Wadada Leo Smith was born in 1941 in the North-American state of Mississipi, the place of origin of multiple musical and literary mythologies, and, as would be natural in this first geographical landscape, his musical journey began under the influence of his stepfather, the composer and guitarist Alex “Little Bill” Wallace, playing in Delta Blues bands. After a period of indecision regarding his instrument of choice, Leo Smith eventually concentrated mainly on the trumpet; in 1967 he became a member of the historical and influential Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and, around that same time, founded his first band, the trio Creative Construction alongside Leroy Jankins and Anthony Braxton, a saxophonist with whom we would collaborate profusely in later decades. If the authorial dimension has always been the privileged dimension of his creative work, the history of collaborations in which Wadada Leo Smith has been involved throughout his career is equally representative of the musical excellence of this trumpeter: Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Carla Bley or, more recently, Vijay Iyer, Ikue Mori or John Zorn, are some of the countless great musicians who had the privilege of working by his side. Currently at the respectable age of eighty-two, Wadada Leo Smith maintains to this day a remarkable vitality materialized in an almost permanent activity, whether creating of music, teaching or conducting ensembles. Finally, it is worth mentioning that Leo Smith’s musical practice is complemented by an interesting work on the fields of writing – which resulted in the publication of book on the philosophy of music – and visual arts – essentially translated into the symbolic and visual language, entitled “Ankhrasmation”, which he created in 1965 and deepened over more than fifty years of creative work.

The career of North-American celloist Ashley Walters, documented in more than twenty records, is divided between the territories of classical music and jazz. In terms of format, her creative activity is expressed through, on the one hand, her work as composer and interpreter of repertoire for cello (having dedicated a particular attention to composers such as Berio or Andrew McIntosh) and, on the other, a collaborative dimension as a member of the Formalist Quartet or accompanying important musicians of contemporary jazz such as, among others, Wadada Leo Smith.

John Edwards is a British skilled and versatile bassist with an impressive curriculum of collaborations with some of the most influential musicians associated to the avant-garde trends of experimentation in jazz. Over the course of his career in music, John Edwards established several highly prolific creative partnerships with, among others, Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Joh Butcher, Louis Moholo or the recently deceased German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, one of the historical figures of European free jazz.

Mark Sanders is a reputed drummer and percussionist active in the circuits of free jazz and free improvisation. Throughout his career he has played with numerous jazz luminaries (Roswell Rudd, Roscoe Mitchell or Evan Parker, among many others) and collaborated with prestigious orchestras and contemporary music ensembles (such as, for example, the Symphonic Orchestra of Sydney or the ICE Ensemble), having also participated as composer in multimedia projects namely in partnership with renowned visual artist Christian Marclay.

Lamar Smith (b 1995) grew up in New Haven and began studying classical guitar at six years old. After his first experiences with the electric guitar, Smith focused on developing his own personal style, which led him to begin the first of many collaborations with Wadada Leo Smith as a member of the Organic ensemble. In parallel to his musical activity, both in collaborative regime as well as within the scope of his own trio, Lamar Smith is currently involved in a pedagogical project “Musical Intervention”, in New Haven.