"Clarinetist Peter Kuhn came up in the 1970s. In those days, one could count the number of modern jazz clarinet specialists on one hand: John Carter, Perry Robinson, Theo Jorgensmann, Alvin Batiste and-if you include the bass clarinet-Michel Pilz. So, one hand and a finger. Still associated with Benny Goodman, Dixieland and Swing, the clarinet was considered deeply uncool in the age of fusion. The uncompromising music of these brave souls did little to sway anyone who was not predisposed towards the oddball avant-garde end of the jazz spectrum. All of this changed, however, during the 1980s. Kuhn's work got documented on top-drawer European labels such as Black Saint and Hat Hut. Via a string of undeniably magical recordings for Gramavision and Black Saint, John Carter's genius as an instrumentalist and composer was finally recognized in glossy jazz periodicals. A new generation of clarinetists, led by Don Byron, started getting some attention which led to clarinet-led gigs and major label recordings with the likes of Jack DeJohnette and Bill Frisell. Tragically, as the stock of jazz clarinet rose, the avatars of that previous generation did not fare well at all. Carter died far too young, while Kuhn and Robinson slowly sank into even greater obscurity.

Several decades on, Kuhn has revitalized his music career while finding deeper meaning by practicing in the Plum Village Zen Buddhist tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. These days, his main gig is helping others find freedom from addiction via the Prison Meditation Project of San Diego, California. This has added considerable depth to Kuhn's music in unexpected ways. As Kuhn himself puts it, "The beautiful thing is that I have a life of meaning and value before I pick up the horn. I'm not living a life predicated on the success of a record or the next gig. My life already has meaning, and when I pick up the horn, I'm picking it up as a whole person, and anything from there is just abundance." "

"Toshinori Kondo (December 15, 1948 in Ehime Prefecture) is an avant-garde jazz and jazz fusion trumpeter. Kondo attended Kyoto university in 1967, and became close friends with percussionist Tsuchitori Toshiyuki. In 1972 the pair left university, and Toshiyuki went on to work with Peter Brook, while Kondo joined Yosuke Yamashita. In 1978 he moved to New York, and began performing with Bill Laswell, John Zorn, Fred Frith, and Eraldo Bernocchi. A year later he released his first recording, toured Europe with Eugene Chadbourne, and collaborated with European musicians such as Peter Brotzman. Returning to Japan, he worked with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Kazumi Watanabe, and Herbie Hancock. In the mid-1980s he began focusing on his own career, blending his avant-garde origins with electronic music. In 2002, he worked on an international peace festival in Hiroshima after being approached by the Dalai Lama about organizing one. He is a former member of Praxis. Kondo cooperated with Bill Laswell to make the album Inamorata in 2007.

He founded the band Kondo IMA in 1984. Kondo IMA achieved commercial success but moved to Amsterdam to be alone and to start "Blow the Earth" in 1993. They started "Blow the Earth in Japan" in the summer of 2007 and ended in the autumn of 2011. The film Blow the Earth in Japan is his first experience as a film director."

"William Parker is a bassist, improviser, composer, writer, and educator from New York City, heralded by The Village Voice as, "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time."

In addition to recording over 150 albums, he has published six books and taught and mentored hundreds of young musicians and artists.

Parker's current bands include the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, In Order to Survive, Raining on the Moon, Stan's Hat Flapping in the Wind, and the Cosmic Mountain Quartet with Hamid Drake, Kidd Jordan, and Cooper-Moore. Throughout his career he has performed with Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Milford Graves, and David S. Ware, among others."

"Denis Alphonso Charles (December 4, 1933 - March 26, 1998) was a jazz drummer.

Charles was born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, and first played bongos at age seven with local ensembles in the Virgin Islands. In 1945, he moved to New York, and gigged frequently around town. In 1954, he began working with Cecil Taylor, and the pair collaborated until 1958. Following this he played with Steve Lacy, Gil Evans, and Jimmy Giuffre. He befriended Ed Blackwell, and the two influenced each other.

He recorded with Sonny Rollins on a calypso-tinged set, and then returned to time with Lacy, with whom he played until 1964. He worked with Archie Shepp and Don Cherry in 1967, but heroin addiction saw him leave the record industry until 1971. In the 1970s and 1980s, he played regularly on the New York jazz scene with Frank Lowe, David Murray, Charles Tyler, Billy Bang, and others, and also played funk, rock, and traditional Caribbean music. He released three discs as a leader between 1989 and 1992, and died of pneumonia in his sleep in New York in 1998.

Charles died four days after a five-week European tour with the Borgmann/Morris/Charles (BMC) Trio, with Wilber Morris and Thomas Borgmann. His last concert with this trio took place at the Berlin's Willy-Brandt-Haus. With the BMC Trio he recorded some albums in his last two years. A fifth CD was released after he died: The Last Concert - Dankeschön, Silkheart Records, 1999.

In 2002, Veronique Doumbe released a film documentary, Denis A. Charles: An Interrupted Conversation, about the life of Charles."