Benjamin Boone is a saxophonist, composer, and Professor of Music at California State University Fresno. He has served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Ireland’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance (2022-23), The University of Ghana (2017-18), and as a U.S. Fulbright Senior Specialist to the Republic of Moldova (2005). He grew up in the small textile town of Statesville, North Carolina, the youngest of five sons. “My brothers pursued history, literature, art, and biology, so I have always gravitated towards interdisciplinary projects,” he says. “I like to make artistic statements that address culturally relevant topics in a germane manner.” A respected composer in both new music and jazz circles, his Origin Records release The Poetry of Jazz, a collaboration with the late U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize recipient Philip Levine, was recognized as a milestone poetry/music project immediately upon its release in 2018. Praised in leading musical and literary publications, featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” voted the #3 “Best Album of 2018” in DownBeat Magazine’s annual Readers Poll`, and a Staff Pick in The Paris Review, The Poetry of Jazz established Boone as one of the most captivating and compelling voices among contemporary artists exploring the intersections between poetry and music.
The Poetry of Jazz was deemed of “historic importance” (UK Vibe), and “a master class in the combining of different art forms… an essay in complementarity” (All About Jazz). DownBeat Magazine noted, “despite the star turns [guests Branford Marsalis, Chris Potter, Greg Osby and Tom Harrell], Boone not only distinguishes himself with uncluttered, affecting orchestrations, but by passionately balancing intellect and emotion.” All About Jazz echoed, “these guest artists might be the attraction for the jazz listener, and Levine for the poetry fan, but that would miss the extraordinary music both written and performed by Boone.” While in Ghana as a Fulbright Scholar (2017-18), Boone co-founded the new music ensemble The New Global Ensemble, comprised of traditional Ghanaian xylophonist Aaron Bebbe Sukura, traditional Ghanaian singer and drummer Baffour Awuah Kyerematen, and long-time collaborator German electro-acoustic violinist Stefan Poetzsch. Boone also collaborated with The Ghana Jazz Collective on the acclaimed 2020 album Joy, which has been called “dramatic and explicit” (Downbeat); “jubilant and propulsive,” (JazzWeek) and “one of the best releases so far this year” (London’s JazzFM). This album was awarded #5 “Best Album of 2020” and Boone was awarded #3 “Best Alto Saxophonist of 2020” in the 42nd Annual JazzStation Awards for the album. “Ghana’s music and culture transformed me musically and personally,” says Boone. “Music is part of the fabric of life and everyone participates and has a role. It’s a beautifully communal way of thinking and being.” The Poets are Gathering, also released in 2020 on Origin Records, was featured in DownBeat Magazine‘s HOTBOX, which noted, “One of the more compelling poetry/jazz outings I’ve ever come across…wondrous.” It has been described as “an absolute must – a vector for the reflection of injustice” (Belgium’s Jazz Halo), “worthy of praise” (Black Grooves), and All About Jazz writes: “The union of poetry and jazz has never been so powerfully presented…perhaps best defines the iconic year of 2020." Jazz All-Stars Ambrose Akinmusire, Greg Osby, Kenny Werner, Ben Monder, Ari Hoenig, and Corcoran Holt (among many others) partnered with Boone to accompany renowned poets Tyhimba Jess, Edward Hirsch, Kimiko Hahn, Patrick Sylvain, Faylita Hicks, and T.R. Hummer on Boone’s most recent exploration of the intersection between music and poetry, Caught in the Rhythm, released on Origin Records in September 2023. This recording includes a tribute to Art Pepper, a reckoning with racism, a dog eating a Nietzsche book, a pondering of the role of poetry, an Emily Dickinson poem, and classic jazz, contemporary jazz, funk, rap, and everything in-between.
As a classical composer, Boone’s compositions have been performed in 38 countries, appear on 30 recordings, and have been the subject of several National NPR and Bayerischer Rundfunk (German Radio) stories. The past several years Boone has focused on writing music that addresses relevant cultural and environmental issues, music that aspires to speak to listeners on a level that touches their soul and instigates a greater sense of empathy and understanding. His ethnohistorical opera Ascencion, about Native American cultural genocide, co-written with Helene Joesph Weill, was featured on NPR’s “Weekend Edition Saturday,” and his orchestral work Waterless Music: A Drought Symphony, premiered at Los Angeles’ Disney Hall, was featured on NPR’s “Here and Now.” His compositions are published by Latham Music, Lorenz, Alry Publications, Sentinel Dome, Eighth Note Publications (Canada), GPG Music, and VR Music.
Boone’s music has received awards and honors from the International Society of Contemporary Music, the Olympia International Prize for Composition, Billboard Magazine, the National Association of Composers, ASCAP Morton Gould Award, Meet the Composer/Southeastern Arts Federation, the National Flute Association, the Southeastern Composers’ League, the Delius Foundation, and Boston University, among others. He has received fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, The U.S. Department of State, the United States Information Service, Fundación Valparaíso (Spain), the Aspen Music Festival Center for Compositional Studies/Advanced Master Class Program, a U.S. Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Travel Grant, A*deVantgarde Festival für Nueue Musik, Munich/Office of the American Consulate, The American Music Center, New Music USA, the American Composer’s Forum, California State University, the North Carolina Arts Council Composition Fellowship, and the Tennessee Arts Commission Composition Fellowship. He was inducted into Central California’s “Valley Music Hall of Fame” in 2023.
Boone has presented guest lectures and master classes at the Academy of Music (Moldova), the University of Magdeburg(Germany), the University of Limerick (Ireland), the University of Erlangen (Germany), Charles University (the Czech Republic), the University of Cape Town (South Africa), Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), University of Ghana, Kumasi University (Ghana), and the Buenos Aires Festival of Saxophone, among many others in the U.S. such as Northwestern. He has been in residence at festivals and colonies such as Fundación Valparaíso (Spain), May-in-Miami, June in Buffalo, the Bowling Green New Music Festival, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and the Aspen Music Festival, and he has given presentations at conferences such as the Society of Composers (national and regional), the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers, National Flute Association, North American Saxophone Alliance (national and regional), National Association of Composers, World Saxophone Congress, Society for New Music, Conference on American Culture, Music Education Association, International Trumpet Guild, among others.
At California State University Fresno, Boone has received the University’s “Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching,” the “Provost Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities,” the “University Faculty Spirit of Service Award” for his design of a program hailed nationally as a model of Service-Learning Best Practices, the “Best in Show Award” for his commitment to academic excellence, and the University’s most prestigious award, the “Presidents Award of Excellence” for his “integrity, leadership, and commitment to the university.” Prior to his appointment at Fresno State, he taught at the University of Tennessee, where he received the “Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.” Boone received his two undergraduate degrees in Music Theory and Applied Music/Jazz Saxophone from The University of Tennessee, his Masters of Music in Composition from Boston University (where he was awarded their composition prize two consecutive years), Post-Graduate Studies in Jazz at Manhattan School of Music (while he was completing his Thesis at Boston University), and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition from the University of South Carolina. His primary teachers have included Bernard Rands, Charles Fussell, Jerry Coker, John A. Lennon, and Gordon “Dick” Goodwin. He currently lives in Fresno, California with his wife, a journalist and writer.

Kenny Werner is a world-class pianist and composer. His prolific output of compositions, recordings and publications continue to impact audiences around the world.
Born in Brooklyn, NY on November 19, 1951 and then growing up in Oceanside, Long Island, Kenny began playing and performing at a young age, first recording on television at the age of 11. Although he studied classical piano as a child, he enjoyed playing anything he heard on the radio. In high school and his first years of college he attended the Manhattan School of Music as a classical piano major.
His natural instinct for improvisation led Kenny to the Berklee School of Music in 1970. There he sought tutelage of the renowned piano teacher Madame Chaloff. A Her gracious wisdom and inspiration became a driving force in Kenny’s conception: A music conscious of its spiritual intent and essence.
From Boston, Kenny traveled to Brazil with the saxophonist Victor Assis Brasil. There he met Victor’s twin brother, Brazilian pianist Joao Assis Brasil. He studied with Joao, who provided another piece of the puzzle for Kenny’s conception that would lead to Effortless Mastery, his landmark opus on how to allow the master musician from within to manifest. The Book was published in 1996. It recently became available as an ebook on kindle and in I-books.
Kenny started his own trio in 1981 with drummer Tom Rainey and bassist Ratzo Harris. The Kenny Werner Trio matured for fourteen years, wowing audiences in America and Europe and recording four albums along the way.
Kenny has written many original compositions featuring trios and other small group configurations, but in the mid 1980’s, he became the pianist for the Mel Lewis Orchestra (currently known as the Village Vanguard Orchestra). Challenged by Mel and Bob Brookmeyer to write for the band, he produced his first compositions and arrangements for jazz orchestra, consequently leading him to write for the major bands in Europe including the Cologne, Danish, and Stockholm Jazz Orchestras, The Umo Jazz Orchestra of Finland and several times as the guest composer and soloist with the Metropole Orchestra of Holland.
Several outstanding musical partnerships began in the 1990’s. Kenny continues to play duo with Toots Thielemans, the legendary harmonica player. For twenty years he has played with and arranged for Betty Buckley, a Broadway legend. They made six albums together and she has sung his arrangements for small band and orchestras across the globe. He also has had a nearly forty-year friendship and musical collaboration with Joe Lovano. They have recorded on a number of each other’s projects.
In 2000, Kenny formed a new trio with Ari Hoenig on drums and Johannes Weidenmueller on bass. They played nearly a decade together and released three albums, with Kenny acting as composer, arranger, and pianist. Kenny groundbreaking work on Improvisation, Effortless Mastery – Liberating the Master Musician Within, was published in 1996. Using his life experiences as a microscope into the artist’s mind, Effortless Mastery is a guide to distill the emotional, spiritual, and psychological aspects of an artists life. Today it is one of the most widely read books on music and improvisation, helping thousands of musicians around the world unlock their talent and potential.The book is required reading at many universities. Werner, without intention, touched off a revolution of inspiring musicians to do inner work on the mind, body, and soul in attempt to upgrade their musical experience from the mundane to the profound. The book is also popular with artists of other mediums and business professionals. Kenny continues to teach and give clinics in the United States and abroad. He is currently an Artist-in-Residence at New York University.
Kenny Werner’s influence is unsurpassed. He has impacted an entire generation of musicians and artists. Despite his creative output, Kenny is still focused on the music.”I am still more and more aware of the true purpose of the music and the people who play it: to heal and unite the planet.

Saxophonist, composer, producer and educator Greg Osby has made an indelible mark on contemporary jazz as a leader of his own ensembles and as a guest artist with other acclaimed jazz groups for the past 20 years. Highly regarded for his insightful and innovative approach to composition and performance, Osby is a shining beacon among the current generation of jazz musicians. He has earned numerous awards and critical acclaim for his recorded works and passionate live performances.
Born and reared in St. Louis, Greg Osby began his professional music career in 1975, after three years of private studies on clarinet, flute and alto saxophone. Coming from a vibrant and musical city, Osby showed an early interest in the performing arts and spent his years in secondary school with a heavy involvement in Blues and Jazz groups. In 1978 Osby furthered his musical education at Howard University (Washington, D.C.) where he majored in Jazz Studies. He continued his studies at the Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA) from 1980 to 1983.
Upon relocating to New York in early 1983, Osby quickly established himself as a notable and in demand sideman for artists as varied as Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie, Jack DeJohnette, Andrew Hill, Muhal Richard Abrams, Jim Hall and Jaki Byard as well as with many ethnic and new music ensembles in the New York area.
In 1985 Osby was invited to to join Jack DeJohnette's innovative group, "Special Edition". It was as a member of this ensemble Osby was able to fine tune the more challenging aspects of his conception in an open ended, no holds barred musical situation. Says Osby, "My musical thinking for performance and composition advanced by light years as Jack was open to my input and was very encouraging in pushing me to to maintain a steady flow of experimentation. It marked a major turning point in my development as an artist." In 1987, Osby signed his first recording deal with a new German label , JMT (Jazz Music Today). With this situation, he felt that he was finally able to document life as he saw it through music. He had free creative reign to do whatever he liked. He recorded four CD titles for that label. Osby signed with Blue Note Records in 1990 and recorded fifteen outstanding recordings for that label as a leader. In 2008, Osby launched his own label, "Inner Circle Music", which serves as a platform for many of today's brightest artists. From the pulse of the streets and the language of a generation, Osby has sketched numerous musical essays set to a contemporary score using the improvisational nature of Jazz as the connecting thread.
On "9 Levels", his latest recording on Inner Circle Music, Osby presents his wares in a sextet format and is joined by special guests, Nir Felder, guitar; Adam Birnbaum, piano; Joseph Lepore, bass; Hamir Atwal, drums; and a welcome newcomer to the international jazz scene, vocalist Sara Serpa.

A musician in the New York area for 30 years, Ben Monder has performed with a wide variety of artists, including Jack McDuff, Marc Johnson, Lee Konitz, George Garzone, Paul Motian, Guillermo Klein, and Maria Schneider. He has conducted clinics and workshops around the world, and served on the faculty of the New England Conservatory from 2002-2005. He was also the recipient of a Doris Duke Artist Award in 2014. Ben continues to perform original music internationally with his own quartet, trio, and in an ongoing duo project with vocalist Theo Bleckmann. He has appeared on over 130 CDs as a sideman, and has released 5 as a leader: Hydra (Sunnyside, 2013), Oceana (Sunnyside, 2005), Excavation (Arabesque, 2000), Dust (Arabesque, 1997), and Flux (Songlines,1995).