Nels Cline (born January 4, 1956 in Los Angeles) is an American guitarist and composer with the Nels Cline Singers and Wilco. He was named the 82nd greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in November 2011, and the 43rd greatest guitarist of all time by Spin magazine in May 2012.

Cline began to play guitar at age 12 when his twin brother, Alex Cline took up the drums. The pair developed musically together, playing in a youth rock band they dubbed "Homogenized Goo" and both graduated from University High School (Los Angeles, California).

Cline is known for his improvisational work and for the diversity of his musical projects, as well as his use of effects pedals and looping devices which give his music a distinct sound. He has played with jazz musicians Charlie Haden, Gregg Bendian, Wadada Leo Smith, Tim Berne, Vinny Golia and the late bassist Eric Von Essen, a longtime musical companion in the L.A. jazz group Quartet Music.

In 1983, Nels was asked by drummer Chris Mancinelli and bassist Steuart Liebig to join the early formation of BLOC. The trio developed musical ideas for about a year. At this point they added another guitarist NIcholas Kirgo and vocalist Camille Henry. The quintet became a Los Angeles club favorite and garnered much praise from the local press and media. Practically every major label was interested at some point but no major label seemed to have a clue how to promote the multi-talented group. In 1990 with Tony Peluso producing, they were signed with A&M Records after turning down a previous offer from Atlantic Records. The album "In the Free Zone" was released in early 1991. A&M at this point was in the middle of being sold to Polygram and there was little support at the label for the band. They were bought out of their 2 album deal and promptly dropped a month after the album's release. After 8 years of performing and recording the group decided to break up and move on.

Fred Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.

Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew. He has collaborated with a number of prominent musicians, including Robert Wyatt, Derek Bailey, The Residents, Lol Coxhill, John Zorn, Brian Eno, Mike Patton, Lars Hollmer, Bill Laswell, Iva Bittová, Jad Fair, the ARTE Quartett and Bob Ostertag. He has also composed several long works, including Traffic Continues (1996, performed 1998 by Frith and Ensemble Modern) and Freedom in Fragments (1993, performed 1999 by Rova Saxophone Quartet). Frith produces most of his own music, and has also produced many albums by other musicians, including Curlew, The Muffins, Etron Fou Leloublan and Orthotonics.

Frith is the subject of Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel's award-winning 1990 documentary film Step Across the Border. He also appears in the Canadian documentary Act of God, which is about the metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning. Frith has contributed to a number of music publications, including New Musical Express and Trouser Press, and has conducted improvising workshops across the world. Frith's career spans over three decades and he appears on over 400 albums. He still performs actively throughout the world.

Robert "Bobby" Previte (born July 16, 1951, Niagara Falls, New York) is a drummer, composer and bandleader. Previte earned a B.A. in Economics at the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979, and became active in the city's thriving jazz and experimental music scenes. He began professional relationships with John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, Elliott Sharp and others that have continued, intermittently, to the present.

While Previte is a talented drummer he has also received critical acclaim for his "exceptional abilities as a composer and orchestrator." A review of his 1988 album Claude's Late Morning reports that "Perhaps most striking is Previte's skill in composing music that fully integrates these disparate instruments — including drums and drum machine, electric guitar and keyboards, trombone, harp, accordion, banjo, pedal steel guitar, tuba, and harmonica — while emphasizing each instrument's unique, individual sound." Another critic notes Previte's "driving and propulsive compositions, featuring both fiery jazz expressionism and layered counterpoint that suggested elements of contemporary minimalism.

Julian Lage (born December 25, 1987) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.

A child prodigy, Lage began performing in public at the age of six. His talent led him to be the subject of the 1997 Academy Award nominated documentary Jules at Eight. At age 13 Lage performed at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Classically trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he has studied at Sonoma State University, Ali Akbar College of Music, and is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. Lage has been a faculty member at the Stanford Jazz Workshop at Stanford University since age 15.

Lage has played with such renowned artists as Gary Burton, Larry Grenadier, Walter Smith III, Taylor Eigsti, Eric Harland, Mark O'Connor, Chris Potter, Fred Hersch, Joshua Redman, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Christian McBride, Gretchen Parlato, Béla Fleck, Antonio Sanchez, Kenny Werner, Toots Thielemans, Martin Taylor, and David Grisman, among others.

Lage has also appeared at numerous jazz concerts/festivals including: the Monterey Jazz Festival, the London Jazz Festival, the Umbria Jazz Festival, the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, the Newport Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Montreux Jazz Festival, and the San Francisco Jazz Festival.

Stephen Paul Motian (25 March 1931 – 22 November 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.

He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later led several groups. Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties.

Motian was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. After playing guitar in his childhood, Motian began playing the drums at age 12, eventually touring New England in a swing band. During the Korean War he joined the Navy.

Motian became a professional musician in 1954, and briefly played with pianist Thelonious Monk. He became well known as the drummer in pianist Bill Evans's trio (1959–64), initially alongside bassist Scott LaFaro and later with Chuck Israels.

Subsequently, he played with pianists Paul Bley (1963-64) and Keith Jarrett (1967–76). Other musicians with whom Motian performed and/or recorded in the early period of his career included Lennie Tristano, Warne Marsh, Lee Konitz,Joe Castro, Arlo Guthrie (Motian performed briefly with Guthrie in 1968-69, and performed with the singer at Woodstock), Carla Bley, Charlie Haden, and Don Cherry. Motian subsequently worked with musicians such as Marilyn Crispell, Bill Frisell, Leni Stern, Joe Lovano, Alan Pasqua, Bill McHenry, Stephane Oliva, Frank Kimbrough, and many more.