"Joel Futterman, Piano and Indian Flute

Determined to push the limits of the piano to techniques never heard in jazz, Joel began a 25-year regimen of practicing 8-10 hours a day. During this period, he developed a three-hand technique based on completely autonomous playing between the hands. With more than 70 recordings, he is considered one of the most innovative yet enigmatic new music pianists.

Known for his spirited, highly imaginative, and innovative piano technique, Joel Futterman is an internationally recognized veteran pioneer into the frontiers of spontaneous, improvised music. He is considered one of the foremost inventive and adventurous artists shaping the creative, progressive music scene today. Futterman continuously pushes the limits of the piano as he explores new musical horizons. He has performed across North America and Europe including at such noted music festivals as the Tampere Jazz Festival in Finland, the Vision Festival in New York, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and the Guelph Festival in Canada. He has performed with such notable jazz innovators as Jimmy Lyons, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Paul Murphy, Joseph Jarman, Richard Davis, William Parker, Alvin Fielder, and Hal Russell; as well as Edward 'Kidd' Jordan, with whom he has had a highly productive association. For many years, Futterman has also played the Indian Wooden Flute.

Joel Futterman was born in Chicago, IL. He grew up and lived in Chicago until 1972. Joel had piano lessons from about age 9-11, then continued playing on his own, eventually studying theory and harmony with Alan Swain. Joel met Clarence (Gene) Shaw when he was 18 and studied with Clarence for two years. Clarence was an important influence at the time. One night Clarence invited Joel to his home for a party. He introduced Joel to Charles Mingus. Joel recalls that Mingus gripped his hand firmly and stared up at the ceiling.

Joel attended University of Illinois in Chicago obtaining a (B.S.). Herman Finer, professor of political science, was a profound influence and encouraged Joel to pursue his creative endeavors.

While Joel was in college, his mother passed away and he isolated himself and began practicing 12 to 16 hours a day. Practicing was the only comfort for him at this time.

Joel attended Northeastern University in Chicago and worked on an MS in Education. He was nine hours short of receiving the degree when he decided to leave Chicago. Joel did receive an MS in Education with an endorsement in Reading at Old Dominion University in 1975.

In 1972, Joel moved to Virginia, where he resides today, in a personal quest to develop his creative voice. His first album, CAFETERIA, was released in 1980 to considerable acclaim due to its originality. Since then, his recordings have included a number of jazz legends, such as Jimmy Lyons, Richard Davis, Hal Russell, William Parker and others. In 1994, photographer Michael Wilderman introduced Joel to Edward 'Kidd' Jordan, and since then Joel has enjoyed many rewarding musical collaborations with Kidd and drummer Alvin Fielder. Also, Joel Futterman has had a deep association with artist Ike Levin, founder of the Charles Lester Label."

"Ike Levin has been playing reed instruments professionally for over 28 years. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Ike was an active performer in the windy city's vibrant jazz, blues, and new music scene before relocating to the San Francisco Bay area. He studied music composition at the Roosevelt University Conservatory of Music and in the Jazz Studies program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. While a student, Ike performed as a regular member of the University of Illinois Jazz Orchestra and played with the Jazz Members Big Band comprised of many of the Chicago area's top jazz musicians who used the Band as a forum for original arrangements and experimental compositions. Ike studied privately with legendary jazz saxophone master Joe Daley who helped him develop his technique and establish his neo-bop foundations.

Ike also studied with Fred Anderson, one of the co-founders of the Chicago based avant-garde jazz organization Association for the Advancement of Creative Music (AACM). Under the tutelage of Fred Anderson Ike began to explore new musical frontiers for his improvisational work unencumbered by harmonic structures and strict time meter. As he tells it, "At first, I thought Fred was going to get me into abstract concepts of the music, but initially we used to play Charlie Parker heads over and over again together. He was getting me into Bird's amazing concept of phrasing which is the foundation of all improvisational work." However, his real development as a jazz musician came from listening and occasionally sitting in with the many great jazz artists who came through Chicago's jazz clubs during the 70's and early 80's. Whether its "straight ahead" or freer forms of jazz, Ike is never content to rely on clichés or simply replicate past musical phrases. Instead, he is always searching for new musical ideas and sounds all the while focusing on keeping the music swinging.

Ike's orientation to his instruments and approach to jazz improvisation has had a multitude of influences. Some of his major influences include the saxophonists John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Jimmy Lyons, Sonny Rollins, and Dexter Gordon, as well as Albert Ayler. The music of Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus have also influenced his approach and concept of improvisation. Additionally, Ike identifies such 20th century composers as Bartok, Perdercki, and Boulez as influencing the way he conceives of musical composition and tonality.

In addition to Chicago and San Francisco, Ike has performed in cities across the US and Canada including Portland, Cleveland, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Toronto. For the past 7 years, Ike has had a very productive association with pianist Joel Futterman with whom he performs and records regularly. He has also performed with such internationally acclaimed musicians as Ira Sullivan, Robert Barry, Wilbur Campbell, Reggie Nicholson, Alvin Fielder, Ed Petersen, and Bay Area jazz stalwarts Oluyemi Thomas, Randall Hunt, Smiley Winters, Walter Savage, and Kash Killion. Ike has also led his own quartets and small ensembles comprised of veteran jazz talents."

"Kash Killion: Cello, Contra Bass, & Serangi

Born in Alton, Illinois (Miles Davis' home town), Kash was raised listening to jazz-his brother was a jazz trumpeter-in the very fertile music scene in and around East St. Louis, Illinois. Drawn first to clarinet, then voice, flute, electric guitar and electric bass, Kash started performing professionally at age ten.

Through high school he was working in doo-wop, funk, soul, rock and church groups. In 1974, he entered college and started studying classical contrabass. Soon he was also studying violin and cello. Moving to L.A. City College in 1976, piano giant Horace Tapscott became his mentor and Kash played bass in Tapscott's Ark Orchestra; drummer Billy Higgins was part of that scene, too. This rekindled his interest in straight ahead jazz. On the straight ahead jazz front, Kash has played with great players like Donald Byrd, George Cables, Billy Higgins, Bobby Hutcherson, James Newton, and Billy Bang.

Kash studied music at the University of Southern California and earned a degree in Jazz Composition and Performance at Antioch University. He studied the classical contra bass with David Young of the Texas Symphony, and Emile Jorso of the Oakland Symphony, as well as cello with Marilyn Blanc of the Oakland Symphony. Mr. Killion was the "artist in residence" at the San Francisco Exploratorium where he composed and conducted a creative chamber piece performed by San Francisco based musicians, and has taught violin and cello in the San Francisco and Oakland elementary schools and has lectured North Carolina Central University and Duke University on the history of string instruments the evolution of jazz based music. He also provides private instruction in music theory and instrument technique on the cello and contrabass. Kash has performed at the Herbst Theater and Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, the Lincoln Center and Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) in New York, as well as several jazz festivals in the U.S., Asia, and Europe.

Kash's interest in avant garde jazz was ignited by Sun Ra in 1978-and further heightened by meeting and playing with Pharoah Sanders. In L.A. Kash was playing bass as his primary instrument, but getting more and more interested in cello. When he moved to the Bay Area in 1984, he switched almost entirely to cello, mainly because of the freedom to use it in roles as diverse as a horn or a guitar or a bass.In the Bay Area he started playing and touring with a number of avant-garde jazz groups, notably one with Paul Murphy, Glen Spearman and India Cook. That was the beginning of his long musical association with Paul Murphy. Kash has played extensively in avant garde circles with such icons as Cecil Taylor, John Zorn, Julius Hemphill, Reggie Workman, Sun Ra, Butch Morris and George Lewis. More recently, he has recorded and performed with improvisational musicians Joel Futterman and Ike Levin.

Kash also has a deep interest in world music. He studied with the great Indian musician, Ali Akbar Khan, and has toured and recorded with his orchestra. He has recorded Afro-Cuban music with several salsa groups. He composes and performs for both dance troupes and poets. Major poets he has accompanied including Amiri Baraka, Alice Walker, Quincy Troupe, Shirley Le Flore and Jessica Hagdorm."