Tenor saxophonist Ricky Ford studied at the New England Conservatory, with, among others, Gunther Schuller and Ran Blake; while still in his early 20s, he toured with both the Duke Ellington Orchestra (under Mercer Ellington's leadership) and Charles Mingus. By the 1980s, he was considered one of the leading tenor saxophonists of his generation. He worked with Dannie Richmond's Quintet, Lionel Hampton, Mal Waldron, Beaver Harris and Abdullah Ibrahim’s Ekaya, and also more than a dozen albums as a leader. He has lived in France since the 1990s.

Barry Altschul became well known in the 1970s as the drummer for Circle – a cooperative band that also included Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Anthony Braxton. In 1972, under Holland's leadership, he recorded the classic album Conference of the Birds with Braxton and saxophonist Sam Rivers. From 1964 until 1970, Altschul played regularly with pianist Paul Bley, a performing relationship that continued into the ’80s. In the ’70s, he recorded extensively with each of the other individual members of Circle, along with Bley, Rivers, bassist Alan Silva, saxophonist Lee Konitz and pianist Andrew Hill, among others. He has proven to be as innovative as ever as a member of the FAB Trio, with violinist Billy Bang and bassist Joe Fonda (up until the violinist's death in April 2011), and other collaborative projects such as the Gebhard Ullman-Steve Swell Quartet.

Acoustic bass guitarist Jerome Harris is best known for his work as a sideman with Sonny Rollins, and for his later work in groups led by drummer Bobby Previte and trombonist Ray Anderson, among others. He has also worked with Oliver Lake, Bill Frisell, Marty Ehrlich, Ned Rothenberg, Kenny Werner and Jay Hoggard. He has made many albums with the aforementioned musicians and others and also led several recording dates of his own.

John Kordalewski is the leader, arranger and pianist for the Makanda Project, a 13-piece group performing previously unrecorded Makanda Ken McIntyre compositions. He has performed with musicians such as Charlie Rouse, Cab Calloway, Julius Hemphill, Odean Pope, Ricky Ford, Carl Grubbs, Webster Young, Byard Lancaster and Oliver Lake. For many years, he led a trio featuring Boston drummer Bobby Ward. He has conducted clinics and workshops at many colleges and universities, most recently at the University of KwaZulu Natal in Durban, South Africa, where his arrangements of compositions by pianist Ndikho Xaba and trumpeter Feya Faku have been performed. He is also currently collaborating with saxophonist Chico Freeman, writing first-ever big band arrangements of Freeman’s compositions.

Tickets: $25 / $30 at door

Effective 11/1/21: Bop Shop Records is requiring all audience members to show I.D. and proof of complete Covid vaccination OR a negative test result in the 48 hours preceding each show. At-home Covid tests will not be accepted.