, he played predominantly rock and groove music, until he was eventually introduced to Jazz. This led to him take up the double bass at age 18 to pursue his new-found passion for the music. Prior to attending University, James played with the Gloucestershire Youth Jazz Orchestra and other small ensembles, performing in the local area.

In 2015, James accepted an offer to study Jazz at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where he has been receiving tuition from Arnie Somogyi and Mark Hodgson, Percy Pursglove and Mike Williams, as well as many other tutors at the institution. As part of his studies, James has received masterclasses from notable Jazz musicians Mark Turner, Jeff Ballard, Gilad Hekselman, Dave Liebman and Mike Gibbs, as well as getting the opportunity to perform with musicians such as Jeff Williams, Steve Cardenas and Julian Arguelles.

Whilst studying in Birmingham, James met the renowned British Jazz drummer, Clark Tracey, and in 2017 he joined the Clark Tracey Quintet. This led to performances at major UK Jazz venues such as the Vortex, 606 Club, Herts Jazz and South Coast Jazz Festival amongst others. As well as this, James has also performed in the Birmingham Symphony Hall foyer, Birmingham Town Hall, Eastside Jazz Club and Cheltenham, Manchester, Cleethorpes and Trondheim Jazz festivals. In April 2018, this band recorded their first album, also being James's first professional appearance on record, which is due to be released in September 2018.

As well as being an active sideman, James is leading his own groups, notably the James Owston Mingus Quintet, that focuses on the compositions and style of the great Charles Mingus, a strong influence for James as a bass player and composer."

"Just like his father, internationally respected free jazz drummer Tony Levin, Miles Levin is a jazz drummer."