Bishu was born in Kolkata in the Bengal province of India. He is one of the founding members of the 1970s band Mohiner Ghoraguli, a pioneer of modern Bengali folk-rock music. Bishu's first exposure to jazz began with his brother, Gautam Chatterjee, as well as friend and teacher, Jean Pierre Andre. Over the years Bishu has played with many artists in the Bay Area and beyond.
Email Bishu at bishu -at- jazzminds dot NOSPAM com

Bishop Norman Williams has been well-known in the jazz scene in California for many years. Born and raised in Kansas City, he imbibed from the main spring of modern jazz music along with his mother's milk. You can hear in him those deep roots, the forties and fifties bebop sound, but with a layer of Coltrane, liquid and searching. He played for many years in the Church of John Coltrane in San Francisco. He is described variously as the great saxophonist, a Bay Area icon, the wild sax man and an alto sax guru.

Narciso Jaramillo goes by "nj" because, well, it's just less painful for everyone. In addition to playing jazz piano, nj has played keyboards in R&B and rock bands, and studied African music performance at UC Berkeley. He has studied and performed at the Jazzschool and the Stanford Jazz Workshop.
www.rictus.com

Bay Area native Khalil Doak-Anthony studied in the San Francisco State music program, as well as privately with John Handy. Doak-Anthony has performed at some of the best venues in the area, including the Great American Music Hall, and he has worked with a diverse array of artists including Narada Michael Waldon, Lonnie Smith, Calvin Keys, Sheila E., and Herbie Lewis.
www.myspace.com/Khalil

Jimmy grew up in Los Angeles where at age 13, his cousin, Donna Jean, turned him on to jazz. Thus began a love affair that lasted over five decades and shows no sign of fading. He has worked with pianists Joe Albany, Warren Allebach, Kent Glenn and Matt Clark; bassists Albert Stinson, Bobby Maize, Putter Smith and Henry Grimes; horn players Bill Cannon, Tilton Smith, Vince Wallace and Hart Smith, to name only a few. "Best of all and my greatest thrill is playing with my son, trumpeter Joel Ryan."

Tina has been singing the Great American Songbook along with a sprinkling of Latin and Blues for over 15 years. She performs in various musical venues including Biscuits and Blues, S.F. Fine Arts Museums, Anna's Jazz Island, Freight and Salvage and many others over the Bay Area.

Lorin is an improvising scat vocalist living in San Francisco. Lorin is expanding the role of vocal improvisation in the direction of more structurally-involved elements. He performs frequently in the Bay Area, and occasionally in other places. Lorin also co-leads a band called Bleeding Vector, and performs with saxophonists Howard Wiley and Kasey Knudsen.
www.myspace.com/lorinbenedict

Darius Brotman, born and raised in Berkeley, California. He has been playing the local club scene in Arcata, California for 20 years. In 1999 he received a grant to write an extended jazz suite, The Rambler. He has published articles in jazz journals, and hosts Gone Sides, a jazz show which can be heard Tuesday evenings at 8:30 at www.khsu.org.
www.jazznose.com

Rusty, a Bay Area native, performs with numerous jazz groups throughout the Bay Area. He has also performed with theater companies, symphonic groups and chamber ensembles. For almost 10 years, Rusty has written, performed and extensively toured with the rock band Attila & Dave Project, and in addition to this work , Rusty is working with a pair of experimental jazz collectives.
www.rustyaceves.com