SUSIE IBARRA - Composer and Percussionist Susie Ibarra is known for her individual artistry on percussion and genre-defying music. " In the past decade, her willingness to step out from behind the kit and embrace non jazz forms- opera, poetry experimental sound, dance-has taken her from that initial buzz from below Houston Street to international reknown as a composer, performer and proponent of folkloric music." Catapano, NYTimes.

Recent pieces include : solo drumset and percussion titled : Optical Illusion - 4 meditations in Light; solo piano: Dancesteps; opera, Shangri-La in collaboration with Pulitzer Prize poet and librettist Yusef Komunyakaa, Dialects; new Electric Kulintang recording with Roberto Rodriguez on Plastic Records,;Dance opera, Golden Phoenix, a work in progress in collaboration with Poet and Librettist Wang Ping; Dreams , etudes for her trio -violin,piano and percussion. Some of her music can be heard on recordings : Songbird Suite; Susie Ibarra Trio , Tzadik Records, Folkloriko : Susie Ibarra compositions, Tzadik Records, Entomological Reflections; Mephista, Tzadik Records, upcoming release Dialects : Electric Kulintang with Susie Ibarra & Roberto Rodriguez , Plastic Records.

She received her music diploma from Mannes College of Music, and studied with innovative master drummer/ percussionist/scientist, Milford Graves and traditional master Philippine kulintang artist Danongan Kalanduyan. Ibarra is a Yamaha Drums, Vic Firth Sticks & Mallets, and Paiste Cymbals and Gongs artist, and was nominated for Best Emerging Percussionist in Downbeat Poll Aug 2006.

She has performed and collaborated with noted artists such as John Zorn, Dave Douglas Pauline Oliveros,Yusef Komunyakaa, Trisha Brown, Derek Bailey, Ikue Mori, Sylvie Courvoisier, Min Xiao-Fen, William Parker, Dr. L Subramaniam, Kavita Krishnamurti, Wadada Leo Smith, Mark Dresser , Arto Lindsay, Thurston Moore, Prefuse 73, Yo La Tengo. Ibarra has toured her music in many festivals and concert halls such as Musica a Metronom Barcelona, Banlieues Bleues Jazz Festival, The Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Institute, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Champs Elysees Opera House, Verona Jazz Festival, The Walker Art Center, Yerba Buena Arts Center, Coachella, Warp Electronic Music Festival, Aix en Provence, Jazz’em Agosto, Lisbon, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, Vancouver Jazz and Blues Festival, among others. Her work can be seen and heard at website: www.susieibarra.com

ROBERTO JUAN RODRIGUEZ - Born in East Havana, Cuba, percussionist and composer Roberto Rodriguez draws upon his influences of world music, pop, rock, jazz, electronic, avant garde and classical, making him one of the most versed performers as well as a unique artistic voice. Rodriguez, a Grammy nominee and American Music Award Recipient, has performed with notable artists such as: Rufus Wainwright, Joe Jackson ,John Zorn ,Marc Ribot , Celia Cruz ,Israel “CACHAO” Lopez,Paquito D’Rivera, Julio Iglesias, Miami Sound Machine, Paul Simon, Lloyd Cole, Dr. L Subramaniam, Kavita Krishnamurti, Lester Bowie and Wadada Leo Smith.

Rodriguez can be heard on recordings:
-Electric Kulintang: Dialects ( Susie Ibarra & Roberto Rodriguez) Plastic, Records. ---Maurice el Medioni meets Roberto Rodriguez: Descarga Oriental, Piranha Records
-Roberto Rodriguez ~ Baila! Gitano Baila! ~El Danzon de Moises (Tzadik Records),
-Joe Jackon Live - Two Rainy Nights( SONY )
-Marc Ribot & los cubanos postizos (Atlantic Records)
-John Zorn, Taboo & Exile (Tzadik Records)
-Miami Sound Machine, Into the Light (Epic Records)

His work can be seen and heard at website: www.robertojuanrodriguez.com

STEVE HASHIMOTO AND SUEÑOS LATIN-JAZZ - Sueños Latin-Jazz has played in the Chicago area for 10 years. Their cd , "Azul Oscuro", received significant airplay in 2007 and 2008, and was high on the Roots Radio airplay chart for over 20 weeks. The players are among the top jazz players in Chicago. Leader/bassist Steven Hashimoto also leads the band Mothra, with a new cd due in December 2008, and has anchored the After-Hours Jazz Jam Session at The Green Mill for 22 years.

AYAKO KATO - Ayako Kato is a dancer and choreographer originally from Yokohama, Japan. She was selected for the Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Award to present Ten Nights Dream: Sound and Movement Mandala in 2008 as the culmination of her Sound and Movement Ten Nights Dream Series (Tokyo in 2004 and 2005, Chicago in 2007). In 2006, she created Land the land -9, a peace of idea and performed in Chicago and Tokyo. Her works has been presented at International Series of Die Pratze Dance Festival in Tokyo, Japan, Dance Theater Workshop's Fresh Tracks, Joyce Soho in New York City, Percussive Arts Society International Convention 2003, Links Hall, Chicago Cultural Center and other venues. She is a former LinkUp performer in residence at Links Hall and DanceBridge artist in residence funded by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Having classical ballet background in Japan, Kato started to receive her modern dance training since 1996 in the United States and received MFA in dance from the University of Michigan in 1998. Kato has also trained herself in Tai-Chi, Noh Theater dance, and butoh. Her experimental dance works focus on creating space of furyu, being as it is.Her interdisciplinary collaborators include Yuji Miyao (artist), Haruo Higuma (video artist), musicians such as Michiyo Yagi (koto), Stephen Rush (live electronics), and Brian Labycz (electronics, koto). She also improvised with musicians such as Michael Zerang (percussion), Jim Baker (piano), Megumu Nishino (taiko), Taku Sugimoto (guitar), Toshimaru Nakamura (no-input mixing board), Haco (voice, electronics) and Tetuzi Akiyama (guitar) and Jorrit Dijkstra (saxophone).

KURT SCHWEITZ - Kurt Schweitz has been playing various musical instruments since age 4, but didn’t begin to consider a life in music until moving to Chicago to pursue a PhD in Mathematics at the University of Chicago . Since then, Schweitz has performed internationally on stages in London , Paris , NY , and at the Aberdeen Jazz Festival in Scotland . Back home, his schedule has included performances at the Chicago Jazz Festival, South Shore Jazz and Heritage Festival, Meet the Composer, Chicago Humanities Festival, Asian-American Jazz Festival, and Milwaukee Jazz in the Park Festival. Locally, he can be found at Chicago ’s many jazz clubs and on several local jazz recordings. Schweitz regularly performs and is influenced by jazz, rock, and classical music. He is interested in the deep roots of these musical traditions, and his music seeks to contextualize these roots in today’s constantly evolving musical landscape.

YOKO NOGE - A transplant from Osaka , Japan , Yoko Noge moved to Chicago in 1984 to pursue her interest in blues music. Already a recording artist for JVC Japan, Yoko soon made Chicago her home. Recognized as the founder and leader Jazz Me Blues Band, Yoko will be featured in this year’s Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival with her Japanesque project, which melds an incredible mix of jazz, Japanese traditional and folk music, Yoko’s original compositions and showcases legends from the Chicago blues scene. Yoko has performed at the Chicago Blues Festival, the Chicago Jazz Festival, the San Francisco Asian American Jazz Festival, and the Asian American Jazz Festival/Malta International Theatre Festival in Poznan , Poland in addition to many special events in the United States and Japan . A co-founder of the Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival, the AAJF presents Asian and Asian American musicians to a fresh audience and the festival has become the largest event of its kind in the nation. Yoko and Jazz Me Blues perform every Monday at Chicago ’s famed Andy ’s Jazz Club.