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One of the more distinctive voices among a new breed of Hammond B-3 organ players on the jazz scene, Sam Yahel has earned the top spot in Down Beat's annual International Critics Poll as a Talent Deserving Of Recognition for the past four consecutive years.

Since moving to New York in 1990, Yahel has worked with a string of notable jazz artists including tenor saxophonists Joshua Redman and Eric Alexander, former James Brown sideman and alto sax great Maceo Parker, guitarists Peter Bernstein and Bill Frisell, trumpeters Ryan Kisor and Jim Rotondi, vocalists Norah Jones (on her Grammy-winning Come Away With Me), Lizz Wright, and Madeleine Peyroux.

Seattle native Bill Anschell returned to the Emerald City in 2002 after spending 25 years studying, composing, and performing across the country and around the world.

Anschell left Seattle after high school, studying for two years at Oberlin College (Ohio), then earning his Music Degree from Wesleyan University (Connecticut). At Wesleyan, Anschell worked closely with saxophone great Bill Barron. He also studied semi-privately with South Indian mrdangum master T Ranganathan, kindling a passion for rhythmic experimentation that has driven Anschell's music ever since.

Bill Anschell - piano, Eric Barber - sax, Doug Miller - bass, Byron Vannoy - drums

Brent Jensen is the Director of Jazz Studies and Woodwinds at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls. He is the artistic director for the CSI Jazz Summit and the Jazz Saturdays workshop series.

Brent has performed with a variety of jazz artists including Gene Harris, Bobby Shew, John Stowell, Bill Watrous, the Lionel Hampton Big Band, Curtis Stigers, Gary Foster, Dave Peck, Dianne Schuur, Kristin Korb, Lew Soloff, Don Menza and others. His recordings have received national jazz radio airplay and have been featured in jazz periodicals such as Jazziz, Cadence, Jazz Improv, and Saxophone Journal.

-- Tom Scanlon, The Seattle Times

Marco de Carvalho - guitar, Frank Clayton - drums

Marco is a guitarist, composer and arranger originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He now resides in the Seattle, Washington area.

Marco has played guitar for over twenty years. He holds a bachelor's degree in classical guitar from the Brazilian Music Conservatory, where he was taught by Juarez Carvalho, whom Marco considers his greatest mentor of the guitar. Marco has studied and played with many great Brazilian musicians including Luiz Eca, Affonso Vieira, Lucas Robatto, Ronaldo Miranda, and Helio Delmiro. He also plays with some wonderful Seattle-based musicians including Hans Teuber, Tad Britton, Daniel Carvalho, Rick Houle, Buddy Catlett, Jeff Johnson, Guil Guimaraes, Lori Goldston, Magno Lins, Steve Griggs, Geoff Cooke, Michael White, and many others!

Kelly, 58, has been playing music for almost an entire lifetime. One of his early inspirations and a pivotal event for Kelly was a chance to jam in the same club as the pioneering jazz vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson. That experience led Kelly to move from San Fransisco to Los Angeles, where he enrolled in L.A. City College for its first-rate music program. Among his fellow students was the famous jazz singer Diane Reeves.

It was shortly after finishing the City College program that Kelly founded the African Roots of Jazz band, a group that featured drummer E.W. Wainwright Jr. of McCoy Tyner's band. African Roots of Jazz enjoyed quite a following in the Los Angeles area but around 1974, Kelly moved to Amsterdam, where there were more and more lucrative opportunities for a young jazz musician.

Having moved to the Northwest in the early-90s, Rickey Kelly today lives in Pt. Townsend and continues to perform regularly.

Saxophonist Cynthia Mullis is a versatile, accomplished musician who has performed in numerous Northwest groups. Her OA2 recording Inside Job is organic, creative, and straight-ahead and features bandmate Chris Spencer, among others. Cynthia is a regular member of The Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra and is a featured soloist on their OA2 release Meeting of the Waters. She is a frequent contributor to All About Jazz Seattle and to The Seattle Jazz Scene. Before moving to Seattle in 2000, Cynthia lived in New York City where she studied with the legendary saxophonist Jimmy Heath, earning an MA in Jazz Performance at Queens College. In addition, Cynthia performed extensively across the United States and Europe as a member of the all-women big band Diva, based in New York City. She brings a taste of Big Apple jazz to Seattle, playing saxophone with East Coast flair and a West Coast sensibility.

Chris Spencer is one of the most in-demand guitarists in the Seattle area. He performs and records regularly with the leading jazz artists in the Pacific Northwest and is an exciting mainstay on the Seattle jazz scene. His consummate professionalism and excellent musicianship make him a highly regarded professional. Chris is an extremely versatile performer, equally at home playing rock, funk, blues, R&B, gospel, country, and classical music. In addition Chris is an active music engineer/producer through his recording studio, SophiaHat. Since moving to Seattle in 1998, he has quickly established himself as an important member of Seattle's vibrant music scene.