“One of modern jazz’s most skilled navigators of the divide between inside and outside, freedom and swing” (All About Jazz), cornetist and composer Kirk Knuffke has released 18 recordings as leader or co-leader and is featured as a sideman on over 50 recordings. He is mostly self-taught, although he studied privately with Ornette Coleman, Art Lande, and Ron Miles. Originally from Colorado, Knuffke  moved to NYC in 2005 where he began playing with the late great Butch Morris. Together, they recorded 4 albums and toured throughout Europe after which he joined the celebrated Matt Wilson Quartet in 2009. Tagged “one of New York City’s Busiest Musicians” by the New York Times, Knuffke has collaborated with everyone from Roswell Rudd, William Parker and Myra Melford, to Steve Swell, Marshall Allen, Tootie Health and Billie Hart and currently performs with Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, Sifter with Mary Halvorson, Matt Wilson, John Medeski (with whom he is working on an album entitled Angelic Brothers which highlights their mutual love of the music and mystery of Sun Ra), and many other groups. DownBeat Magazine wrote, “Rhythmically precise, New Orleans funky and full of grace, Kirk Knuffke’s music is a reflection of his multifaceted personality: part musical sage, part jazz philosopher . . . with wide interests, endless curiosity and an abundance of good humor.” Knuffke’s 2017 release, Cherryco, deemed as “nothing short of spectacular” by Village Voice critic Francis Davis, was named NPR’s Best Jazz Album of the Year. More recently, in 2022, he released Gravity Without Airs, a recording featuring his new trio with pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist Michael Bisio. An intimate & expansive double album, it was called “a tour-de-force of poetry and verve.” Tonight, on piano is Santiago Leibson with Michael Bisio, bass. After spending 30 years on the West Coast, Michael Bisio moved back to New York City in 2006 where he quickly became an integral part of the creative music community. A member of the Matthew Shipp Trio, he is also a composer and bandleader and has appeared on over 100 CDs both as a leader and co-leader. Bisio has been called “a poet, a wonder and one of the most virtuosic and imaginative performers on the doublebass.” Santiago Leibson is a young, Brooklyn-based, Argentinian-born jazz pianist and composer who is quickly making a name for himself in the vibrant NYC scene.  He has released seven records under his own name, and has played with numerous musicians including such Michael Attias, Francisco Mela, Gerald Cleaver, Drew Gress, Tom Rainey, Marty Ehrlich, and Tony Malaby.