"I'm Chad Fowler. I write books, write and play music, write software, lead organizations (currently for Microsoft, in Berlin), invest in startups, speak at conferences, teach, learn, organize conferences, etc.

I started and co-organized a couple of Ruby-related conferences including The International Ruby Conference and RailsConf."

"Shanyse Strickland is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer and arranger. While French horn iS her Primary instrument, Ms. Strickland plays a variety of woodwind and brass instruments.

Originally from Akron, OH, Shanyse Strickland has led a life full of music in various shapes, forms and sizes. Starting her musical journey on wind instruments, Shanyse began as a flutist, then switched to the French Horn and eventually a host of other brass instruments, including trumpet and trombone. Combining her love for singing, composing/arranging and playing the horn, Shanyse has established her self as a "jack-of-all-trades, but a master of a few."

Shanyse has had a career full of new and innovative experiences with world class musicians all over the country. While pursuing her undergrad at Youngstown State University, she played trombone and flute for the reuniting Ohio Players, under the direction of the bands piano player and songwriter, Billy Beck. While in Pittsburgh, she was the flute feature of a local group called the Level Up Band, where she performed a variety of genres including neo-soul, jazz and R&B from the past and present. Paying homage to rock n roll pioneer Betty Davis, she performed as a guest artist with the Davis's original band as a part of an independent documentary filmed in Pittsburgh. Shanyse was the winner of the 2016 Jazz Solo Competition at the International Horn Symposium (IHS), where she was able to perform in front of jazz composer and hornist David Amram, along with a host of other jazz hornists. She recently won a space as a composer in the 2023 Music by Women International Festival, which will premiere a commissioned piece titled Afrofuturism, which also was the winning piece for the Urgent Art Fund grant through SPACES. After relocating to New Jersey, Shanyse performed at the 2019 Heisman Trophy Ceremony aired on ESPN, along with her recent performance at 2021 Heisman Trophy Ceremony including the Heisman Trophy Gala. Expanding her love for writing music, Shanyse has written and published seven original works, one of which was performed by the horn section of the New Haven Symphony titled "Moods." Shanyse has written commissioned works for the horn section of the Seattle Symphony, the brass faculty at the University of Texas, the DC Strings in Washington, DC and many other musicians around the country.

Shanyse currently freelances with horn and flute, and teaches an independent studio of students in greater New Jersey. She is continuously composing and doing track work for various artists around the country."

"Sana Nagano, violonist: Ever since she moved in New York City (2010), violinist and composer Sana Nagano has been performing actively in NY jazz, classical and underground music scenes. Her latest collaborations include with Karl Berger, Adam Rudolph, William Parker, Daniel Carter, the Manhattan Symphonie, Nioka Workman, John Ehlis, Federico Ughi, Harvey Valdes, Marius Duboule, Brittany Anjou, Jeffrey Shurdut and others.

Nagano holds MA degree from Aaron Copland School of Music of Queens College, BA degree from Berklee College of Music, both in jazz performance/composition major. She had studied with Joe Lovano, George Garzone, Mat Maneri, Dave Fiuczynski, Mark Feldman, Antonio Hart, Chris Howes, Hal Crook, Darren Barrett, Jeff Galindo, Rob Thomas, Matt Glaser, David Berkman and others."

"Melanie Dyer performs and composes in creative, improvised and through-composed music spheres. She trained with William Lincer (Principal Violist, New York Philharmonic), Lee Yeingst (Principal Violist, Colorado Symphony Orchestra), John Jake Kella (NY Metropolitan Opera) and Naomi Fellows (Colorado Symphony Orchestra); and studied viola performance at the LaMont School of Music/University of Denver.

Melanie founded WeFreeStrings, an improvising string/rhythm collective rooted in improvised music in 2011. ​From 2004 - 2013, under her Bb Universe banner and in collaboration with the multi-generational, multi-ethnic Scientific Soul Sessions collective, Melanie's Harlem home became the scene of underground public performances by WeFreeStrings and other large and small music ensembles. Bb Universe hosted open rehearsals and performances, recordings, lectures, one-act plays and films including presentations by recognized indigenous activists Toaksin Ghosthorse, a performance of Robbie McCauley's Sally's Rape and a screening of John Douglas' documentary, Grenada: The Future Coming Towards Us. These monthly and semi-monthly events brought cultural luminaries, emerging artists, social and environmental activists, working and under-employed people together. Open dialogues, emphasizing individuals as agents of change, were central to Bb Universe and Scientific Soul Sessions.​Melanie currently performs with the Sun Ra Arkestra, Heroes Are Gang Leaders, Gwen Laster's New Muse 4tet, William Parker, Tomeka Reid Stringtet, Patricia Nicholson's Women w an Axe to Grind. She's played and/or recorded with Henry Grimes, Nona Hendryx, Joe Bonner, Reggie Workman, Howard Johnson, and a many other notable musicians in Europe, South Africa and across the U.S.

Recordings include WeFreeStrings Fulfillment (Indepstrings, 2018), David Haney's Birth of a City (2019), Come Sunday (T. Cumberbatch, 2015); Fred Ho & Quincy Saul Present the Music of Cal Massey: A Tribute (2011); Live at St Nick's Pub, Salim Washington & Donald Smith Ensemble, Cadence Records (2007); With Strings, Salim Washington & The Harlem Arts Ensemble, CIMP Records (2007); Harlem Homecoming, Salim Washington & The Harlem Arts Ensemble, UJam Records (2005), and others. WeFreeStrings has received project support from New Music USA, Chamber Music America, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, and individual donors."

"Ken Filiano performs throughout the world, playing and recording with leading artists in jazz, spontaneous improvisation, classical, world/ethnic, and interdisciplinary performance, fusing the rich traditions of the double bass with his own seemingly limitless inventiveness. Ken's solo bass CD, subvenire (NineWinds), received widespread critical praise. For this and numerous other recordings, Ken has been called a creative virtuoso, a master of technique ... a paradigm of that type of artist... who can play anything in any context and make it work, simply because he puts the music first and leaves peripheral considerations behind.

Ken composes for his quartet with Michael Attias, Tony Malaby, and Michael T.A. Thomspon; a collective with Attias and Tomas Ulrich; and for his decades-long collaborations with Steve Adams and Vinny Golia. His prolific output also includes performances and/or recordings with artists including Bonnie Barnett, Rob Blakeslee, Bobby Bradford, Taylor Ho Bynum, Roy Campbell, John Carter, Nels Cline, Alex Cline, Connie Crothers, Mark Dresser, Ted Dunbar, Marty Ehrlich, Giora Feidman, Bob Feldman, Eddie Gale, Georgian Chamber Orchestra, Dennis Gonzalez, Lou Grassi, Phil Haynes, Fred Hess, Jason Hwang, Joseph Jarman, Sheila Jordan (with the Aardvark Orchestra), Raul Juarena, Joe Labarbera, Joelle Leandre, Frank London, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Tina Marsh, Warne Marsh, Dom Minasi, Hafez Modirzadeh, Butch Morris, Barre Phillips, Don Preston, Herb Robertson, Bob Rodriguez, Roswell Rudd, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Ursel Schlicht, Paul Smoker, Chris Sullivan, Peeter Uuskyla, Fay Victor, Biggi Vinkeloe, Kenny Wessel, Andrea Wolper, Pablo Ziegler. With Tomas Ulrich, Elliott Sharp, and Carlos Zingaro, he is a member of T.E.C.K. String Quartet.

Ken has been a guest lecturer, performer, and workshop leader at institutions in the United States and Europe. He earned a MM from Rutgers University and is currently on faculty at Mansfield University."- All About Jazz

"Anders Griffen is a musician from Brooklyn, New York, playing drums, and sometimes trumpet, blending idioms across genres with original and unique songwriters, instrumentalists, and choreographers. On some 40+ records, and numerous concerts across the States and abroad -- including Lollapalooza, Primavera Sound, and the End of the Road festivals, a Peel Session on BBC Radio 1, and on Jazz with OT with legendary radio presenter Oscar Treadwell -- Anders has performed with songwriters and bands like Jeffrey Lewis, Diane Cluck, Regina Spektor, Kimya Dawson, The Bundles, Ish Marquez and Lonesome Crew, Paleface, Seth Faergolzia and Dufus, John Ludington, The Walkmen, Winterpills, Zoë Darrow, Nathan Xander, Herman Düne, The Wave Pictures, Many Embers, Elisa Flynn, Kjersti Kveli, Linda Draper, and Barry Bliss...

As well as jazz musicians Frank Lowe, Bernard Santacruz, Christopher Parker, Roy Campbell Jr., Henry P Warner, Chad Fowler, William Parker, Bertha Hope, Joe Shepley, Eddie Bert, Don Friedman, Bill Crow, Victor Gaskin, Kenny Venezia, Michael Marcus, Loren Stillman, Tom Tallitsch, and musicians like Tommy Goodwin, John Cartwright, Dave McKelvy, Alex Tomaino, Conor Lyons, and Norm Dodge... choreographers Kathleen Cruz, David Wampach, Bopi Patterson, Stacy Grossfield, and Donna Uchizono, and just a diverse range of artists, musicians and dancers.

Anders Griffen is the son of musicians Fred Griffen (French horn) and Karen Griffen (flute and piccolo).

He studied with Michael Carvin at the Michael Carvin School of Drumming, and with Ron Carter, Kenny Burrell, Joe Shepley, Jon Faddis, Dary John Mizelle, and informally with Charles Moffett, Alvin Fielder, Warren Smith, Grady Tate, and Richie Dean Pratt. He holds a BFA in Music Composition from SUNY-Purchase College and a Masters in Library and Information Science from UCLA.

In addition to his work as an artist, Anders is an archivist and librarian and has worked at UCLA, New York Public Library, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University. He is also a contributing writer to the 4th edition of A Basic Music Library, and The New York City Jazz Record, "the city's only homegrown jazz gazette." "