Jaimie Branch, trumpet Lester St Louis, cello Anton Hatwich, bass Chad Taylor, drums sponsored by Alan Feller

Jaimie Branch

Trumpeter Jaimie Branch was born in Wilmette, Ill. and was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Since moving to Chicago, she quickly established herself among the top tier of improvisers in the city. While taking time off from her studies she was invited to join in a performance by Fred Lonberg-Holm’s Lightbox Orchestra, which featured many of the city’s top players and after graduation she returned to Chicago to take full advantage of her new musical environment. Soon she was playing in groups led by Keefe and Tim Daisy, and in a slew of ad hoc configurations. Her own working bands include free-improvising collective Princess, Princess (with drummer Frank Rosaly and bassist Toby Summerfield) and noisy rock group Musket. In 2015 she moved to New York but continues to work with current and former Chicagoans. Last year she released her first recording, Fly or Die (International Anthem) featuring the quartet, albeit with a slightly different lineup.

Lester St Louis

Cellist and composer Lester St. Louis was born in Queens and has been living in Brooklyn since he was seventeen, immersing himself in the city’s music scene. He has performed with Joe Morris, Dré Hočevar, Bram De Looze, Chris Pitsiokos and others, has presented several solo concerts, programs a music series in Brooklyn and for the past several years has managed the New York Lower East Side venue Spectrum. He has also been working in theatre on music and sound design and leading the band Hv Moda.

Anton Hatwich

Bassist, composer, and improviser Anton Hatwich has lived in Chicago since 2003. He was born and raised in Rockford, IL, earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Iowa and then taught for two years as Visiting Artist in Music at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, IA. At the UI he studied bass with Diana Gannett and jazz and improvisation with John Rapson. Since moving to Chicago, he has played in endlessly varied groups of (mostly) improvising musicians such as Frank Rosaly, Keefe Jackson, Aram Shelton, Nick Mazzarella, Russ Johnson, Tim Daisy, Jason Stein, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Josh Berman, and Paul Giallorenzo.