"Ashley-John Long is a virtuoso bassist and composer active in a diverse range of musical idioms including Jazz and Improvisation, Session Music, Early and Contemporary Chamber Music, and as a Soloist. He graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama with 1st Class Honors where he studied double bass with Dominic Seldis, Dudley Phillips, Nick Weldon and Paula Gardiner, and composition with Tim Raymond and Peter Reynolds.

Since graduation he has maintained a busy and varied freelance career which has taken in many strands. He has performed and recorded with some of the UK's leading Jazz musicians including Art Themen, Simon Spillett, Brandon Allen, Craig Millverton, Alan Barnes, Dave Newton, Geoff Eales, Damon Brown, Bobby Wellins, Osian Roberts, Steve Melling, as well as visiting artists including Scott Hamilton, Erin Dickens, Greg Abate and Daryl Sherman.

Ash has performed internationally as a soloist and has given premiers of numerous new works for solo bass, and toured in 2008 with French double bassist Louis-Michel Marion with a series of recitals featuring music by Xenakis, Bussotti, Scelsi and Barry Guy. Over 20 composers have written new works for him and has had performances broadcast on television and radio throughout the U.K and Europe..

A virtuoso improviser, Ash has developed a unique approach to the instrument creating innovative new performance techniques including methods of preparing the bass whilst performing and recording with some of the music's leading players, including Keith Tippett, Paul Dunmall, Phillip Gibbs, Eugene Chadbourne, Rhodri Davies, Mark Wastell, Patrick Farmer, Paul Dunmall, Dominic Lash, Alex Ward, Bruce Coates, Paul Hession and Christian Munthe.

His work in the orchestral world has taken in everything from Gabrielli to Stockhausen and he has performed as principal double bass with various ensembles, as well as playing a great deal of chamber music and co-founding Ensemble Wreckhead with Adam Bell.

From 2012-14 he toured the world with Nofit State Circus' critically acclaimed show Bianco out of which grew his collaboration with Gareth Jones, resulting in the 'A Place to Start' EP by Fireproof Giant.

As a composer, Ash has carved a niche as a creator of innovative scores that balance fine detail with freedom and flexibility whilst retaining a strong melodic sense. Recent commissions have been acclaimed for their original and inventive writing including; Flux (2006) and Hevelspending (2010) for the Lunar Saxophone Quartet, Songs of the Night (2007) for Joel Garthwaite, and XAS (2008) for himself and Louis-Michel Marion and Dance Miniatures (2013) for the Syzygy Saxophone Quartet and Shelter (2015), an opera for Asking4it productions. His works are published by Staunch Music, Recital Music and Alto Publications.

He also works as an educator and has taught at The University of Glamorgan, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff University, County Wexford School of Music (Ireland) and MusicTime School (Milan, Italy) and also teaches Mini Bass projects for Gwent Music.

He was awarded a PhD scholarship by Cardiff University in 2015 where he is undertaking research into contemporary performance practice.

Ashley is a D'Addario Performing Artist and uses Zyex and Helicore bass strings."

UK free improvising guitarist Philip Gibbs is known for the following bands and organization: Antonio Quijano Quartet, Atmospheres Without Oxygen, Circuit, Paul Dunmall Moksha Big Band, Paul Dunmall Quartet, Paul Dunmall, Paul Rogers, Philip Gibbs, Paul Dunmall, Philip Gibbs, Paul Rogers Freedom Orchestra, The Intuitive Art Ensemble

"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.

"Benedict Taylor is an award winning composer & solo violist specialising in contemporary music and improvisation. He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music & Goldsmiths College, and is a leading figure within the area of contemporary composition & string performance, at the forefront of the British & European new and improvised music scene.

He composes, performs & records internationally, in many leading venues and festivals including: Royal Court Theatre, Rambert Dance Company, BBC Arts Online, Berlinale, Venice International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Huddersfield Contemporary Festival, London Contemporary Music Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Cantiere D'Arte di Montepulciano, Edinburgh Festival, CRAM Festival, Cafe Oto, The Barbican, Royal Albert Hall, Southbank Centre, The Vortex, Ronnie Scott's, ICA, BBC Radio 3 & 2, Radio Libertaire Paris, Resonance FM London.

Through his work he is involved with a number of higher education institutions, giving composition, improvisation & performance lectures at the Royal College of Music, City University and Goldsmiths College amongst others. He is the founder and artistic director of CRAM, a music collective and independent record label dedicated to new music."