"Jean-Luc Guionnet is an elusive figure. A Parisian artist active in many fields (music, visual arts, cinema), he has mostly worked in electro-acoustics but also has a career in free improvisation, playing alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, church organ, and piano. He has collaborated with Éric La Casa, Éric Cordier, and André Almuro on tape music. His main free improv and jazz projects include Hubbub, Schams, Return of the New Thing, and the Joe Rosenberg quintet.

Guionnet made scientific studies before shifting to fine arts. He studied musique concrete under Iannis Xenakis and Michel Zbar, but also pursued studies in philosophy (esthetics) with Geneviève Clancy. His first works date from the late '80s and are mostly collaborations with filmmaker André Almuro (some have been issued by Ground Fault). Then came a lasting partnership with electro-acousticians Éric Cordier and Éric La Casa. Together they wrote the series "Afflux." Guionnet also produces the Ateliers de Création Radiophoniques ("creative radio workshops") for France Culture. His eclecticism has kept him at bay of recognition -- because to the eye of the press it strips him from some credibility and because running careers in philosophy (he was co-director for the review Terre des Signes from 1993 to 1996), painting (he exhibited from 1992 to 1997), and music simultaneously tends to be time-consuming.

The release of an eponymous CD by Dan Warburton's free jazz quartet Return of the New Thing in 1999 on the respected label Leo Records introduced Guionnet to a wider audience. Since then his activities as an improviser have constantly stretched toward the fringes of experimentalism. His participation in the French-Swiss group Hubbub and his duo with guitarist Olivier Benoit (&Un, 2002) follow the school of Berlin reductionism."

"Thomas Tilly is a French musician whose principle instrument is a microphone. For twelve years he has been composing, inventing sound art installations and teaching. His work has been presented in more than 15 countries. Tilly finds inspiration in different environmental analysis protocols and how they have impact on the notion of listening. This work presents field recordings as a sum of data that guide the creative process and implicate the microphone as a compositional tool, complete on its own. He works with Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet, Seijiro Murayama, Pascal Battus and in the improvisional quartet Echelle de Mohs with Claire Bergerault, Fabrice Favriou and Thomas Chatard."

"Will Guthrie is an Australian drummer / percussionist living in France. He works in many different settings of music: live performance, improvisation and studio composition using various combinations of drums, percussion, objects, junk, amplification and electronics..He plays solo and in various projects such as THE AMES ROOM & THE SOMMES ENSEMBLE. His music has been released on labels such as Gaffer Records, Erstwhile, Clean Feed, 23five, Editions Mego, Ipecac, iDEAL and his own label Antboy Music.

While studying jazz and improvised music(s) at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, alongside Ren Walters he started the weekly concert series 'Improvised Tuesdays', now known as the Make It Up Club and is Australia's longest running performance space dedicated to experimental and improvised musics. In Nantes, France he is part of the collective CABLE# which also organizes regular concerts and an annual festival. He also runs the experimental improvised CD label and mail-order service; ANTBOY MUSIC.

He plays solo using different combinations of drums, percussion, amplification and electronics, in minimalist/maximalist free jazz trio THE AMES ROOM (with Jean-Luc Guionnet & Clayton Thomas), as well as the improvised/composed ensemble THE SOMMES ENSEMBLE (with Pierre-Antoine Badaroux, Julien Desperez & Maxime Petit).

Regular collaborators past and present include Jérôme Noetinger, Oren Ambarchi, Anthony Pateras, Chulki Hong, Keith Rowe, David Maranha, Toma Gouband, Erell Latimier, Ava Mendoza, Adam Sussmann, Matt Earle, Ren Walters, Helmut Schafer, David Ades, Mark Simmonds, the film maker Hangjun Lee and choreographer/dancer Mette Ingvartsen."

"Cyprien Busolini: violist Born in 1978. After classical studies of viola, Cyprien Busolini focuses mainly on contemporary repertoire and improvisation. He obtained a first viola prize at the CNR Rueil-Malmaison in the class of Françoise Gneri, then he perfected with P.Faure and P.H.Xuereb. His great interest in contemporary music and especially new works allows him to work with many composers like L.Naon, HULehmann, T.Johnson, JLGuionnet ... He has also played or created some of their solo pieces or sets. Improvisation allows him to work on other sound fields and to explore his instrument in a more personal way, notably on non-melodic and non-harmonic parameters but more focused on the matter of sound. Regularly, he works with dancers, actors, either in improvisation or for shows whose musical part he elaborates. On the other hand, he occasionally runs improvisation workshops for children. He currently plays in different ensembles, Dedalus, Onceim, and various groups of improvisation as well as in the whole Fratres, old music ensemble on old instruments. He has made several solo or Dedalus ensemble recordings, the Diagonal ensemble, but also with Garth Knox and various improvisational discs."