"Fred Jackson Jr. was born in 1974 in Fort Worth, Texas. Although I did not come in a musical family, my family helped to craft me as a musician with their vast music collections. I heard every American genre, sitcom music on tv, etc growing up. I was attracted to the film scores in movies. I loved the way it brought out the characters in the stories.

I started on the saxophone in the seventh grade. My band director Brian Standridge at Paul Lawrence Dunbar Middle School saw my talent and worked with me. Then he turned me on to Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins and Duke Ellington then I was hooked. I vowed to follow the path of Jazz. My life would mirror the story of Jazz and it's migration. Which is the Great Migration in the United States. My first stop was Weatherford, Texas. I played big band music. The music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Thad Jones. At Weatherford Junior College I would be under the direction of Tom Burchill. I met a lot of the musicians that went to the historic Dallas Arts Magnet who cultivated the talents of some of the great talents of the area. Roy Hargrove, Fred Sanders, many others. FredJacksonMic.jpeg

I went to Southern University, Baton Rouge and had the opportunity of studying with the world renown jazz clarinetist Alvin Batiste. I became the first graduate of his AA in Jazz studies. I spent two years with "Bat" most of the time it was one on one. (We shedded on his Mitotic Music concepts) I also studied a lot of Coltrane during this time. I also studied Counterpoint and Compositions from Dr Charles Lloyd. I also became a member of Phi Mu Alpha / Mu psi Spr '95. (HBCU). It should be noted that while in Louisiana I shared the stage with many great musicians and artists. All of my brothers of Phi Mu Alpha/ Mu psi, also Kafele Bandele, The Mike Foster Project (Brass Band), Troy Davis, Mark Whitfield, Lashawn Gary, Roland Guerin, Donald Edwards, Nicholas Peyton, Brice Winston, Alvin Batiste, Doja Composure (hip hop band before The Roots haha), Quamon Fowler, Wes Anderson (taught me lessons), many others. I used to run a jam session at M's Cafe in Baton Rouge owned by Ms Marian Prichard. My sessions used to have the cats from New Orleans come out. (professionals too) Nicholas Peyton set in on piano. Changed my perspective on things, I knew I had to learn piano.

After I received my Bachelors from S. U. In 1999, I moved to Chicago. I jumped into the scene right away. The first places where I stopped were, The Apartment Lounge (Von Freeman and the Velvet Lounge (Fred Anderson. From these two establishments I met all the cats first of which was Vincent Davis. I lived on the north side first, then Logan, then the Westside, then The Southside for most of the time. The whole time playing Jazz with Maggie Brown, Magic Carpet, Jimmy Bennington, Carrazz / Pati, Crosswinds, Corey Wilkes, Vincent Davis (in da basement), Harrison Bankhead, Avreeayl Ra, Perry Wilson (mentored me), Fred Anderson (we shedded together). Saalik Zyiad, AACM and so many more.

In 2010 I became a member of AACM. Also around this time I went to Poznań, Poland on a "Made in Chicago'' tour. First time I traveled to Germany was with the AACM New Generations ensemble (under the direction of Ben Lamar Gaye). I was in the first inaugural band of "The Bridge'' that played at the MCA in 2010. Since then because of the Bridge I have been to France many times. (I've also toured France in 2017 with that same ensemble Ste.) I went back to school in 2012 - 14 and received my Masters in Jazz studies from DePaul where I studied with Mark Colby, Dr Dana Hall, Dr Robert Lark, Tom Matta (composition) and many other professors. I have always been a student of music. Also I studied extensively the music of the African diaspora for ten years, mainly the North and west. Magic Carpet allowed me the opportunity to study music from all over the world. I've had the honor of performing with some of Ethiopia's finest vocalists and musicians. Abonesh Sedinew, Tigist, Teddy Akililu and many others. I've also performed and studied the music of the Middle East. Chicago has allowed me to play all types of music from House, Funk and many other genre.

I've been teaching pre - k - 8th grade since 2015 at St Symphorosa and St Mary's Star of the Sea School. Currently I'm working with a Sitarist (Shanta Nuerulla of AACM) and my Erudition Project. My newest venture is Spacetonic Music (Music publishing label since 2017).

I was recently awarded the 2020-21 "Fresh Works, New Voices" grant from the Jazz Institute of Chicago. This grant will be an opportunity to make a documentary and an album of original compositions.

Now I'm back on the north side of Chicago still studying, still writing and still teaching. My life is has been a total dedication to Music.

Dean of the AACM School."

"Ishmael Ali is a first generation Filipino-Arab-American cellist, guitarist, improviser, composer, and electronic artist currently residing in Chicago. His work centers on exploring sound through improvisation, experimentation, collaboration, as well as a wide array of idiomatic approaches in an ever-changing, always-growing list of projects with diverse focuses and influences.Though varying drastically from group to group, a common thread in his work is the juxtaposition of seemingly disparate elements to create something new: both foreign and familiar.

In addition to performing, Mr. Ali is a co-founder and audio engineer at the recording space Marmalade in Chicago and was the founder and director of the now inoperative music and art space, Orotund Music. He continues to work as an organizer and promoter through the music series OBTC."

"Bill Harris is a percussionist, composer, improviser, and audio engineer from Pittsburgh currently based in Chicago. He also operates and produces for Amalgam, a Chicago-based collective.

(B. 1987, Pittsburgh, PA)

Bill has been active in Chicago's music communities since 2011, working at the intersection of free improvisation, jazz, noise, rock, and country. His music has been presented at Constellation, Elastic Arts, The Bop Stop, The Hungry Brain, The Hideout, Experimental Sound Studios, Spot Tavern, Beat Kitchen, Empty Bottle, and Comfort Station.

Bill is humbled to have played or recorded with Jim Baker, Dave Rempis, Kent Kessler, Brian Sandstrom, Ed Wilkerson, Carol Genetti, Angel Bat Dawid, Jeb Bishop, Peter Maunu, Josh Berman, Brandon Lopez, Keefe Jackson, and Jason Roebke, among many other experimental and improvisatory musicians and artists.

Bill is constantly inspired by and thankful to work with his frequent collaborators: Ishmael Ali, Jake Wark, Timothee Quost, PT Bell, Gerrit Hatcher, Eli Namay, Matt Piet, Brianna Tong, Wills McKenna, David Fletcher, Jess McIntosh, Aaron Smith, Jeff Kimmel, Adam Shead, Molly Jones, Jakob Heinemann, and many others...

In 2015 he started Amalgam, a 100% artist-run collective and label dedicated to showcasing works of improvised and experimental music in Chicago. Bill is also an audio engineer working in both studio and live situations, and operates an independent studio in Chicago with engineering, mixing, mastering, and production credits on labels such as Amalgam, Astral Spirits, No Index, 577 Records and Ears&Eyes."

"Chicago master drummer/percussionist Avreeayl Ra was born in Chicago and still lives there today. He is a renowned musician always in demand among visiting jazz artists in Chicago. Avreeayl's father, Arthur 'Swinglee' O'Neil, was a tenor saxophonist who was mentor to many young Chicago musicians, including John Gilmore, later the mainstay of Sun Ra's Arkestra. Avreeayl is a long-term member of the Chicago AACM, and has performed and/or recorded with Fred Anderson, Amiri Baraka, Fontella Bass, Lester Bowie, Ari Brown, Oscar Brown, Jr., Henry Butler, Henry Byrd ('Professor Longhair'), Hamid Drake, Nicole Mitchell, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, Malachi Thompson, and many more."