Reuben Hoch - Drummer
Reuben was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1959 and began playing drums professionally while in high school. His interest in jazz began at age 13 upon listening to an Art Blakey recording. Ironically, by the time he graduated from high school in New York, his jazz group, Repercussion, consisted of several Blakey sidemen; Dave Schnitter, Valerie Ponomaerov and Lonnie Plaxico. Some of the other players who passed through the group were; Manny Boyd, Wallace Roney, Scott Lee, Frank Antico, Richie Vitale amongst others. Reuben continued to work as a leader and sideman in the New York area until he moved to Israel in 1984 where he became a member of the internationally acclaimed Zaviot jazz quartet.

Ed Schuller - Acoustic Bass
Schuller, Ed (Edwin), acoustic bass, jazz composer, educator; b. New York City, NY, 11 January 1955. Schuller moved to Boston in 1967 and returned to New York City in 1975) and has been professionally active in jazz and many other forms of improvisational music since the early 1970's. Being the son of Gunther Schuller, Ed has from the beginning been exposed to many kinds of music and musicians. His formal training in music began at age 15 when he took up the acoustic bass under the tutelage of Cleveland Symphony cellist David Levinson. He went on to the New England Conservatory of Music where he continued his classical training on acoustic bass with Larry Wolf of the Boston Symphony, as well as jazz studies with pianist Jaki Byard and theory / composition with saxophonist Joe Maneri. Other teachers include Ran Blake, George Russell, Thomas McKinley and Chuck Israels. He acknowledges the influences of such bassists as Oscar Pettiford, Charles Mingus, Paul Chambers, Scott LaFaro, Charlie Haden and Dave Holland. In 1975 (at age 20) Ed played his first tour of the U.S. in a group led by guitar legend Pat Martino and throughout the late 70's and 80's went on to perform, record and tour, both nationally and abroad, with a variety of musicians and bandleaders. These include the late Jaki Byard, Lee Konitz, "The Paul Motian Quintet", Joe Lovano, Bill Frisell, the late Jim Pepper, Mal Waldron, Tim Berne, Mack Goldsbury, Perry Robinson, Marty Cook, Gerry Hemingway, Kenny Werner, Tom Varner, "Night Ark" and a host of others. In the last decade he has continued to tour and record with recent Grammy award winner Joe Lovano, Mal Waldron, Perry Robinson, Marty Cook as well as" The Mingus Epitaph Orchestra", Steve Lacy, Nicolas Simion, the late Jeanne Lee, Karl Berger, Andy Laster, Arto Tuncboyacian, Herb Robertson, Mat and Joe Maneri, Ernst Bier, Paul Grabowsky, brother George Schuller and father Gunther Schuller. In addition to having appeared on over 80 recordings as a side man over the last 12 years he has produced and recorded 7 CD's of original music as a leader featuring such artists as Joe Lovano, Greg Osby, Dewey Redman, Mack Goldsbury, Billy Hart, Paul Motian, Ronnie Burrage, Jim Black, Victor Jones, Gary Valente, Bill Bickford and others. He has also led several groups on tour both in the U.S.A. and Europe, including the "11th Hour Band" which focuses mainly on Schuller's original music and "Da 'Koda", a band that that presents the music of the late Jim Pepper as well as music derived from other Native American and World music sources. He has formed a working collaboration with his brother, drummer/ composer George Schuller (b. 1959) in a quartet named " The Schulldogs," Other recent endeavors have included tours and engagements with Eddie Henderson, Frank Lacy, Mat Maneri, Ray Anderson, Uli Lenz, the completion of a solo bass recording and an ongoing project to write a book on the art of musical improvisation.

Besides his work as a performer, Ed Schuller has written over 50 compositions for a variety of ensembles and contexts not only for his own projects but for others as well. He has served as an instructor in a number of workshops / clinics throughout the world including 7 years as director of the jazz department at the Schweitzer Institute in Sandpoint, Idaho, 4 years as an acoustic bass teacher at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule in Berlin Germany, as well as many other workshops at various levels around the world (including the US, Europe, Australia, Venezuela and Morocco).

Don Friedman - Piano
Don Friedman was born May 4, 1935, in San Francisco. His parents loved classical music and they owned a piano. Under their guidance, Don started playing at age four. He began lessons at five with a private teacher named Katherine Swint. Though he had no exposure to jazz at this time Don taught himself to improvise.

When he was 15, his family moved to the San Fernando Valley in Greater Los Angeles. Two years later he began to head regularly for the Hollywood Palladium to hear the bands of Les Brown, Stan Kenton and Billy May. That fueled his love for jazz. Kenton soloists Lee Konitz, Conte Condoli, and Frank Rossolino inspired Don as he transformed his focus from classical music to jazz.

Don studied jazz at Los Angeles City College and also on his own by playing along with records of Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins and Miles Davis. By the mid 1950s L.A. was the capital of West Coast Jazz and Don was becoming part of it as he worked around town with groups that included Shorty Rogers, Chet Baker, Ornette Coleman, and Scott LaFaro.

At the same time, he displayed his hard bop credentials by gigging with Dexter Gordon. He made his first records as a sideman with trumpeters Hank DeMano and Jack Millman. In 1956 Buddy DeFranco hired him for a tour that included gigs at New York’s Birdland and Basin Street.

The DeFranco tour was a turning point, and the experience convinced Don in 1958 to leave California for New York. He thrived in Manhattan’s great and diverse jazz scene of that time. He played with most of the major players and his reputation began to build as a pianist who was going places.

At about the same time, the legendary bass player Scott LaFaro also moved to New York. The two had become close in Los Angeles and now formed a legendary partnership as roommates, friends and fellow jazz pioneers.

During this period in New York City Don played in many settings, including his own trio and with artists such as Pepper Adams, Booker Little, Jimmy Giuffre, Charles Lloyd, Chuck Wayne, Elvin Jones and Herbie Mann.

He initially recorded as a leader for producer Orrin Keepnews at Riverside records from 1961 through 1964. His first three LPs were with his trio. German guitarist Attila Zoller, a close friend, was featured on the fourth. These records were highly acclaimed: three won five stars in Down Beat (its top rating), while the fourth earned four stars. By 1965 Friedman had been named a New Star in Down Beat's annual Critics' Poll.

Late in the 1960s Don began his association with Clark Terry, working in his big band. (He still anchors Terry’s hard-working quintet.) He also began teaching at New York University as well as leading its jazz ensemble.

Since then Don has continued to be in demand in New York City as a jazz pianist and educator, while regularly touring the United States, Europe and Japan with top-flight groups. His lyrical style, technical virtuosity and mastery of solo performance continue to draw critical acclaim and respect from his peers.

Friedman is at home playing classic jazz with the likes of Buddy DeFranco and Clark Terry, or avant-garde jazz with the youngest Turks. Collectors snap up his recordings in America, Europe and especially Japan, where he has a remarkably large and loyal fan base. His new trio is appearing in and around New York City and has recently toured Japan.