Jazz Festivals worldwide has seen Alex Sipiagin performing with the likes of Dave Holland, Michael Brecker, the Mingus groups, etc. Born on June 11, 1967 inYaroslavl, Russia, Alex began studying the trumpet at age 12, studying at the Moscow Music Institute and the Gnessin Conservatory in Moscow where hereceived his Baccalaureate. In 1990, Alex participated in the International Louis Armstrong Competition sponsored by the Thelonius Monk Institute in WashingtonD.C. winning top honors and soon after relocated to the jazz mecca of the world, New York City.

Alex soon became a favored player for various bands including the Gil Evans Orchestra, Gil Goldstein's Zebra Coast Orchestra, the George Gruntz ConcertJazz Band, drummer Bob Moses' band Mozamba, Mingus Big Band as well as the Mingus Dynasty and Mingus Orchestra, and the Dave Holland Big Band, Sextetand Octet groups.

In 2003 he recorded with Michael Brecker's Quindectet touringalso with the Michael Brecker Sextet. Alex has also worked with Eric Clapton, Dr.John, Aaron Neville, Elvis Costello, Michael Franks, Dave Sanborn, Deborah Cox, legendary producer Phil Ramone, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, etc., and many of the recordings he has been involved in has been nominated and/or won the Grammy's (Dave Holland Big Band's "What Goes Around," and "Overtime,"Michael Brecker's Qindectet "Wide Angles").

As a soloist, Sipiagin has eleven recordings out to his credit and has toured extensively throughout Europe, U.S., Japan and Russia with his own group. Healso teaches at the Groningen Prince Claus Conservatory, Academy of Music, Basel, Switzerland as well steady professorship at NYU.

Recorded 15 solo albums for one of prestiges jazz label "CrissCrossJazz" His recent album of his compositions and arrangements "Balance 38-58" features such noted musicians as Eric Harland, David Binney, Adam Rogers and Matt Brewer.

b. 1961, Milltown, New Jersey, USA. Kikoski began playing piano at the age of six, encouraged and taught by his father, himself a part-time musician. While a teenager, Kikoski was working jazz gigs at various venues in New Jersey. He attended the Berklee College Of Music and during this time played locally as a member of a trio that included Ira Coleman and Terri Lyne Carrington. After graduating from Berklee in 1984, Kikoski played with many noted jazz musicians of the day and also worked with the Woody Herman Alumni Band. In particular, and most significantly, was an encounter with Roy Haynes who immediately hired him for a European tour. Kikoski spent 15 years with Haynes. After this time, he began another long-running stint, this time with the Mingus Big Band and the Charles Mingus Orchestra. Among numerous musicians with whom Kikoski has worked are Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Chick Corea, Peter Erskine, Al Foster, Tom Harrell, Joe Henderson, Dave Holland, Ingrid Jensen, Joe Locke, Brian Lynch, Christian McBride, Marcus Miller, Chris Potter, Red Rodney, John Scofield, Mike Stern, and Toots Thielemans.
Among regular members of his working trio have been bass players Avishai Cohen, James Genus and John Patitucci, and drummers Billy Hart, Victor Lewis and Jeff Watts.In addition to numerous homeland engagements, Kikoski has toured Japan and Russia as leader of his own trio, and in 2001 he toured with the Brecker Brothers Acoustic Band. He continued working with Haynes through the late 90s and into the early 00s. In addition to his playing, Kikoski is also a talented composer and arranger. His work as an arranger includes several charts of songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney as part of BeatleJazz, a trio he formed with bass player Charles Fambrough and drummer Brian Melvin. However, it is as a pianist that he is best known, displaying astonishing technical facility and brilliantly inventive improvisational gifts. He is also expert in the use of various electronic keyboard instruments.

“Kozlov is one of the anchors of modern jazz" Todd Barkan 2 times Grammy Award winning acoustic and electric bassist, composer and arranger, Boris Kozlov has been on New York and international jazz scene for the past 20 years. Currently serving as a Bassist, Arranger and Musical Director for Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty and The Orchestra, as well as leading his own projects, he has also been a first-call bassist for such important jazz acts as Michael Brecker, John Blake, Ray Barretto's 'New World Spirit', Lew Tabackin, David Kikoski, Alex Sipiagin, Jean -Michel Pilc and many others.
Boris Kozlov was born in Moscow ,USSR on December 5, 1967 . Having a chance to go to Children's Music School to study piano for 7 years, he fell in love with the bass and won Gnesin Music Academy competition to enter college at the age of 15 on electric bass guitar. While being influenced by rock and classical music, he took interest in jazz at 17 and went on to study acoustic bass with a notable bassist Anatoly Sobolev. Upon graduation in 1987 with Diploma of Honor at the age of 19, he served mandatory 2 years in the Soviet Army, where he had to play tuba and other brass instruments besides basses in the military band.
Once out of the Army, he was hired by the State owned 'Melodia' Studio Ensemble in 1989 and proceeded to record more than 40 albums with them as well as many other Soviet jazz artists. At the same time he continued his studies at The State Academy of Music. At the First USSR Competition of Jazz Soloists in 1990 he won The Grand Prix as well as a special prize for his original composition. After winning the first spot in Young Musician category in USSR Jazz Journal in 1991 he decided to move to New York. The self-study continued in a specific NY jazz environment ,where he was eventually hired by Hassan Williams and Terry Gibbs/Buddy De Franco Band and later by : saxophonists Bobby Watson, Bob Berg , Benny Golson, James Moody, Ronnie Cuber, John Stubblefield, Ravi Coltrane, Seamus Blake, Donny McCaslin .
trumpeters Dizzy Reese, Phillip Harper, Brian Lynch ( Grammy 2007), Alex Sipiagin,Ray Vega pianists Eddie Palmieri, Walter Bishop Jr., Michel Petrucciani, Arturo O'Farrill, Michel Legrand, Stanley Cowell, Jon Ballantyne, George Colligan, Orrin Evans, Edward Simon, Helen Sung, Joey Calderazzo vibraphonists Joe Locke, Bill Ware; guitarists Mark Whitfield, David Gilmore, Adam Rogers, Jack Wilkins, Ximo Tebar drummers Tommy Campbell, Victor Jones, Marlon Simon, Victor Lewis, Jonathan Blake, Jeff 'Tain' Watts, Ali Jackson, Antonio Sanches; vocalists Jay Mc Govern, Urszula Dudziak, Monday Michiru; trombonists Conrad Herwig, Robin Eubanks, Andy Hunter; trombonist/vocalist Frank Lacy’s Experience and the funk- jazz band NewHypeJazz After sharing a stage with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Cobb, Maceo Parker, Jimmy Smith, Henry Butler, Toots Thielemans & Clark Terry on multiple occasions and playing on 9 Grammy nominated albums plus the Grammy winning 'Simpatico' -in addition to the other 160 albums, having few of his Scores published, Boris continues to serve as an MD for all of the Mingus Dynasty projects( winning his 2nd Grammy with them in 2010) ,touring and recording extensively with multitude of different other bands ,as well as doing international work with his own "Malfunction Alibi". He also performs solo bass and teaches master classes around the world following the release of his acoustic solo album " Double Standard".

The youngest of Hagenlocher's sidemen Nate Smith (born 1974) showed his talent at an early age. He already played in the band of Betty Carter when he was a student, and later in various bands of Dave Holland – as Alex Sipiagin did – and Chris Potter. He can also be heard on the CDs of Jason Moran, Craig Taborn and Joshua Redman.

Jürgen Hagenlocher, born in 1967, studied at Swiss Jazz School in Bern and won various prizes at an early age. He has not only played at numerous festivals and clubs since then, but can also be heard on almost a dozen recordings. His third CD (following "Episodes" in 2007 and "Confusion" in 2009) solidified his reputation (which his two CDs had already established) and which attracted the attention of many of his fellow musicians (Ack van Rooyen: "a superbly arranged, soulfully executed venture" and Randy Brecker: "a first rate CD, great playing and compositions"). He plays regularly in New York where the new CD was also recorded with colleagues, with whom he has already been playing for years and who will also accompany him on a European tour in 2012.