"Curtis Fowlkes (born March 19, 1950) is an American jazz trombonist and singer. He is a founding member of The Jazz Passengers.

In 1987, Fowlkes started The Jazz Passengers with saxophonist Roy Nathanson. He has also been a member of The Lounge Lizards, the Kansas City All-Stars, and a quartet led by jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. He has toured with Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra and the Duke Ellington Orchestra when it was led by drummer Louis Bellson. He released his debut solo album in 1999."

"Marc Ribot (pronounced REE-bow) was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1954. As a teen, he played guitar in various garage bands while studying with his mentor, Haitian classical guitarist and composer Frantz Casseus. After moving to New York City in 1978, Ribot was a member of the soul/punk Realtones, and from 1984 - 1989, of John Lurie's Lounge Lizards. Between 1979 and 1985, Ribot also worked as a side musician with Brother Jack McDuff, Wilson Pickett, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Chuck Berry, and many others.

Rolling Stone points out that "Guitarist Marc Ribot helped Tom Waits refine a new, weird Americana on 1985's "Rain Dogs", and since then he's become the go-to guitar guy for all kinds of roots-music adventurers: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp." Additional recording credits include Soloman Burke, Neko Case, Diana Krall, Beth Orton, Marianne Faithful, Arto Lindsay, Caetano Veloso, Laurie Anderson, Susana Baca, McCoy Tyner, The Jazz Passengers, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Cibo Matto, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, James Carter, Vinicio Capposella (Italy), Auktyon (Russia), Vinicius Cantuaria, Sierra Maestra (Cuba), Alain Bashung (France), Marisa Monte, Allen Ginsburg, Madeleine Peyroux, Sam Phillips, and more recently Joe Henry, Allen Toussaint, Norah Jones, Akiko Yano, The Black Keys, Jeff Bridges, Jolie Holland, Elton John/Leon Russell and many others. Ribot frequently collaborates with producer T Bone Burnett, most notably on Alison Krauss and Robert Plant's Grammy Award winning "Raising Sand" and regularly works with composer John Zorn.

Marc has released over 20 albums under his own name over a 35-year career, exploring everything from the pioneering jazz of Albert Ayler with his group "Spiritual Unity" (Pi Recordings), to the Cuban son of Arsenio Rodríguez with two critically acclaimed releases on Atlantic Records under "Marc Ribot Y Los Cubanos Postizos". His avant power trio/post-rock band, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog (Pi Recordings), continues the lineage of his earlier experimental no-wave/punk/noise groups Rootless Cosmopolitans (Island Antilles) and Shrek (Tzadik). Marc's solo recordings include "Marc Ribot Plays The Complete Works of Frantz Casseus" (Les Disques Du Crepuscule), "John Zorn's The Book of Heads" (Tzadik), "Don't Blame Me" (DIW), "Saints" (Atlantic), "Exercises in Futility" (Tzadik), and his latest "Silent Movies" released in 2010 on Pi Recordings was described as a "down-in-mouth-near master piece" by the Village Voice and has landed on several Best of 2010 lists including the LA Times and critical praise across the board. 2013 saw the release of "Your Turn" (Northern Spy), the sophomore effort from Ribot's post-rock/noise trio Ceramic Dog, and 2014 saw the monumental release: "Marc Ribot Trio Live at the Village Vanguard" (Pi Recordings), documenting Marc's first headline and the return of Henry Grimes at the historical venue in 2012 already included on Best of 2014 lists including Downbeat Magazine and NPR's 50 Favorites.

Marc has performed on scores such as "The Kids Are All Right," "Where the Wild Things Are," "Walk The Line (Mangold)," "Everything is Illuminated," and "The Departed" (Scorcese)." Marc has also composed original scores including the French film Gare du Nord (Simon), the PBS documentary "Revolucion: Cinco Miradas," the film "Drunkboat," starring John Malkovich and John Goodman, a documentary film by Greg Feldman titled "Joe Schmoe," a feature film by director Joe Brewster titled "The Killing Zone", and dance pieces "In as Much as Life is Borrowed", by famed Belgian choreographer, Wim Vandekeybus, and Yoshiko Chuma's "Altogether Different". Marc is also currently touring his live solo guitar score to Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid", which was commissioned by the NY Guitar Festival and premiered Jan 2010 at Merkin Hall, as well as a program of new arrangements of classic Film Noir scores commissioned by the New School Noir Arts Festival 2011.

In 2009, Marc was named curator and musical director for the year's Century of Song Festival, part of the Ruhr Triennale in Germany. The concert series sparked new collaborations with Iggy Pop, Marianne Faithfull, David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, master cajón player Juan Medrano Cotito, Carla Bozulich and Tine Kindermann.

Marc's talents have also been showcased with a full symphony orchestra. Composer Stewart Wallace wrote a guitar concerto with orchestra specifically for Marc. The piece was premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC in July of 2004 and also appeared at The Cabrillo Festival in Santa Cruz, CA in August of 2005.

Marc is currently touring with several projects including the Marc Ribot Trio, a free jazz group featuring legendary bassist Henry Grimes and Chad Taylor on drums, his power trio Ceramic Dog with bassist Shahzad Ismaily and drummer Ches Smith, the Philly soul meets the harmolodics of Ornette Coleman's The Young Philadelphians with Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Calvin Weston, and with Caged Funk, a project of funk arrangements of John Cage's music featuring Bernie Worrell of Parliament Funkadelic fame."

"New York born Brad Christopher Jones is a bassist, composer, and educator. He has recorded, performed, and toured around the world with a diverse array of artists that include Ornette Coleman, Elvis Costello, Elvin Jones, David Byrne, Muhal Richard Abrams, Sheryl Crow, Deborah Harry, Dave Douglas, Vernon Reid, John Zorn, Don Byron, Marc Ribot, and The Jazz Passengers.

Brad has released three recordings under his own leadership with two seperate projects:"UNCIVILIZED POISE" and "THE EMBODIMENT" with his band Aka Alias, and"POURING MY HEART IN" with the Brad Jones Quartet.

Brad is also an experienced educator who has taught workshops and master classes in France, Italy, Canada, and Mexico and is part of the music faculty at Columbia University in New York City."

"Sam Bardfeld is a violinist, composer, arranger and author. He is a member of The Jazz Passengers and a frequent collaborator of Bruce Springsteen's. He has worked as sideman with a long list of jazz, pop, folk and experimental acts including Elvis Costello, John Zorn, Calexico, Anthony Braxton, Henry Butler, Debbie Harry, Steven Bernstein, John Cale, Kris Davis, Savion Glover, The Red Clay Ramblers, Nancy Sinatra, Willie Colon, The String Trio of NY, Hank Roberts, Johnny Pacheco, Dar Williams, and Chuck Prophet among others.

Bardfeld's latest recording with pianist Kris Davis and drummer Michael Sarin, The Great Enthusiasms (BJUR, 2017), earned acclaim from top critics including Nate Chinen who called it "brilliantly odd and altogether lovely" (WBGO, 2017); Bill Milkowski, who said "[Sam's playing] combines a touch of Stuff Smith's playfulness with a Charles Ives aesthetic - Four Stars!" (Downbeat, 2017); and LucidCulture "this is the great violin recording Monk never made, one of the 10 best jazz records of the year." His earlier recordings, Taxidermy (CIMP, 1999) and Periodic Trespasses (FreshSounds, 2006) also earned acclaim, including a "4-Star" rating in Downbeat magazine, raves in Jazz Times, Jazziz magazine and "4-Stars" in All Music Guide (both recordings). He has performed with his own group at jazz festivals and clubs throughout Europe including Banlieues Bleues (Paris), Sud-Tirol (Italy) and Porgy and Bess (Vienna). In 2019, Bardfeld was voted #5 in the El Intruso International Jazz Critics Poll in the Violin/Viola category.

In addition to being a member of the Jazz Passengers, Sam's jazz playing is featured as a member of Roy Nathanson's Sotto Voce and Joel Harrison's String Choir and he has toured and/or recorded with Michael Attias' Sextet, Royal Hartigan's Blood Drum Spirit, Butler/Bernstein and the Hot 9, Steven Bernstein's MTO, Anthony Braxton's Trillium Orchestra, Ingrid Laubrock's Orchestra, Vince Giordano's Nighthawks and many other groups.

Sam's arranging credits include work for Calexico, Nancy Sinatra, film music for Hedwig and the Angry Inch composer Stephen Trask, and work on the Broadway-bound production of Lone Star Love with The Red Clay Ramblers. He has also served as string contractor for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (2009 MSG and 2016 US tour), Gilberto Santa Rosa (Carnegie Hall) and Chuck Prophet (2014 US tour).

In the 1990's, Sam's immersion in NYC's fertile Salsa and Latin Jazz scene led to writing a book, Latin Violin (Hal Leonard, 2002), considered to be the authoritative work on the Afro-Cuban violin tradition. He is also an instructor of jazz violin at the New School jazz program in NYC.

Sam studied violin technique with Gerald Beal and Joey Corpus, improvisation with Bill Barron, George Garzone and Richie Beirach and counterpoint with Paul Caputo. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1990 where he studied music, anthropology and history. In 1991 he received a year-long Ford Foundation grant to study ethnomusicology at Wesleyan."