"Zlatko Kaucic: Born February 1953 in Postojna, Slovenia. In the Early 70's he moved to Italy where he toured and recorded with the group Hero. In 1975 he was involved with the music co-operative Swiss, playing with Irene Schweitzer, Radu Malfatti, Duško Goykovich and Allen Blairman, among the others. In 1976 he moved to Barcelona and began playing in clubs and festivals all over the country with people such as Peter Delphinich, Eric Peter, Tete Montoliu, Claude Guillot, Paul Stocker, Mike Osborne, Burton Greene, John Lewis, Steve Lacy and Kenny Wheeler, as well as giving solo concerts.

In 1979 he toured Portugal with Paul Stocker and then joined The trio with Portuguese bassist Ze Eduardo and pianist Antonio Pinho, which played extensively in Portugal as well as in Macau (China), and subsequently backed Don Rendall, Michael Garrik and Portugese tenorist Rao Kyao.From 1981-83 Zlatko taught drums in the Barcelona "Taller de musicos" jazz school and participated in jazz seminars with Chuck Israels, Ron Mclure and David Schnitter.

Since 1984 he has lived in Amsterdam (Holland). Zlatko has played the "North sea jazz festival" twice and plays with his own trio which tours Spain regularly. He also plays with an octet and composes music for theatre and dance groups. Zlatko's specialty is an unique solo percussions performance that expresses his own personal style.

He has been twice in U.S.A.: 1987 - Itacaca (New York): workshop for theater + music and 1989 - world festival Atlanta (G.A.) with European jazz quintet.

Zlatko has played in Holland with such a diverse musicans like Misha Mandelberg, Toon Rose, Paul Stocker, Sean Bergin, Arnold Dojewerd, Wiebe Wilbers (Skidoo), Frank Graso Big band, Peter Guidi, Paul Bley, Esiet "Okun" Esiet, Michael More, John Patituci, Paolo Fresu, Phone Booth (Theater company), wiht Lisa Pooh (Dance Theater), etc.

1992 he return to Slovenia where he began playing different musical projects like with Paul Bley (Lent festival; Maribor), Steve Lacy, Thelonius Monk Project (Kontrada fest; Kanal ob Soči) with Enrico Rava, Gianluigi Trovesi, Chico Freeman, George Cables, Albert Mangelsdorff, Keeny Wheeler, Alexander Balanescu, Dave Biney, Paul McCandless, Irene Aebi, Trevor Wats, Javier Girotto, Frank Gratkowski, Szilárd Mezei, Marc Ribot, Greg Cohen, Saadet Türköz, Peter Brötzmann, Jean-Luc Cappozzo, Luis Sclavis, Evan Parker, Herb Robertson, Javier Girotto, Agusti Fernandez, Oliver Lake, Phil Minton, AB Baars, Johanes Bauer, Joëlle Léandre, Barry Guy, Maya Homburger, Lotte Anker etc and making music for two documentaries (Kino atelje Gorica) and solo Performances, poetry and dance.

Year 2008 he got award of municipality Brda as creative multi-percussionist, who is recognized and respected on world level.In the interviews Peter Amalietti "Masters the fire" in addition to musicians Archie Shepp, Sun Ra, John Cage, Paquito D'Rivero, Pat Metheny, Odeon Pope, Reggie Workman, Dennis Gonzalez and Woddy Shaw has also published aninterview with Zlatko Kaučič.

Year 2011 he got PREŠERN FUND AWARD (The highest recognition for cultural achievements in Slovenia). video...

Year 2017 he got BEVKOV AWARD for contribution in music and education."

"Torben Snekkestad was born in 1973 in Norway and now resides in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Torben Snekkestad is a classically educated saxophonist, dedicated in both contemporary music and many different forms of improvisation. Alongside with his classical work, he also focuses extensively on jazz.

Torben Snekkestad has premiered numerous pieces, both with his ensembles and also as a soloist with orchestras such as 'The Norwegian Radio Orchestra' and 'Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen'.

He is the soprano-saxophonist of the 'Copenhagen Saxophone Quartet' - one of Denmark's most prominent chamber music ensembles, their records and concerts being internationally acclaimed. He also plays contemporary music in another Danish chamber music ensemble, '4 Elements'.

Duo projects include those with composer Jens Hørsving such as 'Among Machines' and with saxophonist Rolf Erik Nystrøm. Torben Snekkestad also gives solo-saxophone concerts which include compositions by composers such as Berio, Stockhausen and Scelsi, along side with Scandinavian compositions and also his own improvisations/compositions.

As a jazz musician Torben Snekkestad's main projects are: 'Conic Folded' - a solo, duo and trio project which feature many of his own compositions. He performs with such groups as Spring (a Danish free jazz quartet),Tri O`Trang (a Norwegian trio) and Trygve Seim Orchestra(a Norwegian band on the ECM label). Torben Snekkestad's wide ranging musical interests have led him into numerous musical settings over the years, ranging from the music of the baroque and classical chamber music genres to rock, folk music and free jazz.

As a composer he writes mainly for his own ensembles, as well as for other projects.

Torben Snekkestad currently teaches classical saxophone at 'The Royal Danish Academy of Music' and at various workshops.

He has toured extensively throughout Europe, the USA, Russia, East Asia and Argentina."

"Axel Dörner (born 26 April 1964 in Cologne, Germany) is a German jazz musician (trumpet and piano) and composer.

Dörner studied piano in the Dutch town Arnhem (1988-89) and at the Music Academy in Cologne (1989-1996). From 1991 he studied trumpet with Malte Burba, and during his studies he collaborated with trumpeter Bruno Light in the "The Street Fighters Duo". At this time he also joined the ensembles "The Street Fighters Quartet" and "The Street Fighters Double Quartet" together with Matthias Schubert, Bruno Leicht, and Claudio Puntin. In addition the "Axel Dörner Quartet" was initiated (with Frank Gratkowski, Hans Schneider and Martin Blume). With saxophonist Matthias Petzold. he participated on the albums Lifelines and Psalmen Und Lobgesänge.

Dörner has resided in Berlin since 1994, and occurs in the most diverse settings like "The London Jazz Composers Orchestra" and with "Hedros" (together with Mats Gustafsson, Günter Christmann, Barry Guy and others). Since then he has contributed on more than 50 album recordings.

Dörner is distinguished mainly by his versatility. He bouth play the more traditional Bebop, just like he fits in to classic Free Jazz or electronic music. He playd with Otomo Yoshihide at the Donaueschinger Musiktage in 2005. Dörner play both solo concerts and collaborates with his trio "TOOT" (together with Phil Minton and Thomas Lehn) and "Die Anreicherung" with Christian Lillinger, Håvard Wiik and Jan Roder, and in Ken Vandermarks "Territory-Band". Dörner is an integral part of the Berlin scene of experimental new improvisational music. Dörner was given special attention for his interpretation of all compositions by Thelonious Monk, with the pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and his own band "Die Enttäuschung" released on a three CD album (Monks Casino, Complete 2005)."-Wikipedia

"Tomaž Grom (Ljubljana, 1972), double bass player, author

He understands music as a medium of communication rather than aesthetic pleasure. He wants to find reasons for making music. Uncompromisingly he prods at social norms. Music for him is a form of seeking, unanswered questions, flow of ideas, unpredictable situations. Composition is improvisation. Improvisations offers him space to lose himself, to make mistakes, to come up with intriguing solutions. In music, challenges invite thinking and open up new possibilities.

He has performed at festivals across Europe and North America, and has composed music for numerous theater, contemporary dance, puppet performances and movies. He is making video portraits of Slovenian artists for web portal Centralala.si.According to his idea, a feature-length documentary Balkan Whispers, directed by Boris Petkovič, was made. His film Can't Wait For You To Come was premiered in January 2021.

He is the founder and artistic director of Zavod Sploh, an associaton devoted to the production of music and performing arts as well as to education and publishing in the field. He curates music festival Sound Disobedience. He also curated concert cycles Confine aperto (from 2005 until 2018), Zvokotok (from 2014 until 2018) and Neforma (from 2010 until 2014). He is the author of the performances Keemo, Carte Blanche, Rib Cage, Bruto, Ništrc, Forgotten, Overlooked, Soul, Noize, Valve and Wire, sound installation Skladba za harmoniko and a long term project iMstrument.

Closest collaborators in performing arts and movies are: Špela Trošt, Bojan Jablanovec, Tomi Janežič, Loup Abramovici, Špela Čadež, Boris Petković, Urška Djukić, Ana Čigon, Iztok Kovač ...

As an improviser in addition to occasional collaborations (Michel Doneda, Jonas Kocher, Pascal Battus, Nate Wooley, Seijiro Murayama, Marc Ribot, Sonny Simmons, Doug Hammond, Axel Dörner, Eduardo Raon, Matija Schellander, Ana Kravanja, Kaja Draksler, Martin Küchen, Drago Ivanuša ...), he often works with the following musicians: Samo Kutin, Vid Drašler, Jošt Drašler, Irena Z. Tomažin, Andrej Fon, Tao G. Vrhovec Sambolec, Zlatko Kaučič, Eduardo Raon ...

He plays in the following groups: Oholo!, Dörner / Grom, Kaučič / Grom, Kutin / Grom, Tomažin / Grom, Šalter Ensemble."

"Portuguese saxophonist (alto, C melody, baritone, and tenor) Rodrigo Amado specializes in free-form, composition-in-the-moment jazz, and his various projects and trios have given him an international following. Born in Lisbon in 1964, Amado began studying the sax at the age of 17, briefly at the Hot Club Music School of Lisbon and with mentors Carlos Martins, Pedro Madaleno, and Jorge Reis, among other leading Portuguese jazz artists. With diverse musical interests, he explored how improvisation is handled in other genres, although his work with his various ensembles like the Lisbon Improvisation Players and the Motion Trio (with Miguel Mira and Gabriel Ferrandini) falls clearly under the umbrella of 21st century jazz, and he has been an in-demand studio player on numerous recorded projects. He started his own label, Clean Feed, in 2001, with brothers Pedro and Carlos Costa, before leaving the imprint in 2005 to start a second label, European Echoes. Also an accomplished professional photographer, Amado continues to be a bright light on the Portuguese and international improvisational jazz scene."

"Agustí Fernández (Palma de Mallorca, 1954), with a perfectly based career and a well-deserved international reputation, is one of the Spanish musicians of major international projection and a world reference in the field of improvised music. Fernández has worked with famous musicians of the free improvisation scene like Peter Kowald, Derek Bailey, Butch Morris, Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Mats Gustafsson, Joel Ryan and Peter Evans a.m.o. He is a member of the Blue Shroud Band, Mats Gustafsson NU Ensemble and Barry Guy New Orquestra. Up to the current date he has published more than 80 CD's

He has also worked with the recognised composer of contemporary music Héctor Parra, who composed in collaboration with the pianist FREC, a solo for expanded piano. FREC has been premiered at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2013 with the collaboration of the video artist Lucas Caraba. He has conducted various improvised music ensembles like Ad Libitum Ensemble (Varsaw), Free Art Ensemble (Barcelona), Ansambl Studio 6 (Lujbljana) Orquesta FOCO (Madrid), Entenguerengue (Jérez de la Frontera), Impromtu Ensemble (Valencia), etc.

Along his professional life Agustí Fernández has received much recognition. His solo for piano "Mutza" presented in New York in 2007 was distinguished by the New York magazine AllAboutJazz as one of 10 best concerts from that year. The CD "Un llamp que no s'acaba mai" on PSI (Agustí Fernández, John Edwards and Mark Sanders) has been distinguished by Allaboutjazz as one of the best 10 cd's in 2009; the CD "Aurora" on Maya Recordings (Agustí Fernandez, Barry Guy and Ramón López) was selected by Cuadernos de Jazz magazine as the best CD in 2007, by the Jaç magazine as the best fourth disc of the history of the Catalan jazz and it was Disc d'émoi (February, 2007) for the French Jazz Magazine. The "Agustí Fernández Aurora Trio" received the second prize at the BMW Welt Jazz Award 2012 celebrated in Münich, Germany. In 2000 he received the Festival Altaveu Award, Sant Boi de Llobregat (Catalonia). In 2001 he received the FAD - Sebastià Guasch Award, Barcelona (Cataluña) with Andrés Corchero por el or the performance "A modo de esperanza". In 2011 Agustí Fernández was the main character of the documentary film "Los dedos huéspedes" by Lucas Caraba, which has been screened in several international festivals of documentary. In 2014 the Ad Libitum Festival (Warsaw) dedicated a monographic edition to celebrate Fernández's 60th Birthday.

He's professor of improvised music at the Escuela Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC). He's developing an important teaching activity in the field of improvised music and, among other, he has been teaching in IRCAM in Paris, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre de Tallin, the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (Holland), the Conservatory in Arhem (Holland), the Taller de Músicos in Gijón (Spain), the Taller de Músics in Barcelona (Spain) and the Conservatorio Superior de Música in Salamanca (Spain)."

"Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London) is a British composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe. He also taught at Guildhall School of Music.

Born in London, Guy came to the fore as an improvising bassist as a member of a trio with pianist Howard Riley and drummer Tony Oxley (Witherden, 1969). He also became an occasional member of John Stevens' ensembles in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. In the early 1970s, he was a member of the influential free improvisation group Iskra 1903 with Derek Bailey and trombonist Paul Rutherford (a project revived in the late 1970s, with violinist Philipp Wachsmann replacing Bailey). He also formed a long-standing partnership with saxophonist Evan Parker, which led to a trio with drummer Paul Lytton which became one of the best-known and most widely travelled free-improvising groups of the 1980s and 1990s. He was briefly a member of the Michael Nyman Band in the 1980s, performing on the soundtrack of The Draughtsman's Contract.

Guy's interests in improvisation and formal composition received their grandest form in the London Jazz Composers Orchestra. Originally formed to perform Guy's composition Ode in 1972 (released as a 2-LP set on Incus and later, in expanded form, as a 2-CD set on Intakt), it became one of the great large-scale European improvising ensembles. Early documentation is spotty - the only other recording from its early years is Stringer (FMP, now available on Intakt paired with the later "Study II") - but beginning in the late 1980s the Swiss label Intakt set out to document the band more thoroughly. The result was a series of ambitious, album-length compositions designed to give all the players in the band maximum opportunity for expression while still preserving a rigorous sense of form: Zurich Concerts, Harmos, Double Trouble (originally written for an encounter with Alexander von Schlippenbach's Globe Unity Orchestra, though the eventual CD was just for the LJCO), Theoria (a concerto for guest pianist Irène Schweizer), Three Pieces, and Double Trouble Two. The group's activities subsided in the mid-1990s, but it was never formally disbanded, and reconvened in 2008 for a one-off concert in Switzerland. In the mid-1990s Guy also created a second, smaller ensemble, the Barry Guy New Orchestra.

Guy has also written for other large improvising ensembles, such as the NOW Orchestra and ROVA (the piece Witch Gong Game inspired by images by the visual artist Alan Davie).

His current improvising activities include piano trios with Marilyn Crispell and Agusti Fernandez. He has also recorded several albums for ECM, which often focus on the interface between improvisers and electronics, including his work in Evan Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble and his own Ceremony.

Guy's session work in the pop field includes playing double bass on the song "Nightporter", from the Japan album Gentlemen Take Polaroids.

He is married to the early music violinist Maya Homburger. After spending some years in Ireland, they now live in Switzerland. They run the small label Maya, which releases a variety of records in the genres of free improvisation, baroque music and contemporary composition.

Guy's jazz work is characterised by free improvisation, using a range of unusual playing methods: bowed and pizzicato sounds beneath the bass's bridge; plucking the strings above the left hand; beating the strings with percussion instrument mallets; and "preparing" the instrument with sticks and other implements inserted between the strings and fingerboard. His improvisations are often percussive and unpredictable, inhabiting no discernible harmonic territory and pushing into unknown regions. However, they can also be melodious and tender with due regard for harmonic integration with other players, and at times he will even play with a straight jazz swing feel.

Similarly, in his concert works, Guy manages to alternate harmonic and rhythmic complexity worthy of 1960s experimentalists such as Penderecki and Stockhausen with joyous, often ecstatic, melody. Works such as "Flagwalk" for string orchestra and "Fallingwater - Concerto for Orchestra" display Guy's compositional skill in handling extended forms and writing for large instrumental groups.

Some of his compositions, such as "Witch Gong Game" for ensemble, use graphic notation in conjunction with cue cards to lead performers into playing and improvising material from numbered sections of the score.

He is also an architect."