Matt Wilson was named 2018 Musician of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association and his album, Honey And Salt (Music Inspired by the Poetry of Carl Sandburg), won the JJA’s Album of the Year Award. That recording and his previous, Beginning of a Memory, accomplished the rare feat of an artist receiving consecutive 5-star (masterpiece) reviews from DownBeatmagazine.

Wilson’s commitment to jazz goes far beyond his estimable skills as a drummer and bandleader. Also a renowned educator, he is on a tireless mission to foster a lively and deep connection between music and people, whether they be playing or listening to it. To that end, he is extremely passionate about bringing jazz to new audiences and inspiring students to be as individualistic and imaginative as possible.

A very distinctive trait of New York/Boston-based jazz pianist Kevin Harris is his desire to constantly grow, evolve, improve, and advance. Harris plays a distinctive combination of traditional and contemporary music that seeks to celebrate the musical influences of Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis intersecting with J.S. Bach, Scott Joplin, and the folkloric African rhythms of the Caribbean.

Jerry Tolson is professor of jazz studies and music education at the University of Louisville School of Music, where he is chair of the Department of Academic and Professional Studies, directs instrumental and vocal jazz ensembles and teaches jazz pedagogy, jazz style, jazz history, and African American Music classes. He serves as an adjudicator, guest conductor, and jazz camp instructor internationally. Tolson has presented at state, regional, and national Music Education conferences, the International Association for Jazz Education Conference, Jazz Education Network, the International Academy of Law and Mental Health, and the Midwest Clinic. He is the educational director for the University of Louisville Jazz Festival and co-founder of U of L's African American Music Heritage Institute, as well a series of jazz teacher training institutes. Tolson’s articles have appeared in Music Educator’s Journal, Jazz Educator’s Journal, The Journal of Jazz Studies, and The Instrumentalist, and he is a contributor to the following publications: Teaching Music Through Performance in Jazz, Jazz Pedagogy: The Jazz Educator's Handbook and Resource Guide, and The Jazzer’s Cookbook: Creative Recipes for Players and Teachers. He is also the author of The Jazz Commandments: Guidelines for Jazz Style (Kendor). Tolson’s vocal jazz arrangements are published by the University of Northern Colorado Press.

Performing on keyboards, woodwinds, and vocals, Tolson has recorded five CDs, Nu View, Back at the Track, Late Night Cruise, Black Sand Beach, and Fresh Squeezed, and has worked with artists such as Delfeayo Marsalis, Antonio Hart, Don Braden, Rufus Reid, Kevin Mahogany, James Moody, Benny Golson, and Grace Kelley. His groups have appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, and in Barbados, Brazil, and Trinidad.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Grammy Award-winning bassist David L. Pulphus has studied the acoustic and electric bass from a young age. David's early musical training in the church, combined with years of formal jazz training, has enabled him to produce a distinctive, modern sound.