"Saxophonist and composer Nick Mazzarella has been a consistent presence in Chicago's music scene since the early 2000s, and his regular performances there represent an aesthetically unique contribution to the city's rich jazz and improvised music culture. His working trio and quintet have served as the primary vehicles for his endeavors as a composer and leader, while as a collaborator or sideman he has performed and recorded with such artists as Tomeka Reid, Makaya McCraven, Hamid Drake, Joshua Abrams, and Rob Mazurek. He has released recordings as a leader on Nessa Records, Clean Feed Records, and the International Anthem Recording Company imprint, among others, and has performed throughout the United States and Scandinavia. Mazzarella also curates two concert series: the Anagram Series, presented weekly at Elastic Arts in Chicago, and the Ratchet Series, presented monthly at Cafe Mustache in Chicago."

"Chicago based bassist/composer and bandleader, Matt Ulery, has developed an instantly recognizable sound. Known for his sweeping lyricism, unconventional phrase structures, expressionistic emotionalism, Ulery's music, from small, diverse chamber ensembles to full orchestras, is informed by the entire spectrum of jazz, classical, rock, pop, and folk- specifically American, South American, Balkan, and other European folk styles. He has been performing for 20 years on upright, electric, and brass basses.

For a decade, Ulery has been the leader of his own groups and frequent collaborator. Ulery has produced and released 7 critically acclaimed albums of all original music under his name including his most recent double album, "Festival," on his label, Woolgathering Records.

Ulery earned a Master of Music degree at Depaul University and Bachelors degree in music composition at The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and has played in bands with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Fareed Haque, Howard Levy, Patricia Barber, Goran Ivanovic, Jeff Parker, Zach Brock, Jimmy Chamberlin, Makaya McCraven, Marquis Hill and countless others. As a composer, Ulery has collaborated with ensembles such as Eighth Blackbird, New Millennium Orchestra of Chicago, Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra, and Wild Belle.

When not touring parts of the U.S. and Europe, Matt appears regularly in the Chicago area music venues and has performed with his own groups at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Chicago Orchestra Hall, Millennium Park Pritzker Pavillion, Chicago Cultural Center, The Krannert Center, Jazz Showcase, The Metro and countless other fine music listening rooms. In addition to performing, recording, and writing, Ulery is on faculty at Loyola University Chicago and gives masterclasses and clinics nationwide."

"Jason Stein was born in 1976 and is originally from Long Island, New York. Stein is one of the few musicians working today to focus entirely on the bass clarinet as a jazz and improvisational instrument. He studied at Bennington College with Charles Gayle and Milford Graves, and at the University of Michigan with Donald Walden and Ed Sarath. In 2005, Stein relocated to Chicago and has since recorded for such labels as Leo, Delmark, Atavistic, 482 Music and Clean Feed. Stein has performed throughout the US and Europe, including performances in festivals in Lisbon, Cracow, Utrecht, Barcelona, Debreccen and Ljubljana. He has had the opportunity to perform with a number of exciting local and international musicians including: Michael Moore, Jeff Parker, Oscar Noriega, Rudi Mahall, Ken Vandermark, Rob Mazurek, Jeb Bishop, Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten, Urs Leimgruber, Pandelis Karayorgis, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Tony Buck, Eric Boren, Kent Kessler, Tobias Delius, Michael Zerang, Michael Vatcher, Peter Brotzman, and Wilbert DeJoode."

"ryan packard is:

a percussionist
composer
sound artist
based in chicago, il.

Recent projects and collaborations explore the sonification of lived experiences through their accompanying objects and interpersonal relationships. A curiosity towards listening environments, physical space, and psychoacoustics drive the work as it seeks to promote a heightened state of consciousness even in the most understated spaces and moments.

he's been featured at places like:

mca chicago
high concept labs
dfbrl8r
Galeria Labirynt
experimental sound studio
constellation chicago
elastic arts
random walks festival, the music of xenakis
b-sides festival
montréal nouvelles musiques

he has a masters of music from McGill University
and
bachelor of music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music"

"Quinlan "Quin" Kirchner (born December 14, 1981) is an American jazz and improvisation musician (drums, percussion).

Kirchner received lessons from the age of ten at the Academy of Movement and Music and Merit Music Program of Chicago. With a scholarship from the Basin Street Scholarship, he studied at the University of New Orleans at age 18 with Ricky Sebastian, Jason Marsalis, Troy Davis and Johnny Vidacovich. He earned a bachelor's degree in jazz studies and worked in New Orleans u. a. with Jeff Albert, Irene Sage and Ed Petersen. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Kirchner moved to New York City, where he received his master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music under John Riley graduated before returning to Chicago. There he works since then u. a. with Jeb Bishop, Daniele D'Agaro, AJ Kluth, Greg Ward, Dave Rempis, Matthew Golombisky and the formations flashing., From Beyond (inter alia with Katherine Young, Tim Haldeman), Zing!, Lucky 7s and Elliot Bergman's NOMO. In Germany, Kirchner joined Georg Gräwe and Tobias Delius as part of RUHR.2010 - European Capital of Cultureon. In the field of jazz he was involved between 2006 and 2012 in five recording sessions."

"Combining major stints in both New York City and Chicago and numerous tours abroad, Dave Miller has cultivated a truly unique, exciting, and inviting approach to songwriting, improvisation, and the guitar. After releasing three albums to wide acclaim with his experimental rock band, Algernon (Cuneiform Records), Miller has once again redefined his parameters and formed Old Door Phantoms with some of the most creative musical minds in Chicago, yielding fascinating results. This time around, Miller has drawn influence from the elegant melodicism of The Beatles, the psychedelic folk of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and the raw power and improvisational spirit of guitarists Link Wray, Gabor Szabo, and Charlie Christian. The music, although fresh, forward thinking, and avant garde, is grounded in the art of classic songwriting. The melodies linger and the sounds are warm. The songs play out as mind-expanding textures, but always with an air of compassion and familiarity.

Tracked live at Steve Albini's famed studio, Electrical Audio, the album has the sound and feel of being in the same room as the band. At times, this off the cuff quality to the recordings recalls the instrumental swagger of The Band or Booker T the MGs, while juxtaposing this element with the pulsing experimentalism of Sonic Youth and ambient textures of Brian Eno."

"Chicago saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi has developed a distinctly personal approach to improvisation and composition that has garnered the attention of the city's creative music community. Recognized for his "offbeat approach to articulating harmonies and constructing melodies" (NextBop), Laurenzi's music is inspired and informed by jazz, folk, improvised music, and contemporary classical music. His inventive improvisational sensibilities have made him a sought-after musician in many circles of Chicago's vibrant music scene.

Laurenzi has been a leader/co-leader of his own projects, Twin Talk, Snaketime, and Natural Language, as well as a member of Matt Ulery's Loom/Large, the Quentin Coaxum Quintet, and Katie Ernst's Little Words, among others. He has released several albums featuring his original compositions, including Twin Talk's 2019 release Weaver, praised by PopMatters as "inventive and exhilarating." Laurenzi has toured extensively with Grammy award-winning artist Bon Iver, with performances at Coachella Music Festival, Primavera Sound, and the Hollywood Bowl, among others. He also appears on the band's critically acclaimed 2016 release 22, A Million.

Laurenzi earned a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies and a Performer's Certificate from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music in 2011. He has performed/recorded with Jeff Parker, Matt Ulery, Russ Johnson, Jeff Hirshfield, Corey Christiansen, This Is The Kit, the Dave Lisik Jazz Orchestra featuring Tim Hagans, and has recently been featured at the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, and the Kennedy Center."

"Heralded for his "solos of mercurial poetry and high craft." (Chicago Tribune) Chicago-based trumpeter/composer Chad McCullough has received wide critical-acclaim. His stable of collaborators is a diverse collection of unique musicians and speaks to the depth of his musical palette. Dan McClenaghan writes, "He is a rare instrumentalist who makes each note sound as if it were imbued with a deeper meaning. Certainly a player with great chops, his approach is one that is measured and deliberate, often introspective, sometimes gorgeously melancholic, and one that employs a continuity of mood and atmosphere ..."

As a leader, he has performed with his bands at festivals throughout the globe, including the Festival of New Trumpet Music (New York), the GG Jazz Festival (Krasnodar, Russia), Chicago Jazz Festival, The Earshot Jazz Festival, Halifax Jazz Festival (Nova Scotia) and The Appeltuin Jazz Festival (Belgium). His albums have been released internationally on Origin Records, ears&eyes, Monks and Thieves, and Shifting Paradigm.

He's a member or frequent collaborator with many musicians/ensembles, including ensembles with; Bram Weijters, Matt Ulery, Roger Ingram, Dana Hall, Ryan Shultz, Luke Malewicz, James Davis, and has performed with Maria Schneider, Miguel Zenon, Stafford James, Chad Lefkowicz-Brown, Steve Coleman, Dave Douglas, and many more.

Chad holds a M.M. from the University of Washington, and a B.M. from the University of Idaho, where he was a Lionel Hampton Scholar, and was the first student to graduate with a jazz emphasis on his degree. He toured extensively playing both piano and trumpet in the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and in 2009 participated in the jazz & creative music workshop at the Banff Centre in Canada. In 2017 was awarded a DCASE grant for an intensive study with Grammy-wining trumpeter Tim Hagans. He is currently on the faculty at DePaul University and Merit School of Music, in Chicago."