About the Musicians
Mark Miller, trombone
Mark grew up in Racine, Wisconsin and attended the University of Minnesota where he studied with Tom Ashworth.  An ever-present sound on the Minneapolis music scene in the 1990s, he was a founding member of the Motion Poets and played with Happy Apple, Latin Sounds, Salsa Del Soul, and the Intergalactic Contemporary Ensemble.  Mark also counts among his credits performances with such legends as Billy Joel, Doc Severinsen, Ernie Watts, Frank Foster, Cy Coleman, Gloria Gaynor, and the Jason Lindner Big Band.  Mark recently completed a three year run on the road with the Billy Joel/Twyla Tharp Tony award winning hit Broadway musical “Movin’ Out”.  His first Broadway tour was with “Swing!” in 2002/03.  A featured soloist at the London, San Jose, and the Discover Jazz Festivals, Mark has toured extensively in 46 states and 17 countries.  He currently resides in New York City.

Bill Bergmann, guitar
Guitarist Bill Bergmann has been lending his unique sound to groups in the Twin Cities for years.  Attending Berkeley College of Music in Boston enabled him to branch out and discover many different types of world music.  Now Bill is well versed in rock, pop, blues, R&B, jazz, reggae, ska, soukous, high-life, cha-cha, and calypso to name a few.  Has played with Billy McLaughlin, La Kaboomba and currently plays with the West African singer/multi-instrumentalist Yawo.  With a strong interest in the evolution of world music, Bill easily blends western style licks with the rhythms and harmonies from the tropics.

Chris Bates, bass
Originally from Hopkins, MN, Chris Bates grew up studying bass with James Clute and Anthony Cox.  He has played with many great musicians including Lee Konitz, Mose Allison, Joe Lovano, Eric Alexander, Bill Carrothers, Claudia Schmidt, Osmo Vanska, Charles Lazarus, Ira Sullivan, Greg Skaff, Ernie Watts, Dean Magraw, Helene Labarrie, Tony Hymas, Pablo Cueco, Regis Huby, Marcus Wise, Chris Cunningham, Dean Granros, Lucia Newell, Laura Caviani, and Prudence Johnson.  Chris maintains a long-standing relationship with drummer Jay Epstein and performs in the groups Red Planet, Tanner Taylor Trio and Framework with him.  Other groups Chris currently leads / follows are - Enormous, Improvised Explosive Device, How Birds Work, Tampered Seals, Volcano Insurance, Slide Huxtable, Sambo Makti, Klezmerica and Low Blows.  Chris has recorded albums with Kelly Rossum, Klezmerica, Rhonda Laurie, Red Planet, Peg Carrothers, Motion Poets, Low Blows, Willie August Project and Craig Schumacher.

J.T. Bates, drums
Since the early nineties J.T. has been one of the hardest working musicians in the Twin Cities.  He has performed with many nationally and internationally renown artists including: Anthony Cox, Airto, Tony Malaby, Craig Taborn, Michael Formanek, Robert Skoro, Beniot Delbecq, Jim Anton, Dean Magraw, Wessell Anderson, Rodney Whitaker, Dick Oatts, David Freidman, Evan Parker, Carbon Carousel, and Dosh.  With the collective trio, Fat Kid Wednesdays (with Mike Lewis - Saxophone, Adam Linz - Bass), he has performed at many international jazz festivals in the U.S., France and Spain.  Some of these include the San Jose Jazz Festival, the Heineken Jazz Fest (Spain), Son D’Hiver (Paris), Europe Jazz (Le Mans), Festival Dancing in Your Head (Walker Art Center), Minnesota Sur Seine, and the Iowa City Jazz Festival.  J.T. regularly performs around the Twin Cities with many bands including Alpha Consumer, These Modern Socks, Dubsack and the Regional Jazz Trio.  J.T.'s unique and instantly recognizable style, coupled with his ability to play such a wide range of musical styles without so much as a blink, makes him a master at the art of improvising and an extremely powerful element on stage and in the studio.