Robert Bacon (July 5, 1860 – May 29, 1919) was an American statesman and diplomat. He served as United States Secretary of State from January to March 1909.

Born in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, to William Benjamin Bacon and Emily Crosby Low, he was graduate of Harvard University, where he was a member of the A.D. Club and Delta Kappa Epsilon. He was married on October 10, 1883 to Martha Waldron Cowdin. They had four children: Robert Low Bacon, Gaspar Griswold Bacon, Elliot Cowdin Bacon, and Martha Beatrix Bacon who married George Whitney (1885-1963). Their son Robert was a United States Congressman and Gaspar was the President of the Massachusetts Senate from 1929–32 and Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 1933-1935.

He worked in the business world, including partnership with J.P. Morgan & Co. for many years starting in 1894. He acted as J.P. Morgan's chief lieutenant and participated in the formation of the U.S. Steel Corporation and the Northern Securities Company. The pressure of the job shot his nerves, and he left the company in 1903.

Brian Culbertson (born January 12, 1973) is a musician and instrumentalist from Decatur, Illinois, United States. Son of jazz band director and trumpeter Jim Culbertson, Brian's instruments include the keyboard and trombone.

Heavily influenced by funk, much of Culbertson's material is funk-based instrumental, but he has begun calling upon vocalists such as Trey Lorenz, Marc Nelson, Kenny Lattimore and Avant to add to his later pieces.

Culbertson has released twelve albums so far. The first three were on the Blue Moon label: "Long Night Out" 1994, "Modern Life" 1995, and "After Hours" 1996. After moving to Atlantic Records, three more albums followed: "Secrets" 1997, "Somethin' Bout Love" 1999, and the critically acclaimed "Nice & Slow" 2001. "Come on Up" 2003 was released on Warner Jazz, and Culbertson then moved to GRP Records for his project, "It's On Tonight" 2005 which debuted at #1 on Billboard Magazine's contemporary-jazz charts.

Brian Culbertson also works with many other musicians in the contemporary jazz arena, often as a composer and arranger. Culbertson is currently credited with working with Dave Koz, Peter White, Richard Elliot, Jeff Lorber, Michael Lington and legendary A&M Records composer and producer Herb Alpert. He is married to Michelle Culbertson, also known by her stage name Micaela Haley.

David Marvin Blake (born January 18, 1970), better known by his stage name DJ Quik, is an MC and record producer. According to Quik himself, his stage name reflects his ability to produce records in short time.

Blake has written, produced, and remixed music for many artists. He has conducted many songs for many mainstream artists.

Blake was born on January 18, 1970 in Compton, California. He was chiefly inspired by funk and soul artists, such as Roger Troutman (who even taught him the use of the talkbox, which became a trademark for Quik's sound throughout his career) and George Clinton. Out of respect for his beloved friend, Roger Troutman, he retired the talkbox. David's love for music began at 2, as his mother had an extensive record collection. By age 12 he was already playing instruments, and by the age of 21, he was a platinum-selling artist.

He began selling homemade mixtapes (notably The Red Tape, 1987) after he received a turntable for his 9th grade graduation. He then began doing shows DJing around Southern California, many of which ended in rival gang related altercations. In the 11th grade, Quik dropped out of high school. For a period of about three years he was homeless after his mother lost her home, due to foreclosure. He would later go on to say that after his success in the rap world many of his family members "popped up".

Raphael Saadiq (born Charles Ray Wiggins, May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, guitarist, and record producer. Saadiq has been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early days as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! He also produced songs of such artists as TLC, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, Mary J. Blige, and John Legend.

He and D'Angelo were occasional members of The Ummah, a music production collective, composed of members Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, and J Dilla of the Detroit-based group Slum Village.

Saadiq's critically acclaimed album, The Way I See It, released on September 16, 2008, featuring artists Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone, and Jay-Z, received three Grammy Award Nominations and was voted Best Album on iTunes of 2008. His fourth studio album, Stone Rollin', was released on March 25, 2011. For the album, Saadiq worked with steel guitarist Robert Randolph; former Earth, Wind & Fire keyboardist Larry Dunn; Swedish/Japanese indie rock songstress Yukimi Nagano (of Little Dragon fame); Funk legend Larry Graham (on the bonus cut Perfect Storm) plus soul newcomer Taura 'Aura Jackson' Stinson.