Pianist Michael McNeill has cultivated a personal style that has found a home in contexts both mainstream and avant-garde, from the ethereal chamber-jazz sounds of resAUnance, to the post-bop energy of Kelly Bucheger's What Would Mingus Do?, and of course in his own music for his trio with veteran improvisers Ken Filiano (bass) and Phil Haynes (drums) and for the Buffalo Jazz Octet. His two CDs with Filiano and Haynes have drawn praise from critics in the US and abroad, who note that the band plays “thoughtful... interactive music that is seriously playful” (StepTempest), “brimming with intelligence and passion” (AllAboutJazz.com), and that the trio “has much to offer not only to jazz or classical music, but music as a whole” (Music On The Run, Brazil). The recent debut albums of resAUnance and the Buffalo Jazz Octet have also been well-received by critics: resAUnance's Migration made critic Budd Kopman's “Best Releases of 2016” list, while Tom Hull graded the Buffalo Jazz Octet's PausaLive an A-, calling the band “a remarkable large free jazz ensemble, with … brisk and energetic group improv that never breaks down.” Other projects and collaborations have included concerts with Dave Ballou, Juini Booth, Joe Ford, Drew Gress, Paul Smoker, and David Taylor. McNeill served as pianist and arranger on vocalist Mari McNeil's 2014 release Here Beneath The Blue and can be heard as a sideperson on Kelly Bucheger's 2012 CD House of Relics as well as three albums by percussionist Ravi Padmanabha. Forthcoming recordings include a trio album with bassist Danny Ziemann and drummer John Bacon featuring compositions of Thelonious Monk .
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 Bobby Bradford, Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, Roy Campbell, John Carter, Nels Cline, Alex Cline, Connie Crothers, Mark Dresser, Marty Ehrlich, Lou Grassi, Phil Haynes, Jason Hwang, Joseph Jarman, Sheila Jordan, Joe Labarbera, Joelle Leandre, Tina Marsh, Warne Marsh, Dom Minasi, Butch Morris, Barre Phillips, Don Preston, Herb Robertson, Roswell Rudd, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Paul Smoker, Kenny Wessel, and Andrea Wolper.
A 20 year veteran New York based artist, beginning in 1983, Phil Haynes is featured on more than 50 LP and CD releases by numerous American and European record labels. Haynes's debut, The Paul Smoker Trio's QB with Anthony Braxton, was named the #1 recording of 1985 by esteemed critic Kevin Whitehead. The international media have compared his drumming to masters Jack DeJohnette, Roy Haynes and Elvin Jones, and his compositions to Duke Ellington, Charles Ives, Charles Mingus and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. In addition to the critically acclaimed three recordings for Enja Records by the composers' collective Joint Venture (with Smoker, Ellery Eskelin, and Drew Gress), Haynes's diverse and distinctive recordings as a leader include: Continuum (violinist Mark Feldman's jazz debut); the ground breaking and iconic ensemble 4 Horns & What?; his recording of jazz standards, A Couch In Brooklyn (featuring Israeli-born pianist Micu Narununsky and bassist Drew Gress); Hammond Insurgency with B-3 organ virtuoso Jeff Palmer; Free Country's trilogy of Americana with cellist/vocalist Hank Roberts, as well as his singular solo drum-set recording entitled Sanctuary. Haynes performs regularly throughout Pennsylvania with legendary Harrisburg pianist Steve Rudolph, The Zeropoint Jazz Orchestra, as well as The Hammond Brothers - with organist Steve Adams and guest performers such as David Liebman, Herb Robertson, Paul Smoker, Tim Warfield, and Jim Yanda. CD releases in 2013 include an album of duets with Dave Liebman, a trio record with Liebman and bassist Drew Gress, a Hammond Brothers album, and duo and quartet albums with trumpeter Paul Smoker.
